Managing Assessments
Create, configure, and manage custom exams for your organization.
Using TrueCert's Certification Catalog
TrueCert offers a growing catalog of standardized assessments covering cloud, DevOps, programming, databases, and more. You can send invite links for any public certification, no custom exam creation needed.
Browse the full catalog to see what's available.
Creating a Custom Exam
Custom exams are organization-private assessments that only your team and invited candidates can access. To create one:
- Go to your Organization Dashboard → Exams
- Click Create New Exam
- Enter a name, description, and configure the exam settings (see below)
- Add questions manually or import via JSON
- Set the exam to Active when ready
Exam Settings
| Setting | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Display name shown to candidates | — |
| Category | Primary skill category for grouping and filtering | — |
| Skill Level | 1 (Fundamentals) through 5 (Specialist) | 1 |
| Questions Per Attempt | How many questions are drawn from the pool each attempt | 25 |
| Passing Score | Minimum percentage to earn a certificate | 75% |
| Time Limit | Maximum minutes per attempt (timer shown to candidate) | 30 min |
| Price | Cost per attempt in USD (0 = free) | $0.00 |
| Skills Tested | List of skills shown on the exam page (one per line) | — |
How the Question Pool Works
Each exam has a question pool, the full set of questions available for the exam. When a candidate starts an attempt, questions are drawn randomly from the pool up to the "Questions Per Attempt" count.
Answer option order is also randomized per attempt (except for ordering and matching question types).
Activating & Deactivating Exams
- Active — Visible to candidates; can be started or purchased.
- Inactive — Hidden from the catalog. Existing in-progress attempts can still be completed, but new attempts cannot be started.
Toggle the Active switch in the exam editor to change status. Exams without any questions show as "Coming Soon" even when active.
Cooldown & Retakes
After a failed attempt, candidates must wait before retaking the same exam. The cooldown period varies by level: Introduction-level exams have a 1-day cooldown, while professional and advanced certifications have a 7-day cooldown (configurable per certification). This encourages genuine preparation rather than brute-force retaking.
Candidates who have passed can retake an exam at any time to improve their score.