Setting Up the Offline Exam Server

What is the Offline Exam Server?

The Offline Exam Server is a small app that turns one computer at your school into an exam centre — no internet connection required while students are actually writing. That one computer holds the exam and the class list, and students join it over your own network using whatever browser they already have on their phone, tablet, or laptop.

Only one computer needs the app — the one you designate as your exam server. This is usually a laptop the invigilator keeps at the front of the hall.
Students install nothing. They open a web address in their normal browser, the same way they'd open any website.
The internet is only needed twice — once before exam day, to load the exam, and once after, to upload results back. The exam itself runs completely offline, over your school's own Wi-Fi or a LAN cable.

Before you start

You have one computer you can dedicate as the exam server for the day (it doesn't need to be powerful — just reliable).

That computer has a working internet connection at least once before exam day, to load the exam.

You have a Wi-Fi network, or a LAN/ethernet cable setup, at your centre that every student device can join — this doesn't need to reach the internet, it just needs to connect devices to each other.

Install the app

A one-time setup on the single computer that will act as your exam server.

Download the Offline Exam Server installer for that computer and run it, the same way you'd install any other program. Once it's installed, you won't need to reinstall it for future exams — you'll just reopen the same app each time.

You'll know it worked when…

Opening the app shows the admin screen with a menu for things like Dashboard, CBTs, and Upload submissions. If you see that screen, installation is complete.

Load your exams while you still have internet

Do this before exam day, while the server computer is connected to the internet.

Pick your school

Go to Settings and choose the school this computer will run for the day — you only need to do this once. Exams won't show up until a school is picked.

Get your exams onto the server

Go to CBTs and browse to the exam you need, grouped by class and subject. On the CloudNotte web app, make sure that exam has been marked Offline first — that's what makes it appear here. Click Download next to it, and the full class list comes down at the same time — no separate step needed.

Confirm it's ready

Check the exam now shows as downloaded in the CBTs list. Once it's there, it's saved on this computer and ready to run — even without internet from this point on.

Tip

Do this a day or two ahead, not minutes before the exam starts. That way, if anything about the exam needs correcting, you still have time before the hall opens.

Run the exam — no internet needed

On exam day, this is everything the invigilator needs to do.

Open the app

Just open it as normal — the exam server starts automatically in the background. If the app had to recover from an unexpected shutdown (like a power cut) it catches back up on its own from what it already saved; you don't need to do anything extra.

Go to Dashboard and share the details

Open the Dashboard screen. Under Connect students, it shows a QR code and web address, plus the network students need to join — your Wi-Fi name, or Ethernet if the app detects your centre is using a LAN cable instead. Read this out, project it, or let students scan the QR code with their phone camera.

Students join from their own device

Each student joins the network you announced, then opens the web address shown (or scans the QR code). They'll see a quick connection check, then sign in with their own details.

Keep an eye on Today at a glance

The Dashboard also shows live counts — CBTs running today, how many students are in progress, and how many have submitted — so you get a sense of how the hall is going without waiting for complaints to reach you.

If someone can't connect

Open Diagnostics. It runs a quick check and names the exact problem — most often it's the network, occasionally a firewall setting — and offers a one-click Fix where possible.

While the hall is running

From the Dashboard's Hall control card, you can also step in if you need to, without ending the exam for everyone else:

Action	What it does
Broadcast a message	Send a short announcement that appears on every connected student's screen.
Lock the hall	Stop any new students from joining, once everyone expected has connected.
Allow non-student signup	Let someone outside your usual student list sign in and join, if you need to.
Diagnostics	Run a quick check that names common connection problems, with a one-click fix where possible.

If something goes wrong

The app is built to keep the exam running even when things don't go perfectly:

A student's device dies or their browser crashes — they simply reopen the web address once it's back on. They return to the same point in the exam, with no answers lost, and the timer keeps running from the server, not their device.
The server computer loses power — restart it and reopen the app. It catches back up from its saved records, and the hall carries on.
Wrong network, or a blocked connection — the connection check students see, and the Diagnostics screen on your side, both point out the exact cause rather than leaving you guessing.

After the exam — uploading results

Once the exam is done, reconnect the server computer to the internet and open Upload submissions, then click Upload now. This sends every finished submission to CloudNotte.

It's safe to click Upload now more than once — submissions already sent are simply skipped, so nothing gets duplicated.
If the internet isn't back yet, or doesn't come back for a while, use Export results (offline) to save the results to a file that can be handed over or sent another way, so you're never stuck waiting on a connection to have your results ready.

Common questions

Do students need to install anything on their own device?: No. Students only need a normal web browser — the one already on their phone, tablet, or laptop. They open the web address shown on the Dashboard screen, sign in, and start. Nothing to download, nothing to update.
Do we need the internet while the exam is running?: No. Internet is only needed twice: once before exam day, to load your exams onto the server computer, and once after the exam, to upload results back to CloudNotte. Everything in between runs entirely on your own network — Wi-Fi or a LAN cable, whichever your centre uses.
What happens if the server computer loses power during the exam?: Very little is lost. Answers save automatically as students work, and the server keeps a safe running record of everything that comes in. When the computer comes back on, simply reopen the app — it catches back up from its saved records, and the exam hall continues.
What if a student's own laptop or phone dies, or their browser crashes?: They simply reopen the web address once their device is back on. They'll be signed back into the same exam with their existing answers still there, and the timer keeps counting from the server — they don't lose any answered questions or get extra time.
A student says they can't connect — what do we check first?: Almost always it's the network. Confirm they've joined the exact Wi-Fi (or LAN cable) shown on the Dashboard screen, not their phone's own mobile data. If they're on the right network and it still fails, open Diagnostics in the app — it names the exact problem (for example, a firewall block) and often has a one-click Fix.
Can we use this for more than one room, or more than one class, at once?: Yes. As long as every room is connected to the same network as the server computer, students in any of those rooms can join the same exam from their own device. You only ever install the app on the one server computer — never on student devices, and never on more than one computer per centre.