Exam Seating Plan Generator

How to make a seating plan for an exam

1. Choose an example or your own room. Use this layout removes the fictional candidates and keeps the desks. Start blank opens an empty room.
2. Import and review your candidates. Choose Add candidates. Paste names or import CSV/XLSX, then check Name, optional Candidate ID and Desk mappings. Keep IDs such as 0007 as text and review duplicate names or IDs.
3. Set up and identify the desks. Choose Set up your desks, or keep the existing room. Give each single desk a unique number and label. Check the front, proctor position and entrances against the actual room.
4. Place candidates and check reservations. Use People or List view to assign a candidate to a desk, swap positions and lock deliberate assignments or empty positions. Smart arrange and Shuffle keep locks; review unseated candidates and unmet rules afterward.
5. Print the private register and save a backup. Open Export on a phone or Print & export on desktop. Choose Letter or A4 and download the Private exam register. Inspect every page, add a schematic floor view if useful, and save an editable plan file.

A numbered exam room

The example has five rows of six single desks, numbered left to right from the front. Twenty-eight fictional candidates are seated; two desks are empty. Lock an empty desk to reserve it.

Match the drawing to your room. Its authored 180 cm center spacing does not certify real distances, access, power provision or exam rules. Use one plan per room and enter its room/session label in the plan name. For room setup, see the classroom layout maker.

Candidate IDs and importing an examination seating plan from Excel

Use one candidate per row, with Name or First/Last columns and optional Candidate ID, such as 0007 or A-12. Keep spreadsheet ID cells as text; zeros already discarded by the spreadsheet cannot be reconstructed. Review the mapping: plain ID columns are not automatically candidate identifiers.

Equal names and IDs remain separate. Review duplicate warnings. Reimporting adds or explicitly replaces a roster, never updates by ID. The fictional CSV example demonstrates IDs and distinct desk targets.

Assign to existing single desks resolves a desk number, full desk label or unique custom label. A target such as 12 must identify the actual single Desk 12. Unknown or ambiguous targets, repeated requests, occupied positions and locked-empty reservations block the whole batch while keeping the draft editable. Choose Import all unassigned only when you intend to ignore every requested desk; it does not create furniture.

Reserve positions and review the result

On a phone, open People, choose a candidate and pick the desk. More → List view shows full names, IDs, positions and locks without dragging. Occupied locks retain assignments; empty locks reduce usable capacity. Use Undo/Redo and check unseated candidates after changes.

Smart arrange and Shuffle use the existing seating rules and preserve locks. They do not automatically alternate papers or prove a room is secure. Apart uses this engine’s distance and furniture semantics; balancing a tag does not create a checkerboard. Tags alone impose no rule. Review the actual placements and unmet instructions, and use random seating when its separate classroom workflow fits your task.

Print the register and keep an editable backup

The initial exam PDF choice is the Private exam register. It contains the complete accepted plan name, every accepted candidate name, optional candidate ID and unique desk label, plus an Unseated section. Prepared labels the file’s preparation date, not the exam date. Notes, tags and groups are excluded. Supported long text wraps onto further lines or pages; unsupported text or ambiguous assignments stop the download with an explanation.

Choose Schematic views for the ordinary floor PDF or existing list choices. The floor uses initials and first names; it is not the full identity register. Generic per-desk lists can contain notes and tags, so inspect what you intend to distribute. The empty room templates are available in Letter and A4; the fictional filled floor is available in Letter and A4. Inspect every actual page before use.

CSV/Excel contain roster assignments, with Candidate ID only when IDs exist. Formula-looking IDs require the faithful Excel or native file instead of CSV. Spreadsheets are not room-grid workbooks or complete projects; native plan files retain the room, roster, rules, locks and designs. Plans and backups explains deliberate transfer between browsers.

Using the plan as an AP seating-chart aid

Official guidance reviewed 18 October 2026; recheck the edition before use. This generic tool is not the official AP form. Staff must check the current College Board seating-chart instructions and coordinator resource library, complete the required official metadata, unused-area markings and movement annotations. Replacing an assignment does not record every position used. No endorsement, AP certification or room approval is implied.

Edits autosave in this browser. Keep private files with intended staff. Candidate IDs are excluded from ordinary public snapshots; shared names and destinations remain deliberate disclosures. Downloaded registers have no access control.

Frequently asked questions