# How to build a custom paper or worksheet

> A five-step teacher workflow for building a custom paper (compilation paper or worksheet): choose the scope, add questions, set marks, publish and assign.

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Teacher guide

A custom paper is a teacher-built question set assembled from existing past-paper questions. This workflow keeps the paper aligned to the syllabus and to the original mark scheme.

## 1. Choose the scope and identity of the paper

Decide what the paper should test before you add anything: one unit, one topic, or a mixed revision set. A focused paper is easier to mark and easier to assign. Then set the paper's identity — subject, course, exam board, paper code and optional total time — because those fields appear wherever the paper is listed.

Give the paper a title a student can recognise, such as “P1 Algebra and Differentiation — 10 questions”. A clear title also makes the task list readable later.

## 2. Add questions from the question bank

Open the custom paper builder and filter the library by exam board, subject, unit, topic and year. Add a question when its marks and difficulty fit the role you have in mind. Each question keeps a link to its original paper, so the source is checkable later.

Only questions your account can read are available in full. A locked Pro question cannot be copied into a paper, which keeps a worksheet inside your licence.

## 3. Order and trim the paper

Drag the question handle to move questions. A common shape is short questions first, then longer structured questions, but a topic drill may deliberately group similar questions. Remove a question when its marks unbalance the paper or duplicate a skill already covered.

A custom paper does not need to imitate a real paper's length. Ten questions and about 75 marks is a realistic homework-sized paper; a full mock is simply a longer compilation.

## 4. Set custom marks only where needed

Each row shows the question's original mark allocation. Override it when the paper should weight a topic differently. If a 5-mark question is set to 7, marking still uses the official mark scheme, then scales the awarded score by 7/5 and rounds to two decimals. Feedback shows a note with both totals.

If the custom total equals the original, no scaling is applied and no note appears. Changing marks changes the paper total, so check the sum before publishing.

## 5. Publish, then assign

A new paper is a private draft. Publishing is a separate step: choose private to keep it in your own task picker, or public to list it for other teachers as well. Published papers are not edited in place; **Make a Copy** creates a new draft and keeps earlier attempts stable.

Any published custom paper appears when you create a task — a private paper only in your own picker, a public one in every teacher's. From there, set dates, choose students or a group, and follow completion on the task dashboard.

## Questions teachers ask

**Is a custom paper the same as a worksheet or compilation paper?**

Yes. Exam Science calls a teacher-built question set a **custom paper**. Compilation paper, compiled paper and worksheet describe the same object; there is no separate worksheet feature.

**Can I use Pro questions in a custom paper?**

Only if your account can read them. Locked questions are not fetched in full while composing, so an unlicensed question cannot be copied into a paper.

**Does a custom mark change how AI marks the question?**

The AI still marks against the official mark scheme, then scales the score by the ratio of the custom total to the original total, rounded to two decimals. A note explains the change.

**Can I edit a paper after publishing it?**

Not in place. Use **Make a Copy** to create an editable draft; the published version stays unchanged for attempts already made against it.

**Can students see a draft paper?**

No. A draft is private. Students only see a paper through a task after it has been published and assigned.

## Build a paper now

Open the builder, add questions from the free library, and save a draft before publishing.

[Open the custom paper builder](https://www.examsci.com/custom-papers-browse)

## Related pages

- [Custom paper builder](https://www.examsci.com/for-teachers/custom-papers/)
- [Worked example paper](https://www.examsci.com/for-teachers/example-custom-paper/)
- [Assign past papers as homework](https://www.examsci.com/guides/assign-past-papers-as-homework/)
- [Questions by topic](https://www.examsci.com/topics/)

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