Create and Edit Sessions in ExamTools

To Add a Session to HamStudy

Detailed instructions to schedule an exam session in the ExamTools software are written below. You may also watch this video for a walk-through.

  • Login to ExamTools by clicking on [SIGN IN] under Assist with or Manage Exams.

  • In the second window Log in as a Volunteer Examiner, enter your Username or email and Password.

  • ExamTools (ET) should open in the Session List.

  • In the middle top of the Session List, click on + NEW SESSION). If you do not see the NEW SESSION button, then contact your VEC to confirm your team lead status.

The Schedule new session window should display.

Start under General session information::

  • Team:: Select a team from the drop-down list. If you do not see any teams listed, you will need to either create a Team Account or be added to an exisiting team account as a co-owner. More info about Team Accounts

  • VEC: Select the VEC organization which is associated with this exam. If you do not see the desired VEC, check your Team Account delgates and also your profile to confirm team lead status.

  • Team Lead: Select the person who is responsible for the session.

  • Event Name: Enter your session title to display in HamStudy listing. You may want to include unique information which isn’t listed in other fields.

  • Session Identifier: This field is primarily used for the GLAARG ID number, but can be repurposed as a note field by non-GLAARG teams. This field will display in the Session List in parentheses between the Team ID and the Event Name. Use to note something unique about a session which would be helpful to see displayed in the session list, (i.e hidden or note a particular VEC, a team lead or location). It doesn’t display in HamStudy.

  • Session Type: Select Online Session or In-Person Session from the radio buttons. This setting controls how your session is listed on HamStudy. Online is used for remote sessions over a video-conference software. In-Person is used for an exam session being held at a specific location even if you are using tablets or computers for the exam.

Next, go to Registration options:

  • Use ExamTools Registration? If you select Yes, you will have the following options below.

  • Use ExamTools for grading or paperwork? Select Yes or No. If you select NO then applicants will not be issued a PIN. The PIN is required for them to sign into the system, so be sure to indicate YES if you plan to use ExamTools to administer exams (whether with GradeCam or computerized exams) or if you plan to use ExamTools to handle paperwork.

  • Walk-ins allowed? Select Yes or No Note: This option will only display if the in-person selector is toggled and is purely informational for the applicant to let them know if they can come to your session without registering ahead of time.

  • Maximum number of Participants No Limit / Choose.

  • Selecting No Limit allows an unlimited number of applicants to register. Under Choose, enter the number of applicants you would like to limit. The system will attempt to enforce this, but it is not foolproof – for example, if two people try to register at once it’s possible they may both get in before the registration is closed.

  • Use ExamTools Registration? If you select No, you will have the following options below.

  • Registration Method: None / External Link / Email Link

    • [None] - Your exam will appear on the schedule and online registration will be disabled. Use this option for listing your in-person, walk-up exam or if you are going to be registering applicants in another manner. Add registration information to the session description in the Publicly visible notes: box.

    • [External Link] - Your exam will appear on the schedule, but will be directed to another website to register. Enter your url in the Registration link field.

    • [Email Link] - Your exam will appear on the schedule, but applicants will be provided with an Contact Name and Email Address to use to contact the team to register for your exam.

Then, choose your Schedule: options.

  • Time zone: Select your time zone from the dropdown list.

  • Listing Visibility: Visible / Hidden ** If set to “hidden” then this session will not appear on any public session listings. This can be useful if you want to keep the session “private” so only people coming from your website can access it – the registration link can be found on the session page. Especially helpful, if you want to work on your session listing ahead of time and aren’t quite ready for applicants or want to share a private link to a certain population for whom the session has been scheduled. (i.e. Local radio club or college course) The session is still accessible online, but the applicant will need a private link to view. When you are ready to list your session on HamStudy, return to the session in ET and uncheck the box and it will appear in the HamStudy list of Upcoming test sessions.

  • Session Date Enter the date of your exam.

  • Start Time Enter time which your applicants should expect the exam to begin. Use the clock icon for a touch-friendly time picker

  • Duration (minutes): Enter the number of minutes you expect the session to last (i.e. a two-hour exam would be 120 mins). This is purely informational and displayed on the session listing page.

Select, Add or Edit your Locations:.

  • The VEC is required to submit session location to the FCC, so this is required even for remote exams. The most common value for this is the city / state / zip of the team lead.

  • If you selected In-Person Session, enter the street address of the exam session venue. Once entered, a preview of a map will pop up. The map will also be visible on HamStudy. More info about Session Locations

Configure Elements Offered, Exam Fee and Registration Notices.

  • All exam elements offered? If this is selected then all elements will be displayed as an option in the registration process. If you select specific elements, limiting the choices, only those selected options will appear during the registration process and the applicant will only be able to choose from those. It doesn’t prevent an applicant from taking another exam on the day of the session, but it prevents them from indicating their intent to take an element. For example, you might hava tech only exam and select Element 2: Technician. The applicant registers and can only choose from Technician. On the day of the exam, you find out that you have enough VEs to administer a General exam and the applicant is allowed to take the exam. ExamTools won’t prevent them from taking and exam which wasn’t indicated at registration. What was indicated will display as part of the applicant information when expanded in the session on the applicant tab.

  • Examination Fee:: This field should populate automatically in most cases baised on your VEC policies once you have selected a VEC in the general session information section. If not, enter the amount for your exams as directed by your VEC. You can add payment information, terms and info about waived fees in the session description in Other Notes field farther down in the form.

  • Receive email notifications on applicant registration? If Yes, an email will be sent to the configured address each time someone registers for the session. Choose “Team Default” to use the default settings for your team.

  • The New Applicant Registration notice will include the following applicant information: Name, License Class, FRN, Address, Email, Phone Number and the date/time of the session in which the applicant registered.

Add your session description for HamStudy and customize the email to your applicants.

  • Publicly visible notes (markdown enabled): These are the notes which will appear with your session listing; they should be complete and useful. Add any additional information which wasn’t included in the rest of the listing. For remote sessions, you may want to include the time and time zone again, links to instructions, how to pay, and contact information. We strongly recommend including any special rules that your session has as well as a way for potential applicants to contact you. Using markdown, you can style your listing using headers and bullets, to include pictures and logos, links and more. Images must be hosted on another server.

  • Notes for applicant (email): Information entered will be emailed to applicants when they register for your session – it will not be shown to anyone who has not registered for your session, so it is less public than the regular notes. You can use this option to send your applicant the Zoom link for your remote session or specific directions to your physical location, but keep in mind that you will also need to copy over pertinent information from the public notes that you want emailed to the applicants. If the notes for applicants box is left empty, then the public notes will be sent instead.

  • Review your listing carefully and click [Save] when done.

To View Your Session on HamStudy

  • To view your listing on the web, navigate to the Session List and click on the session which you are interested in.

  • At the end of the title for the session look for a small link icon:

  • Click on the icon and the link to your session on HamStudy will automatically copy to your clipboard. You should be able to open a browser window and paste the url in and the address bar and hit enter. Send the link to others or posted to another website to advertise your session.

  • Search for your session by clicking on the Find a Session from the right side navigation on HamStudy. If the session is not hidden, then it should come up. Find all your sessions by adding your call sign to the end of the following link: https://ham.study/sessions/yourcallsign. Use this URL to link to all your sessions live on HamStudy. Include it in the session description or share in email. This link will not include hidden sessions.

To Edit an Existing Session

  • Return to Manage Sessions and click on Edit Schedule to update or change your listing. Do this within the session from the Current or Session List. Open your session. Along the top of the window, look for a button for EDIT SCHEDULE. This button will take you to the Edit Session window where you can make changes to your exam.

To Clone a Past or Future Session

  • Once you have a complete and accurate session listing, clone it for future sessions. From the left navigation, select Session List, locate the past or future session which you want to duplicate and click on the three vertical dots to the right of the Edit Schedule button. Select Clone from the drop-down.

  • Make any edits to the session and add a new Session Date under Schedule. Adding the date is required before you can save it.

  • Decide if you want to clone the VE list from the source exam session. Locate Clone VE List between Email address for notifications and Publicly visible notes and select YES or NO. Selecting Yes, will copy the entire Volunteer Examiners List from the source exam session. The VEs will see the session in their session list, have access to and retain the same VE permissions as they did in the original. If you have a small regular group of VEs who never miss a session, then cloning a session with those regular VEs would be beneficial and save you time. However, you may not want to clone a VE list from a random session across an entire year as the VE population changes overtime.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Before you finalize your session, double check your Volunteer Examiners list and remove any cloned or added VEs who did not show or participate in the session. Last chance to add any VEs who may have been missed. The Volunteer Examiner list becomes part of the session manifest in VEC ARCHIVE and should accurately reflect those VEs who were present at the exam session. Do not include all members of your team. Only those who were actually there.

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Last updated on Mar 13, 2026

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