Shuffling an exam is easy. Shuffling one and still having the equations afterwards is the hard part. Most shuffling tools work on plain text: they read the words, reorder them and write a new file. A math paper put through that usually comes out with its equations gone, its tables broken and its figures in the wrong place. Here is how to shuffle one and keep all of it.
Why math papers break when they are shuffled
A multiple-choice math question is not only words. Inside a Word file it is a run of pieces: paragraphs, equations, sometimes a table or a figure sitting between the choices. Any tool that reads the paper into a string of characters and builds it back up drops exactly those pieces.
The familiar results: equations turn into raw text like x^2, tables lose their rows, figures land on another question, and four choices that were laid out in four columns come back one per line.
The way around it: move the question, do not re-read it
The rule is simple. Rather than reading a question and writing it out again, keep the question's own block of content intact and only move the blocks around each other. Whatever equation, table or figure sits inside a block travels with it, and nothing is rebuilt, so nothing has the chance to break.
That is how MathCopy's exam shuffler works: it edits the Word file you hand it.
What to decide before you shuffle
Which parts move and which do not
A paper usually has several parts: multiple choice with A, B, C, D; true or false with a), b), c), d) statements; and short answer or essay questions. The multiple-choice part wants both the question order and the choices reordered. An essay part usually does not: its order tends to carry the mark scheme, and moving it moves the marks.
Pick a tool that lets you set each part apart, rather than one switch for the whole paper.
Whether to group by difficulty
Many teachers order questions by difficulty: 1 to 4 easy, 5 to 8 medium, 9 to 12 hard. Shuffle the whole part freely and a hard question can surface first, which throws students off. Grouping the questions and shuffling only inside each group keeps the difficulty order.
How the codes are written
The code is not only at the top of the first page. Plenty of papers print it in the footer of every sheet, as "Page 2/4 - Code 101". If a tool replaces the code only in the header, every footer still carries the old one and the whole set is wrong without anyone noticing until marking.
The answer key: do not work it out by hand
Once shuffled, each variant's answers differ from the source paper. Working four of them out by hand is four chances to get it wrong. Have the tool build the key for every code as it shuffles, from the answers you marked in the source paper or typed in.
One note on typing them: papers that number each part from 1 are very common, so "question 1" can name three different questions. Type the answers part by part so they land where you mean them to.
Check before you print
- Open two variants side by side and see that the order really differs.
- Read one question with a long equation and one with a figure.
- Check that the footer carries the new code.
- Check the answer key against any one variant.
Standardize the paper first
If the source paper is untidy, with one choice per line and question labels that are not bold, put it into the standard layout before shuffling. The closer it is to the usual shape, the more reliably a tool reads how many questions and parts it holds.
MathCopy does both on its exam paper tools page, at no charge.
Faster: paste straight from ChatGPT
MathCopy turns equations from AI into MathType in Word with Ctrl + Alt + V.