# How exams and results work

> Academium SMS Help › Exam Center
> Web page: https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-how-exams-work
> Last updated: 2026-10-06

This article gives the big picture of a term's assessment in Academium SMS, from setting up the exam to printing report cards. Each step links to its own article.

## One exam per term

Each term has **one exam**. It is made up of **components**, such as *1st C.A.*, *2nd C.A.* and *Exam*. Each component carries a full mark and a pass mark, and together they add up to the student's total for each subject.

## The steps through the term

| Step | Who usually does it | Article |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1. Create the components and the term's exam | School admin | [Setting up an exam](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-setting-up-an-exam.md) |
| 2. Check the grading ranges | School admin | [Grading ranges](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-grading-ranges.md) |
| 3. Plan exam halls and the exam schedule | School admin | [Exam Hall](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-exam-halls.md) · [Exam Schedule](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-exam-schedule.md) |
| 4. Enter or import marks | Teachers | [Entering marks](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-entering-marks.md) · [Importing marks](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-importing-marks.md) |
| 5. Work out positions and add comments | Class teachers, principal | [Positions, comments and authorising results](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-positions-comments-and-authorising.md) |
| 6. Authorise the results | School admin | (same article) |
| 7. Publish the results | School admin | [Setting up an exam](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-setting-up-an-exam.md) |
| 8. Print report cards | School admin | [Printing report cards](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-printing-report-cards.md) |

Younger learners can be assessed on skills instead of marks. See [Junior assessment](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-setting-up-junior-assessment.md).

## Keeping track

**Catch Up** reminds the right people about unfinished exam work, such as subjects with marks still to enter, or results that have not been published.

## Locked terms

When a term is **locked**, its marks can no longer be changed. See [Sessions and terms](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-sessions-and-terms.md).

## With Academium Surepass

Tests and exams do not have to be written on paper. With **Academium Surepass**, students sit them on computers in your lab: objective questions are marked as soon as they submit, theory answers are marked on one screen, and the scores go straight into the SMS mark sheet for the right component (such as *1st C.A.* or *Exam*). Positions, comments and report cards then work as usual in SMS.

- [How Surepass works with Academium SMS](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-surepass/article/sp-surepass-and-academium-sms.md)
- [Creating a CBT test in Surepass](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-surepass/article/sp-creating-a-test.md) and [CBT exams](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-surepass/article/sp-exams-overview.md)
- [Sending Surepass results to SMS](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-surepass/article/sp-sending-results-to-academium-sms.md)

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