Writing Better Multiple-Choice Questions

A poorly written multiple-choice question can be answered correctly by guessing, or answered incorrectly by a candidate who understands the material but is tripped up by ambiguous wording. This guide walks through how to avoid both failure modes.

What this guide covers

• Five common pitfalls in multiple-choice question design
• Writing distractors that are plausible without being tricky for the wrong reasons
• Structuring questions to test understanding rather than recall alone
• Reviewing a question bank for ambiguity before it goes live
• Balancing question difficulty across a paper

Who it is for

Question paper setters, faculty and assessment designers who write or review multiple-choice items for exams, quizzes or certification tests.

Multiple-choice format is efficient to grade, which is exactly why the individual questions have to carry more of the design burden. The guide treats question quality as a craft with specific, checkable techniques rather than a matter of instinct.