Safe Exam Browser for a Sitting
Safe Exam Browser (SEB) is a free app that keeps a computer locked to the test while a candidate works: no other apps, no other websites, no copying out. Requiring it for a sitting takes one tick in the wizard. There is nothing to install or configure on your side, and nothing for you to send candidates beyond the usual invitation.
Turning it on
In Conduct a test, step 1, tick Require Safe Exam Browser. It is off by default; a sitting without it runs in any browser exactly as before.
Two related choices sit next to it:
| Choice | Where | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Invigilator quit password | Step 1, under Safe Exam Browser | For an exam room. Candidates cannot close Safe Exam Browser during the test without a password only the invigilator holds. Leave it off for tests taken at home |
| Invite link + access code | Step 2, "How do email candidates start the test?" | The invitation also carries a personal code, so a candidate can start by typing it, with no password to remember |
What candidates do
Before test day. SEB invitations include a Check my device link
(/safe-exam/check/). It needs no sign-in. The page offers the download for the device
the candidate is on, then runs a two-minute practice inside Safe Exam Browser: it
confirms the app is working with PrepareBuddy, shows the version, and records a few
seconds of microphone audio for them to play back. Nothing is saved and no test starts.
On test day. The candidate opens their test as usual (invitation link, dashboard or printed code) and clicks Open Safe Exam Browser. The browser may ask once to open the app; they choose Open. Safe Exam Browser opens the test already signed in: no second password, no code to retype.
Inside the test. Only the test and its result can be opened; the site menu is hidden. Speaking sections record normally: Safe Exam Browser asks for microphone access when it starts.
At the end. After submitting, the result page (or the "being marked" page, while writing and speaking are graded) shows Exit Safe Exam Browser. It closes the app, even when the sitting has a quit password.
Safe Exam Browser runs on Windows 10 and 11, Mac, and iPad or iPhone. It does not run on Chromebooks, Android or Linux; candidates on those devices see a plain message saying so, and should tell you before test day.
The invigilator quit password
When you tick Invigilator quit password, we generate an eight-character password with no easily confused characters (no 0, O, 1, I or L). You will find it:
- as a chip at the top of the sitting page, and
- on screen on the seat sheet. It is not printed on the candidates' slips, and it is never in any email.
During the test, Safe Exam Browser asks for the password before it closes. If a candidate's computer misbehaves, walk over and type it. The Exit button after submitting never needs it.
A quit password also switches on Apple's single-app lock on iPads and iPhones.
With a quit password, candidates must open the test with Open Safe Exam Browser from their normal browser (invitation link or code sign-in). That launch carries the password; a Safe Exam Browser opened any other way is not accepted for this sitting.
Watching the room: Secure-browser attempts
The sitting page has a Secure-browser attempts chip. It opens a live view of every candidate that refreshes itself every 30 seconds, with the candidates who need help at the top.
| Status | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Not opened yet | Has not clicked Open Safe Exam Browser | — |
| Opening Safe Exam Browser… | Clicked in the last few minutes | Wait |
| Safe Exam Browser didn't open | Clicked, but the app never started | Usually not installed: send them to Check my device, or waive |
| SEB opened but didn't sign in | The app started but the test never opened | Ask them to open the test again from their browser |
| SEB opened, not verified | The app is running different settings | Ask them to quit it and open the test again from their browser |
| In Safe Exam Browser | Working in the test | — |
| Submitted | Finished | — |
Answers are never lost
If a candidate's Safe Exam Browser fails part-way through, answers that reach us from outside it are still kept, and counted in the Saved outside the secure browser column so you can see it happened.
To let one candidate finish in a normal browser, use Waive for this candidate on the same page and give a short reason ("SEB crashed on seat 12"). The waiver applies to that one attempt only and is recorded with your name and the time.
When a candidate reads out a code
Inside Safe Exam Browser candidates cannot take screenshots, so problems show a short code they can read to you:
| Code | Fix |
|---|---|
| SEB-NOT-DETECTED | The page is open in a normal browser: click Open Safe Exam Browser; install the app if nothing happens |
| SEB-KEY-MISMATCH | Quit Safe Exam Browser and open the test again from the normal browser |
| SEB-LAUNCH-EXPIRED / SEB-LAUNCH-USED | The one-click pass expired or was used: open the test again from the normal browser |
| SEB-TICKET / SEB-SESSION / SEB-CHANGED | Reload the test page |
| SEB-JS-MISSING / SEB-NO-KEY | Update Safe Exam Browser |
Messages from Safe Exam Browser itself:
- "Prohibited display configuration": unplug the second monitor or projector.
- "Virtual machine" or "remote session": use a physical computer.
- "Not allowed to reconfigure": quit the app first, then click Open Safe Exam Browser.
Safe Exam Browser also closes apps such as Zoom, Teams, AnyDesk and TeamViewer while it runs, so do not rely on them on the candidate's computer during the test.