What is the difference between paper-based and computer-based exam venue requirements?

A computer-based test puts the risk on infrastructure — usable workstations, power backup for the full session and a second internet path. A paper-based exam puts it on custody — secure storage for sealed material before and after, controlled distribution and collection, and an unbroken chain of accountability for every script.

Can the same venue run both paper and computer-based exams?

Often yes, but rarely in the same room to the same standard. A computer lab has the machines and the power but seldom a lockable store or the desk space for a booklet and answer sheet side by side; a hall has the seating and space but no infrastructure. Ask which room runs which format rather than whether the centre does both.

What secure storage does a paper-based exam need?

A lockable room or cabinet that is not a general store cupboard, with controlled access, a log of who opened it and when, and space to handle sealed packets away from candidate areas. It is needed both before the exam for question papers and after it for completed scripts, which is the half most often overlooked.

Does a paper-based exam need more floor space per candidate?

Usually yes. A candidate needs desk space for a question booklet and a separate answer sheet at the same time, and invigilation spacing for paper is typically wider because the thing being protected is visible on the desk rather than on a partitioned screen.

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Guide7 min read27 September 2026

Paper-based or computer-based: what actually changes about the venue

The exam format changes which risks the venue has to absorb. A hall that runs a flawless written exam can be the wrong room for a CBT, and the reverse is just as true.

Exam centresCBTPaper-based examsCentre readiness

In short: CBT moves your risk onto infrastructure — power, connectivity, machines. Paper moves it onto custody — storage, sealed handling, collection, chain of accountability. A venue is not simply better or worse; it is better or worse for one of the two.

Centres are usually asked whether they can host an exam. The more useful question is which format the room in question is built for, because the two formats fail in completely different places.

Side by side

Requirement Computer-based Paper-based

Primary riskInfrastructure failure mid-sessionLoss of custody of material

PowerCritical — backup for the full sessionLighting only

ConnectivityCritical, with a tested fallbackNot required in the hall

Desk space per candidateWorkstation footprintWider — booklet and answer sheet together

Secure storageRarely neededCritical, before and after

Collection spaceNot applicableNeeded — sorting, counting, packing

Technical coverOn-site for the whole sessionNot applicable

Typical roomIT lab, 30–120 seatsHall or classrooms, 50–400 seats

Scales byMachines — expensive, slowChairs and tables — cheap, fast

What CBT asks of the room

Everything in our nine-point centre check applies, and three items dominate: usable seats rather than installed machines, power backup rated for the whole session, and a second internet path someone has actually tested. A lab that fails any of those three is not a lab you can run a high-stakes CBT in, however good the seating is.

The compensating advantage is that CBT has almost no custody problem. There is no physical paper to lose, and no window between the exam ending and the scripts being secured.

What paper asks of the room

Paper is simpler to seat and much harder to secure. The material exists physically, and every point at which it changes hands is a point at which the chain can break.

Storage before. A lockable room or cabinet that is not the general store cupboard, with controlled access and a record of who opened it and when.
Handling space. Somewhere to open and count sealed packets that is not a corridor and not the exam hall with candidates in it.
Distribution and collection. A route that lets invigilators hand out and take back material in a controlled sequence, with the counting done in the room.
Storage after. The half everyone forgets. Completed scripts need the same security as blank papers, from the moment they are collected until they leave the building.
Collection and packing area. Sorting, counting and sealing several hundred answer sheets takes a table and a quiet room, not a reception desk.

"We do both"

Many centres genuinely do. Very few do both in the same room to the same standard, and that is the distinction worth drawing out.

A computer lab has machines and power but usually no secure store, and its desks are sized for a keyboard rather than for a booklet and a separate answer sheet. A hall has the seating, the space and the spacing, but no infrastructure and often no lockable room nearby. Both statements can be true of one centre at the same time.

So ask about the room, not the centre:

Which specific room runs CBT, and which runs paper?
If it is the same room, what changes between the two configurations?
Where is the secure storage in relation to that room, and who holds the key?
What is the usable seat count in each configuration? They will differ.

Where format choice interacts with capacity

Paper scales with furniture; CBT scales with machines. That single difference drives most multi-city plans.

A city that can seat 400 for a written exam may top out at 80 for a CBT, because the hall is a hall and the lab is a lab. If your format is fixed, it constrains city selection and shift patterns — see planning a multi-city drive. If your format is still open, it is worth knowing that the same candidate volume can need a very different footprint depending on which way you go.

Comparing venues? Every listing in our network carries the same facts — type, location, seats and rooms — so you can compare like for like rather than across brochures. Find a centre by city and type.

Common questions

What is the difference between paper-based and computer-based exam venue requirements?: A computer-based test puts the risk on infrastructure — usable workstations, power backup for the full session and a second internet path. A paper-based exam puts it on custody — secure storage for sealed material before and after, controlled distribution and collection, and an unbroken chain of accountability for every script.
Can the same venue run both paper and computer-based exams?: Often yes, but rarely in the same room to the same standard. A computer lab has the machines and the power but seldom a lockable store or the desk space for a booklet and answer sheet side by side; a hall has the seating and space but no infrastructure. Ask which room runs which format rather than whether the centre does both.
What secure storage does a paper-based exam need?: A lockable room or cabinet that is not a general store cupboard, with controlled access, a log of who opened it and when, and space to handle sealed packets away from candidate areas. It is needed both before the exam for question papers and after it for completed scripts, which is the half most often overlooked.
Does a paper-based exam need more floor space per candidate?: Usually yes. A candidate needs desk space for a question booklet and a separate answer sheet at the same time, and invigilation spacing for paper is typically wider because the thing being protected is visible on the desk rather than on a partitioned screen.

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