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Short answer audit trail

The short answer audit trail keeps a time-stamped copy of a test-taker's response to an extended text item each time the response is saved. From the test attempt, you can compare the saved versions and promote an earlier one to replace the current answer.

The audit trail is off until an administrator turns it on for the assessment event.

Turn on the audit trail

Short answer audit trail appears on an assessment event whose test contains extended text items.

  1. Select Deliver > Assessment Events and open the event.
  2. Expand Test Player & Delivery Options and select the pencil.
  3. Under Test Delivery/Replay Settings, tick Short answer audit trail.
  4. Check the Audit trail deletion date. It defaults to 30 days after the event ends, and can be up to 120 days after the event's closing date. On that date the saved versions are deleted and can't be recovered.
  5. Select Save.

Test Player & Delivery Options panel with labels 2 on the pencil, 3 on the ticked Short answer audit trail checkbox, and 4 on the Audit trail deletion date of 19/11/2026 3:30 PM, below Gather Answer History set to Answer and Score

Important

The audit trail works only on sites that use NoSQL delivery. Janison switches NoSQL delivery on for your site. If you're not sure whether yours has it, contact your Janison account manager.

When a version is saved

Each time the test player saves a response to an extended text item, the audit trail keeps a copy with a time stamp. The player saves when the test-taker moves to another item, for example by selecting Next or Back. If your site has an auto save interval, the player also saves at that interval while the test-taker is working. Each auto save adds a version too. The interval is set for the whole site; see Settings.

The audit trail records items in Item and Extended Response sections. It keeps the versions until the event's Audit trail deletion date.

Open the audit trail

You can open the audit trail from the test attempt page, the test session dashboard or the invigilator dashboard. Each shows a View link for an extended text item that has saved versions. After the event's Audit trail deletion date, the link no longer appears.

From the test attempt page

Select Deliver > Manage Attempts, find the attempt and select Actions > View Attempt Details. For other ways to open this page, see Open a test attempt.

Actions menu open on a test attempt's row on the Test Attempts screen, listing Manage Attempt and View Attempt Details, with View Attempt Details highlighted

The test attempt page opens. In the responses section, expand the extended text item and select View beside Answer History.

2026 Y9 Numeracy responses on Bao Nguyen's test attempt, with Question 1, Y9 Numeracy - choosing a phone plan, expanded to show the question, an empty Answer field, the View link beside Answer History highlighted, and the Feedback field

From the test session dashboard

On the session's dashboard, select the test attempt information icon in the test-taker's Actions column. The Test Attempt Information window opens. Select View in the History column beside the item. To open the dashboard, see Test session administration.

Test Attempt Information window for Bao Nguyen's 2026 Y9 Numeracy attempt, with Candidate Details and Attempt Details on the left and, on the right, a row for each of questions 1 and 2 with its time, save time, size and a View link in the History column, the first highlighted

From the invigilator dashboard

Select Deliver > Invigilator Dashboard. Under Test-takers, find the test-taker and select Actions > View Progress Details.

Actions menu open on a test-taker's row, listing Manage Attempt, View Progress Details and Print One Time Code Slips

The same Test Attempt Information window opens. Select View in the History column.

Read the audit trail

The heading names the test-taker, with their one time code and the test name underneath. Current Answer shows the response as it stands now. The table lists every saved version, newest first, with its Time Stamp, the Answer and a Promote link. Select the Time Stamp heading to reverse the order.

Short answer audit trail for Bao Nguyen, showing his one time code ZC-LG-FM-RR and 2026 Y9 Numeracy, his full working as the Current Answer, and two saved versions at 9:24 am and 9:22 am, each with a Promote link

Promote an earlier version

Promoting a version makes it the current answer. You can promote only while the attempt is Completed or Postponed, and only if your role allows it; see Settings. For an attempt in any other status, see When an answer can't be promoted.

Select Promote beside the version you want.

The saved versions table with the Promote link on the 9:22 am version highlighted

In Promote Answer, type confirm and select Yes.

Promote Answer dialog asking you to type the word confirm, with confirm typed in the box and the Yes button highlighted beside Cancel

Current Answer now shows the version you promoted. The change is recorded in the attempt's Recent Activities, with the answer before and after; see Recent activities.

The audit trail after promoting, with the 9:22 am version now shown as the Current Answer and highlighted in both places

When an answer can't be promoted

If the attempt isn't Completed or Postponed, selecting Promote shows a message that only attempts with those statuses may have answers promoted. Select Click here to manage the attempt to change the status, or Ok to close the message.

Promote Answer message saying only attempts with the status of Completed or Postponed may have answers promoted, with the Click here to manage the attempt link highlighted above the Ok button

What to do depends on the attempt's status:

For every status and the changes it allows, see Allowed changes from each status.

Revert an attempt in marking

On the test attempt page, under Attempt details, select Change > Revert to Completed.

Attempt details for an attempt in Marking, with the Change menu open listing Refused to attempt, Mark, Revert to Completed and Re-open, and Revert to Completed highlighted

The attempt returns to Completed, and you can promote the answer. Revert to Completed is refused once a linked marking project has started or a marker has opened the attempt.

Postpone an attempt in a running session

  1. On the session dashboard, tick the test-taker.
  2. Select Postpone candidate.
  3. Enter any details and select Confirm.

The attempt becomes Postponed, and you can promote the answer. Postponing takes the attempt out of the session; see Postpone or abandon a test-taker's attempt.

Settings

Administrators can configure these settings on each assessment event, in Test Player & Delivery Options under Test Delivery/Replay Settings. Open the event from Deliver > Assessment Events.

Short answer audit trail — keeps a time-stamped copy of each extended text response every time it's saved. It appears only when the event's test contains extended text items, and can be changed while the event is in Draft or Delivery.

Audit trail deletion date — appears once Short answer audit trail is ticked. It defaults to 30 days after the event ends, and must fall between the event's closing date and 120 days after it. On this date the saved versions are deleted and can't be recovered.

Gather Answer History, in the same section, doesn't affect the audit trail. It collects answer history for other item types and skips extended text items. See Test delivery/Replay settings.

Administrators can set this site-wide setting at Settings > Test Designer Settings, under Test Authoring Settings.

Auto save interval — the number of seconds between auto saves, from 20 to 600. It's blank by default, so the test player saves only when the test-taker moves between items. It applies to every test on the site, and each auto save adds a version to the audit trail.

Administrators grant this permission per role at Settings > Roles, under Answer History.

Promote — shows the Promote link on the audit trail. Without it, a role can't promote a version.

The audit trail also needs NoSQL delivery, which Janison switches on for your site.