When using exam with multiple choice questions, how can you ensure that the question and all of the choices will appear on the one page?

Question

I have a simple multiple choice question, I would like to ensure that the question and all choices appear on the same page. I have seen previous suggestions that you should embed the question in a minipage, but that affects the spacing between questions. Is there any other ideas that could accomplish this?

    1. What is the time?
A) 1o'clock
B) 1o'clock
C) 1o'clock
D) 1o'clock

Here is an example of a fix with minipage that requires vspace to fix vertical spacing issues.

\documentclass[a4paper,12pt,addpoints]{exam} 
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{anyfontsize}
\makeatother
\graphicspath{{\subfix{../images/}}}
\begin{document}
\sffamily
\newpage
{\Large\textbf{Section I - Multiple Choice}}
\textbf{Total Marks}
\textbf{Attempt All Questions}
\textbf{Allow About 12 Minutes for these questions}
Use the multiple choice answer sheet
Select the alternative A, B, C or D that best answers the question.
\vspace{0.4cm}\hrule\vspace{1cm}
\begin{questions}
    \begin{minipage}{\linewidth}
        \question What time is it?\hfill
        \vspace{0.5cm}
        \begin{choices}
            \CorrectChoice 1 o'clock
            \choice 2 o'clock
            \choice 3 o'clock 
            \choice 4 o'clock
        \end{choices}
        \vspace{0.5cm}
    \end{minipage}
    \begin{minipage}{\linewidth}
        \question What time is it?\hfill
        \begin{choices}
            \CorrectChoice 1 o'clock
            \choice 2 o'clock
            \choice 3 o'clock 
            \choice 4 o'clock
        \end{choices}
    \end{minipage}
    \begin{minipage}{\linewidth}
        \question What time is it?\hfill
        \begin{choices}
            \CorrectChoice 1 o'clock
            \choice 2 o'clock
            \choice 3 o'clock 
            \choice 4 o'clock
        \end{choices}
    \end{minipage}
    \begin{minipage}{\linewidth}
        \question What time is it?\hfill
        \begin{choices}
            \CorrectChoice 1 o'clock
            \choice 2 o'clock
            \choice 3 o'clock 
            \choice 4 o'clock
        \end{choices}
    \end{minipage}
    \begin{minipage}{\linewidth}
        \question What time is it?\hfill
        \begin{choices}
            \CorrectChoice 1 o'clock
            \choice 2 o'clock
            \choice 3 o'clock 
            \choice 4 o'clock
        \end{choices}
    \end{minipage}
    \begin{minipage}{\linewidth}
        \question What time is it?\hfill
        \begin{choices}
            \CorrectChoice 1 o'clock
            \choice 2 o'clock
            \choice 3 o'clock 
            \choice 4 o'clock
        \end{choices}
    \end{minipage}
    \begin{minipage}{\linewidth}
        \question What time is it?\hfill
        \begin{choices}
            \CorrectChoice 1 o'clock
            \choice 2 o'clock
            \choice 3 o'clock 
            \choice 4 o'clock
        \end{choices}
    \end{minipage}
    \begin{minipage}{\linewidth}
        \question What time is it?\hfill
        \begin{choices}
            \CorrectChoice 1 o'clock
            \choice 2 o'clock
            \choice 3 o'clock 
            \choice 4 o'clock
        \end{choices}
    \end{minipage}
\end{questions}
\end{document}

Add some vertical space between the minipages? Without a MWE showing the issue is not possible be more concrete, but you should think in two minipages just like two big characters. If you are to able to add some vertical space between "A" and "B", you can do the same with the minipages. — Fran, Nov 17 '22 at 02:15
@Fran, yes I can fix it with minipage and vspace (see moded question) but it means even more lines of code, I was wondering if there was a setting or some tidier way of doing it. — Gary Horan, Nov 17 '22 at 03:32
Yes, remove all the \vspaces, add \usepackage{parskip} in the preamble, but mainly, add blank lines between the minipages. You put all In your questions in the same paragraph!. It is like type a really with a huge font the paragraph "A B C D ..." so that only one letter fits per line (i.e., the break lines between minipages are only horizontal spaces por LaTeX, it should be blank lines, or alternatively, add \par to see more clearly the paragraph breaks). — Fran, Nov 17 '22 at 09:08

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 17 '22 at 21:13

This code adds the minipages to the choices environment. It also adds some (optional) space (with \vspace{0.5cm}) before and after the choices.

It will keep the question and all of its choices on the same page.

\documentclass[a4paper,12pt,addpoints]{exam} 
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{anyfontsize}
\graphicspath{{\subfix{../images/}}}
% From https://tex.stackexchange.com/a/224654/161015 *************<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
\usepackage{etoolbox}
\BeforeBeginEnvironment{choices}{\vspace{0.5cm}\par\nopagebreak\minipage{\linewidth}}
\AfterEndEnvironment{choices}{\vspace{0.5cm}\endminipage}
%*****************************************************
\begin{document}
\sffamily
\newpage
{\Large\textbf{Section I - Multiple Choice}}

\textbf{Total Marks}

\textbf{Attempt All Questions}

\textbf{Allow About 12 Minutes for these questions}

Use the multiple choice answer sheet

Select the alternative A, B, C or D that best answers the question.
\vspace{0.4cm}\hrule\vspace{1cm}

%\vspace*{1.3cm} % USE to test.     \vspace*{1.4cm} will make question 4 go tho the next page


\begin{questions}
    \question What time is it?\hfill
    \begin{choices}
        \CorrectChoice 1 o'clock
        \choice 2 o'clock
        \choice 3 o'clock 
        \choice 4 o'clock
    \end{choices}
    \question What time is it?\hfill
    \begin{choices}
        \CorrectChoice 1 o'clock
        \choice 2 o'clock
        \choice 3 o'clock 
        \choice 4 o'clock
    \end{choices}
    \question What time is it?\hfill
    \begin{choices}
        \CorrectChoice 1 o'clock
        \choice 2 o'clock
        \choice 3 o'clock 
        \choice 4 o'clock
    \end{choices}
    \question What time is it?\hfill
    \begin{choices}
        \CorrectChoice 1 o'clock
        \choice 2 o'clock
        \choice 3 o'clock 
        \choice 4 o'clock
    \end{choices}
    \question What time is it?\hfill
    \begin{choices}
        \CorrectChoice 1 o'clock
        \choice 2 o'clock
        \choice 3 o'clock 
        \choice 4 o'clock
    \end{choices}
    \question What time is it?\hfill
    \begin{choices}
        \CorrectChoice 1 o'clock
        \choice 2 o'clock
        \choice 3 o'clock 
        \choice 4 o'clock
    \end{choices}
\end{questions}
\end{document}

It can be tested adding some vertical space after the rule and before the question. For example \vspace*{1.4cm} will make question #4 and its choices go to the next page.

Thanks @simon-dispa, your solution works well. I had actually seen the thread https://tex.stackexchange.com/a/224654/161015 but I assumed that the solution there didn't work because of a comment below it saying that it didn't include the question (only the choices). Anyway, this does seem to work - thanks again. — Gary Horan, Nov 18 '22 at 00:13

When using exam with multiple choice questions, how can you ensure that the question and all of the choices will appear on the one page?

1 Answers1