Testing yourself is one of the most effective ways to study, and AI tools can turn your notes, slides and readings into practice questions in minutes. The catch is that AI questions can be too easy, off-topic or simply wrong. This guide shows how to build a practice test that matches your real exam and compares the tools that help.
Check your course's rules before using AI with course materials. Use your own notes and the materials your instructor posted, and never upload or share real exams or quizzes without permission. Check every AI-generated answer against your course materials.
How to Make a Practice Test with AI, Step by Step
1
Find out what the exam covers
Check the syllabus, study guide and question types (multiple choice, short answer, problems) so your practice test matches the real one.
2
Gather your materials
Collect your lecture notes, posted slides and assigned readings for the topics on the exam.
3
Generate questions from your sources
Upload your materials to Gemini Notebook or Knowt to create quizzes grounded in what you uploaded, or ask ChatGPT to write questions in the same format as your exam.
4
Check and edit the questions
Delete trivia and duplicates, fix wrong answers and add harder questions on topics your instructor emphasized.
5
Take it under exam conditions
Time yourself, close your notes and answer every question before checking.
6
Review mistakes and repeat
Study what you missed, then retest a few days later. Turn missed questions into flashcards for spaced review.
Recommended Practice Test Tools
Prices and features as of November 2026 — check the official site for current details
#1
Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM)
Best for: free quizzes grounded in your own course materials
Google's Gemini Notebook lets you upload lecture slides, PDFs, readings and recordings, then generates flashcards, quizzes and study guides based only on those sources. It's free to use, which makes it a good way to turn a whole unit's materials into practice questions.
Why students use it:
Free
Cards and quizzes are grounded in the sources you upload
Also creates study guides and audio overviews
Downside: It isn't a dedicated spaced-repetition app, so it's less suited to long-term review of a large deck.
#2
Knowt
Best for: free practice tests from notes, slides and PDFs
Knowt's AI flashcard maker turns uploaded notes, PDFs, images, PowerPoints, videos and audio into flashcards, and Knowt says making flashcards with it is free. You can edit and rearrange every card, then study with free modes like Learn mode and practice tests. The paid Ultra plan ($24.99/month, or $95.99 billed annually) adds ad-free studying plus AI summaries of PDFs, videos and lecture recordings.
Why students use it:
AI flashcard creation is free
Accepts PDFs, slides, images, video and audio
Free Learn mode and practice tests
Downside: The free plan shows ads, and AI-generated cards still need checking against your notes, especially for formulas and technical terms.
#3
Quizlet
Best for: Test and Learn modes for study sets you already have
Quizlet is the flashcard app many students already know, with study modes like Learn, Test and Match and a large library of sets made by other users. Its AI tools can help turn your notes into study sets, but the free plan shows ads and limits some study modes, and most AI features require a paid Quizlet Plus subscription. Quizlet Plus is listed at $19.99 per year on Quizlet's upgrade page.
Why students use it:
Easy to use and widely known
Multiple study modes including Learn, Test and Match
Large library of shared study sets
Downside: Many AI features and unlimited study modes are behind the paywall, and shared sets made by other users can contain errors.
#4
ChatGPT
Best for: custom questions in your exam's format
ChatGPT can explain engineering concepts, walk through problem setups and help debug code. Study mode, available on the Free plan, guides you with questions and step-by-step help instead of handing over answers. Plans: Free, Go ($8/month in the US) and Plus ($20/month). Through October 31, 2026, eligible US college and graduate students could claim four free months of ChatGPT Plus after SheerID verification; that offer has now ended.
Why students use it:
Study mode for learning, not just answers
Covers math, coding and writing lab reports
Strong free plan
Downside: It can make confident mistakes with math, units and formulas — always check results against Wolfram|Alpha, your notes or a hand calculation.
#5
Perplexity
Best for: Learn Mode quizzes and free-response practice for verified students
Perplexity is an AI answer engine: you ask a question, it searches the web, and it writes an answer with numbered citations linked to the pages it used. That makes it a quick way to get oriented on a topic and find sources to read for a paper. The free plan covers cited answers with basic models and limited use of advanced features. Perplexity Pro costs $20/month, and verified students can get Education Pro for about $10/month, which also unlocks Learn Mode — a study mode with guided explanations, flashcards, quizzes and free-response practice.
Why students use it:
Every answer shows its sources, so you can check them
Good starting point for research papers and background reading
Discounted Education Pro plan for verified students
Learn Mode adds flashcards and quizzes for verified students
Downside: Citations aren't a guarantee of accuracy — Perplexity can still misread or misquote a source, and its web results are not a substitute for peer-reviewed databases your library provides. Always open and read the source before citing it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Gemini Notebook, Knowt and Quizlet can turn notes, slides and PDFs into quizzes, and ChatGPT can write questions in a format you describe. Always check the answers against your notes.
Gemini Notebook and Knowt can both create quizzes from your materials for free. Gemini Notebook keeps its questions grounded in the sources you upload.
Not always. AI can write questions with wrong answers or focus on minor details. Compare every answer with your notes or textbook and edit questions to match what your instructor emphasizes.
Making practice questions for your own studying generally isn't cheating, but don't upload or share real exams or quizzes without permission, and follow your course's rules.
Start several days ahead so you have time to review mistakes and retest. Spacing practice over multiple days works better than one session the night before.