System requirements
Exam Reader runs on ordinary school hardware. No GPU is needed anywhere, and everything is 64-bit Windows.
School server — one per school
The server does the work: rendering pages, running OCR, generating audio, holding the database and serving cached audio to every learner at once.
| Operating system | Minimum: Windows 10 22H2 or Server 2019, x64. Recommended: Windows 11 Pro or Server 2022, x64. |
| Processor | Minimum: 4 cores / 8 threads (Intel i5 8th gen or Ryzen 5). Recommended: 6–8 cores. |
| Memory | Minimum: 8 GB, or 16 GB with the OCR sidecar enabled. Recommended: 16 GB. |
| Storage | SSD with at least 50 GB free. Recommended: NVMe SSD, 100 GB+, with a separate drive for backups. |
| Network | Wired gigabit LAN. |
| Runtime | Bundled by the installer. Nothing to install first. |
Exam-day essentials
- The server on a UPS.
- Sleep and hibernate disabled.
- Windows Update paused for the exam period.
- Antivirus exclusions for the install and data folders — Defender noticeably slows audio-cache writes at scale.
Teacher and learner PCs
The client is light. It displays a page image, plays cached audio and enforces the reader lockdown.
| Operating system | Minimum: Windows 10 22H2, x64. Recommended: Windows 11, x64. |
| Processor | Minimum: modern dual-core. Recommended: quad-core. |
| Memory | Minimum: 4 GB. Recommended: 8 GB. |
| Storage | About 2 GB free. Recommended: 5 GB on an SSD. |
| Display | Minimum: 1366 × 768. Recommended: 1920 × 1080, which is better for full-page rendering and zoom. |
| Audio | Working output and one set of headphones per learner. |
| Network | Reliable Wi-Fi to the server. Wired LAN is better. |
Capacity
The recommended server specification is sized to run 25–35 learners reading at the same time, with 95% of cached-audio requests answered within three seconds and an error rate under one percent. That is the gate we test against before a release goes to a school.
Notes
- 64-bit only. The native OCR and speech libraries rule out 32-bit Windows.
- No GPU required on the server or the clients.
- No internet required on the school LAN, unless you enable the optional Azure cloud voice.
Don't let reading stand between a learner and what they know
Give approved learners the opportunity to access their exams independently, confidently and consistently.
English & Afrikaans · Grades 4–12 · Offline · School-hosted