Set a submission deadline

Submission deadlines let you control how long candidates have to complete their assessment. You can choose one closing date for everyone or give each candidate the same amount of time from when you invite them.

Choose your deadline type

Choose Assessment Deadline if you need all responses by a particular date.

Choose Candidate Deadline if you invite candidates at different times and want everyone to have the same amount of time to complete their assessment.

Set an Assessment Deadline

1. Create or edit your assessment.
2. Go to the Publish Page
3. Find Submission Deadline and switch it on.
4. Select Assessment Deadline.
5. Choose the closing date, time and time zone.
6. Publish your changes.

The assessment will stop accepting responses at the date and time you selected.

Set a Candidate Deadline

1. Create or edit your assessment.
2. Go to the Publish Page
3. Find Submission Deadline and switch it on.
4. Select Candidate Deadline.
5. Under Time to complete, choose hours or days and enter how long candidates have to respond.
6. Publish your changes before sending your invitations.

You can enter:

• Hours: up to 168 hours.
• Days: up to 365 days.

There is no preset duration, so you must enter a value.

Each candidate’s deadline is calculated from the moment their invitation is sent. Opening the invitation later does not restart the time available. Their deadline is shown in their local time.

Example: You choose three days. A candidate invited on Monday at 10am has until Thursday at 10am. Another candidate invited on Thursday at 10am has until Sunday at 10am.

Candidate Deadlines work with email and SMS invitations only. Use an Assessment Deadline if you need a closing date for candidates accessing your assessment through a shareable link or QR code.

Change a deadline

Open your assessment, select Edit, update the settings under Submission Deadline, and publish your changes.

What happens next depends on the deadline type:

• Assessment Deadline: The updated closing date and time apply to the assessment.
• Candidate Deadline: The updated time allowance applies to future invitations. Candidates already invited keep the deadline they were originally given.

For example, changing a Candidate Deadline from three days to five days does not give previously invited candidates two extra days. This also means that changing the time allowance will not reopen an invitation that has already expired.

What happens when a deadline passes?

Candidates who follow an expired link see a page explaining that the assessment has expired. They can no longer record or submit a response.

• With an Assessment Deadline, the assessment closes for everyone at the chosen time.
• With a Candidate Deadline, each candidate’s invitation expires at their own deadline. Other candidates can still respond until their deadlines pass, provided the assessment remains active.

Remove an Assessment Deadline or reopen an assessment

If an assessment has closed because its fixed deadline has passed, you can reopen it:

1. Open the assessment and select Edit.
2. Under Submission Deadline, either choose a future Assessment Deadline or switch the deadline off.
3. Publish your changes.

These instructions apply to an assessment-wide deadline. Changing the Candidate Deadline time allowance does not change deadlines on existing invitations.

Turn off an assessment before candidates respond

Before you turn off an assessment with outstanding invitations, Willo asks you to confirm and shows how many invited candidates have not yet responded.

Check this number before continuing, particularly if candidates still have time remaining.

This confirmation applies to assessments with either an Assessment Deadline or a Candidate Deadline.