How to Import a QTI File into Brightspace Question Bank

Updated October 17, 2026 · 6 min read

You have a QTI package and you want it inside the Brightspace Question Bank. Good news: QTI is one of the only two formats Brightspace's Question Library accepts — the other being its vertical CSV. This guide covers the exact import path, what an IMS QTI ZIP actually is, and where these packages come from.

Entry point: Activities › Quizzes › Question Library, then Import › Upload a File. That is where both the CSV and the QTI ZIP go.

What "QTI file" means in Brightspace

Brightspace imports an IMS QTI compliant course package (ZIP) — a QTI-standard compressed package, not a bare .qti XML file. It is the portable, standards-based way to move question banks between systems, and it is one of only two formats Question Library recognizes.

Where these QTI ZIPs come from

Publisher test banks. Vendors like Pearson and McGraw-Hill often ship their test banks as QTI-standard ZIPs you can drop straight into Brightspace.
Blackboard 6.x–9.x conversions. A Blackboard export can be converted to D2L format (Brightspace's parent company), producing a ZIP Brightspace's importer recognizes.
Your own conversions. Questions authored elsewhere (Excel, Word, PDF) can be converted into a QTI ZIP so they enter Brightspace the same way.

Step-by-step: QTI ZIP → Brightspace Question Bank

Open Question Library

In your Brightspace course, go to Activities › Quizzes › Question Bank / Question Library.

Start the import

Click Import, then Upload a File. The dialog accepts your CSV or your QTI ZIP.

Select the QTI ZIP

Choose the .zip that holds the IMS QTI package. Brightspace parses it and previews the items found.

Confirm into the bank

The imported questions become a reusable question bank. Reference them in quizzes, surveys, and self-assessments.

Reuse with random draw

Because they live in the Question Library, you can pull them into multiple quizzes and apply random draw / shuffle to vary each student's attempt.

Supported question types & what gets dropped

Usually safe: multiple choice, true/false, multiple response, matching, fill-in-the-blank, short answer — the QTI staples.
At risk: heavily formatted items, essay prompts with rubrics, or questions whose media isn't a single referenced file often import partially or get skipped.
Media rule: in a QTI package, images travel inside the ZIP (referenced by the XML), so each question should keep to a clean, single-image reference rather than several scattered embeds.

Why QTI imports into Brightspace fail

Not a valid IMS QTI ZIP — a renamed folder or a non-QTI archive is rejected outright.
Wrong source shape — if the questions came from a spreadsheet, they must use the correct field structure (fixed column fields for the CSV path, or proper QTI item XML for the ZIP path) so the importer maps every item.
Unsupported QTI variant — keep the package aligned with the IMS QTI profile Brightspace expects; an off-profile export may need a Blackboard-to-D2L conversion first.

Meet the tool built for this

ExamParser converts questions from Excel, Word, and PDF into an IMS QTI compliant ZIP that Brightspace's Question Library imports cleanly — no hand-editing QTI XML. Its .xlsx source uses fixed column fields, enforces one image per question, and emits a valid package so the import lands without skips. The same source can also feed Canvas, Moodle, and other platforms.

Browse more import guides at examparser.com/blog/en.

Frequently asked questions

What is the QTI file Brightspace imports?

Brightspace imports an IMS QTI compliant course package (ZIP) — a QTI-standard compressed package, not a bare .qti XML. It is one of only two formats Question Library accepts (the other being the vertical CSV).

Where do publisher test banks come from?

Publishers such as Pearson and McGraw-Hill often ship their test banks as QTI-standard ZIPs, or as Blackboard 6.x–9.x packages that have been converted to D2L format. Both land in Brightspace through the same Upload a File importer.

How do I upload the QTI ZIP in Brightspace?

Go to Activities > Quizzes > Question Library, click Import > Upload a File, and select the ZIP. The questions become a question bank you can reference in quizzes, surveys, and self-assessments, with random draw and shuffle.

Can ExamParser produce a Brightspace-ready QTI ZIP?

Yes. ExamParser converts questions from Excel, Word, and PDF into an IMS QTI compliant ZIP that Brightspace's Question Library imports cleanly — no hand-editing QTI XML.

Ready to import your QTI?

Drop your IMS QTI ZIP into the Brightspace Question Library through Import › Upload a File, and reuse the bank across quizzes, surveys, and self-assessments.

Try ExamParser →