Purpose: To provide educationalists with an understanding of the key quality issues relating to multiple-choice tests, and a set of guidelines for the quality assurance of such tests. Design/methodology/approach: The discussion of quality issues is structured to reflect the order in which those issues naturally arise. It covers the design of individual multiple-choice questions, issues relating to the question bank as a whole, choice of test format, and what can be learned through post-test analysis. The paper offers practical advice, with an emphasis on maximising test reliability. Findings: It is recognised that considerable expertise and effort is required to undertake a thorough post-test statistical analysis, but pre-test quality assurance is relatively straightforward, if labour-intensive. The question of which is best amongst the various alternative test formats is left open. Originality/value: The general issue of quality assurance of multiple-choice tests is surely an important one, yet the author is not aware of any other publication that deals directly with this topic.