'Exam' and 'test' both mean a set of questions or problems that are designed to measure a person's knowledge, skills, or abilities.
'Exam' is the usual word for a written, spoken or practical test at school or college, especially an important one that you need to do in order to get a qualification.
She gets good grades on exams.
'Examination' is a very formal word.
A test is something that students might be given in addition to, or sometimes instead of, regular exams, to see how much they have learned.
A very short informal test is called a quiz in North American English. Quiz in both North American English and British English also means a contest in which people try to answer questions:
- a general knowledge quiz
Note
Quiz's plural is 'quizzes'.
- in a test (British English) a good mark in the test
- on a test (North American English) a good score on the test