Profilia lets you run the chronotype test with a whole class for free, with no sign-up for you or your students. You open a session in one click, you show the QR code on the board, and each student answers on the device your school allows: phone, tablet or a computer-room machine. You watch the spread of the class's Lion, Bear, Wolf and Dolphin profiles build up live. First names are optional, the grid appears once 3 people have taken part, and first names and answers are deleted after 30 days by default.
How it works
1. You open the session before the lesson. One click from the test page, no form at all. You land straight on the session screen, with the link and the QR code. No account to create, neither for you nor for your students, and no email address to ask anyone for.
2. Students answer together. Show the QR code or write the link on the board, or post it on your class's online platform. To have everyone start together, tick "Live workshop" when you create the session: students wait in a lobby and you start the test once the class is ready. Without this option, the session is open straight away and everyone can answer at their own pace, in class or at home.
3. You put the rhythm map on screen. It refreshes by itself as answers come in, and can be put on screen as it is. Nothing to rerun or reload.
What each student gets
Each student takes the full chronotype test exactly as if they were doing it alone, and lands on the same complete result page: the detailed description of their profile, with no account to create and no email address to leave. They can download a PDF version, built in their own browser (nothing is sent or stored), or save the image of their result.
They then see the class's collective breakdown, with no names at all, with a description and a communication pointer drawn from the test for each chronotype present, and questions to start the discussion. Their first name, if they entered one, is visible only to you.
What you have for the debrief
- The class grid, which updates by itself and can be put on screen on the board.
- For each profile present in the class, a sentence of description and a communication pointer drawn from the test, to be read as hypotheses, never as an instruction about a student.
- Up to four questions to start the discussion, chosen from the group's actual makeup: one majority profile, two tied, one profile that is rare in the split, one profile missing from the room.
- The "first name and profile" list, visible only to you, for the students who entered a first name (the others appear as "Anonymous").
- A PDF printout of the grid from the browser, without first names, with the date.
- A 60 to 90 minute facilitation kit, opened from your session page, with the "where this profile got me wrong" exercise. It is written for a group of adults; the lesson plan below brings it down to one class period.
- A printable report, for the host of the session only, that is to say you: the breakdown, a few sentences reading the group's makeup as hypotheses to discuss, one card per profile present drawn from the test's own content, the same discussion questions and, as an option, the "first name and profile" list (unticked by default, so absent from the printout).
- A button to rerun the same test with another class, without starting from scratch.
- An optional "live workshop" mode: students wait in a lobby and you start the test once the class is complete.
You can also take the test yourself, and your result counts in the map.
What Profilia does not do: there is no spreadsheet export, no result sent to families and no grade. The debrief happens on the grid on screen or on the printed report, with you as the interpreter.
Reading the class's rhythm map
This test is not about character, it is mostly about hours. It rests on self-reported preferences, at an age when rhythm generally shifts towards the evening: each reading below is a hypothesis to check with the class, not a finding. It says nothing about the students' motivation or seriousness.
A map that is mostly Lion. Many students say they are at their best in the morning. A useful question: which times of day does the class find best for concentrating, and which the hardest?
A map that is mostly Wolf. Many say they are at their best in the afternoon and evening. The question to ask is first about the time, before any question of engagement: when is it easier to work, and when is it harder?
A map that is mostly Bear. This is the in-between profile, which Breus presents as the most common: neither very early nor very late, at its best in the late morning. A useful question: at what times does the class's concentration dip, and what do we do with those times?
A map that mixes Lions and Wolves. Is there a moment when everyone says they are at their best? What can you do at your own best time, when organizing your personal work and revision?
A map with Dolphins. In Breus's model, this profile mostly describes light, fragmented sleep and hard-to-predict energy, rather than a preferred time of day: do not assume anything about a student's sleep. A useful question: what helps each person work after a bad night?
A very uniform map, whatever the chronotype, is comfortable. A useful question: would the schedule we treat as obvious suit someone who works differently?
For every chronotype present, the grid also offers a sentence of description and a communication pointer drawn from the test. They are hypotheses to check by asking each person, not a way to guess a classmate's rhythm.
Lesson plan for one class period
A class map without a debrief is just one more picture. Here is a plan that fits in 55 minutes.
Minutes 0 to 5, the framing. State the aim: understand when each person is most at ease, not judge anyone's schedule. Remind everyone that the first name is optional, and that a nickname is fine. Show the QR code.
Minutes 5 to 20, taking the test and reading alone. Each student answers on their own, then reads their own result page in silence. Ask each student to note one sentence that sounds like them and one that does not: disagreeing with the result is allowed, and useful to say out loud.
Minutes 20 to 35, the map. Put it on screen and first ask the students what they see in it, before any interpretation. Then ask one or two questions from the previous section, as hypotheses to check together: dominant chronotype, missing chronotype.
Minutes 35 to 50, the discussion. Go back to the questions suggested under the grid. Add this one: "In which recent situation did we notice that we work differently, and what did we make of it?" An assignment due, a test first thing in the morning, a group project at the end of the day can serve as examples.
Minutes 50 to 55, a commitment. One concrete step, chosen by the class and within its control: for example, decide at what time of day each person will place their personal work for the week, or plan, for the next group project, a moment where everyone says when they are most at ease. You will come back to it at the end of the project.
What not to do: say out loud which student is which chronotype if the student has not said so themselves, present a chronotype as a lack of discipline, form work groups from the profiles, and use the map to assess, grade or direct students towards a pathway. The first names you see on your screen are not meant to be read out loud.
The facilitation kit follows a plan of the same kind on a page reserved for the host, opened from your session page and repeated on the last page of the report. It adds the "where this profile got me wrong" exercise, which is a reminder that the result is a starting point, and the list of what the questionnaire does not allow: predicting, forming groups or assigning roles by profile, comparing two people, assessing or hiring. It is written for a group of adults: adapt it to your class with the plan above.
When to use it
At the start of the year, with a class that is getting to know itself, as a starting point for a discussion on how to organize your work. The map on screen gets people talking far more than a round table does.
Before a group project or a revision period, to give students a neutral vocabulary for saying "we do not work the same way" without it being a reproach.
In a class meeting, when tensions are about ways of doing things rather than facts.
Anonymity, age and data
The grid only appears once 3 participants have taken part. Below that, a distribution would give too much away about each person: in a group of two, the spread names everybody.
The first name is optional. If one is entered, only the host of the session, so you, sees it, next to the student's profile. Students only see the class breakdown, with no names. A nickname works just as well, and without a first name the result still counts in the grid. Our privacy policy states that taking part in a group session is open to all ages, and that under 15 the first name is left blank or replaced with a nickname.
No account is needed, for you or for the students, and no email address is asked for. Sessions and any first names given are deleted after 30 days, automatically, unless you sign in and choose to keep the group for 12 months: students are told before they answer. There is no advertising anywhere on Profilia, and the data is not sold to anyone.
What chronotype measures, and where it stops
Chronotype describes a sleep-wake rhythm preference. The four animals are a popularised model made famous by Michael Breus in 2016, not scientifically validated: research places people on a continuum, from the earliest to the latest, the Dolphin has no equivalent there, and this test gives a tendency, not a measurement. It is also a self-assessment questionnaire, not a physiological measurement: it does not replace a sleep diary, an actigraphy device, or medical advice.
Two limits matter in a classroom. First: chronotype shifts with age and habits, it is not a fixed identity. Second: what a student reports can reflect the schedule imposed on them as much as their own rhythm. A uniform map therefore does not prove that the class shares the same rhythm. The distinction between stated preference and actual circadian rhythm is developed in our article chronotype vs circadian rhythm.
The practical consequence: the map is there to discuss organization, never to evaluate anyone. A chronotype is not an excuse and not a criticism, and it should not be used to judge a level of commitment, to grade, or to direct a student towards a pathway.
For putting it into practice, the guide productivity by chronotype goes further into placing tasks across the day.
Frequently asked questions
Is the chronotype test for a class really free? Yes, the chronotype test for a class on Profilia is entirely free, with no cap on the number of sessions, no paid tier and no advertising. There is no limited trial and no feature held back behind an upgrade.
Do students need to create an account or give an email address? No. Neither the teacher nor the students need an account. You create the session and show a QR code; each student answers directly, with no sign-up and no email address.
Are the students' answers anonymous? Between students, yes: they only see the class breakdown, never who has which profile, and it only appears once 3 participants have answered. The host of the session, that is to say the teacher, sees each person's profile next to their first name, if they entered one. The first name is optional and a nickname works.
How many students are needed, at minimum and at maximum? You need 3 participants for the grid to appear, and a session accepts up to 300 people, which covers a class and a full year group alike.
How long is the data kept? A group session and its results are deleted automatically 30 days after it was created, first names included, or 12 months after if you chose to keep it (account required, students told before they answer). If the group is linked to your account and the grid was shown, only an anonymous summary then stays in your account, for 12 months after the group closes: how many people per profile, with no names or answers.
Can the test be used with students under 15? Taking part in a group session is open to all ages, since it asks for no email address and no identity. Under 15, the first name is left blank or replaced with a nickname. Our questionnaire has not been validated with students: present it as a set of questions to get people talking, not as a measurement.
What is a class chronotype map actually useful for? It opens a discussion on when each person works best, and on how to organize personal work, revision or a group project accordingly. It does not change the school's timetable.
Is the chronotype test a medical diagnosis? No. It is a self-assessment questionnaire on rhythm preferences, not a clinical exam. For a sleep disorder, significant drowsiness or persistent fatigue, see a doctor, not an online test.