Configuration In your config.php add: $CFG->forced_plugin_settings = [ 'quiz' => ['autosaveperiod' => 10], ]; Setup Create a quiz with an Essay question Ensure that the auto-save admin setting is turned on. Test steps Note: These testing instructions should be completed using TinyMCE as your editor, as well as the Atto editor. You can configure your editor in: User preferences -> Editor preferences Attempt the quiz as a student. Open your browser dev tools and go to the Network tab You might see a lot of requests going on due to the core_session_touch requests. So filter the network output with the requests containing the "autosave" keyword Enter some text into the Essay question Wait for at least 10 seconds Confirm that there was an autosave request in the Network tab of your browsers developer tools