diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 8ee1234..1f2d4cf 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -181,3 +181,7 @@ GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRETS_FILE=
 # Node Filesystem (for document storage)
 # =============================================================================
 NODE_FILESYSTEM_PATH=/tmp/cc-nodes
+
+# Exam-structure extraction service (docling-exam-spike pipeline) for /api/exam analyse (S6-1)
+EXAM_EXTRACT_URL=
+EXAM_EXTRACT_TIMEOUT=180
diff --git a/modules/services/exam_extract.py b/modules/services/exam_extract.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8cd9f03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/services/exam_extract.py
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+"""Exam structure-EXTRACTION client — the seam between the /api/exam analyse endpoint and the
+deterministic exam-structure pipeline (Card 12 = GO; verdict in docling-exam-spike).
+
+Why a service, not an in-process port: the pipeline is heavy (Docling + OCR + a question/mark/geometry
+parser) and already exists, GPU-attached, in the spike. Following the same pattern the app uses for
+Docling Serve and Ollama (§2 infra map), the API calls it over HTTP rather than vendoring thousands of
+lines. This module is the ONLY place the API knows about that service.
+
+Contract (the extraction service returns the app's ghost-region 'analyse' suggestions directly — the
+mapping lives in the pipeline, `scripts/analyse.py` in the spike; see results/ANALYSE-BRIDGE.md):
+
+    POST  {EXAM_EXTRACT_URL}/api/extract   {"source": {...}, "exam_code": "AQA-PHYS-8463-1H-22-JUN"}
+      ->  {"status": "complete",
+           "coordinate_space": "page_fraction",
+           "suggestions": {"questions": [...], "response_areas": [...], "boundaries": [...]}}
+
+Every suggestion is `source:'ai', confirmed:false` with a `confidence` float and page-fraction bounds
+(the canvas scales by the PDF render size, R3.2); uuids are deterministic so re-analysing is stable
+(§2 join keys). The API never trusts these as final — the teacher confirms/dismisses (R3.1/R3.3).
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import os
+from typing import Any, Dict, Optional
+
+import aiohttp
+
+from modules.logger_tool import initialise_logger
+
+logger = initialise_logger(__name__, os.getenv("LOG_LEVEL"), os.getenv("LOG_PATH"), "default", True)
+
+# The exam-structure extraction service (the docling-exam-spike pipeline deployed as a service).
+EXAM_EXTRACT_URL = os.getenv("EXAM_EXTRACT_URL", "").rstrip("/")
+EXAM_EXTRACT_TIMEOUT = float(os.getenv("EXAM_EXTRACT_TIMEOUT", "180"))
+
+
+class ExtractionUnavailable(RuntimeError):
+    """The extraction service is not configured/reachable — surfaced to the job as a clean failure."""
+
+
+async def analyse_source(source: Dict[str, Any], exam_code: Optional[str] = None) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+    """Run the extraction pipeline on a template's source paper → ghost-region suggestions.
+
+    `source` identifies the paper for the service to fetch/render: a storage-resolvable pointer
+    (e.g. {"storage_url": "..."} or {"file_id": "..."}) and/or a catalogue {"exam_code": "..."}.
+    Resolution + PDF rendering happen service-side; the API only forwards the pointer + exam_code.
+    """
+    if not EXAM_EXTRACT_URL:
+        raise ExtractionUnavailable(
+            "EXAM_EXTRACT_URL is not set — the exam-structure extraction service is not wired. "
+            "Deploy the docling-exam-spike pipeline as the extraction service and set EXAM_EXTRACT_URL."
+        )
+    payload = {"source": source, "exam_code": exam_code}
+    try:
+        timeout = aiohttp.ClientTimeout(total=EXAM_EXTRACT_TIMEOUT)
+        async with aiohttp.ClientSession(timeout=timeout) as session:
+            async with session.post(f"{EXAM_EXTRACT_URL}/api/extract", json=payload) as resp:
+                resp.raise_for_status()
+                data = await resp.json()
+    except aiohttp.ClientError as exc:
+        logger.error(f"exam extraction service call failed: {exc}")
+        raise ExtractionUnavailable(f"extraction service error: {exc}") from exc
+    sugg = (data or {}).get("suggestions") or {}
+    # normalise: the three suggestion arrays are always present so the canvas can render partial results
+    return {
+        "coordinate_space": data.get("coordinate_space", "page_fraction"),
+        "questions": sugg.get("questions", []),
+        "response_areas": sugg.get("response_areas", []),
+        "boundaries": sugg.get("boundaries", []),
+        "meta": data.get("meta"),
+    }
diff --git a/routers/exam/__init__.py b/routers/exam/__init__.py
index 35e6488..e5e5072 100644
--- a/routers/exam/__init__.py
+++ b/routers/exam/__init__.py
@@ -8,9 +8,11 @@ from fastapi import APIRouter
 
 from routers.exam.templates import router as templates_router
 from routers.exam.batches import router as batches_router
+from routers.exam.analyse import router as analyse_router
 
 router = APIRouter()
 router.include_router(templates_router)
 router.include_router(batches_router)
+router.include_router(analyse_router)
 
 __all__ = ["router"]
diff --git a/routers/exam/analyse.py b/routers/exam/analyse.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c92837f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/routers/exam/analyse.py
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+"""AI auto-map: analyse a template's source paper → ghost-region suggestions (spec R3.1/R3.3/R3.5/R5.4).
+
+The teacher's "Auto-detect remaining" button hits this. Because extraction on an image-only paper takes
+~15-60s (Card-12 grounding), it runs ASYNC: POST returns a job_id, the canvas polls GET /jobs/{id}, and on
+completion gets `suggestions` (questions + response_areas + boundaries) to render as GHOSTS
+(`source:'ai', confirmed:false`, opacity by confidence). The teacher confirms/dismisses; nothing here is
+authoritative and it never overwrites manual shapes (R3.1/R3.3). Persisting confirmed shapes is the
+existing PUT /templates/{id} path.
+
+Access is as-the-user (E1/E2): the template is read under RLS (a template the caller can't see reads back
+absent → 404, IDOR-safe), and a job is only visible to the user who started it. The heavy pipeline lives
+behind `modules.services.exam_extract` (the docling-exam-spike deployed as the extraction service).
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import os
+import time
+import uuid
+from typing import Any, Dict
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter, BackgroundTasks, Depends, HTTPException
+
+from modules.logger_tool import initialise_logger
+from modules.services.exam_extract import ExtractionUnavailable, analyse_source
+from routers.exam.dependencies import ExamContext, get_exam_context
+
+logger = initialise_logger(__name__, os.getenv("LOG_LEVEL"), os.getenv("LOG_PATH"), "default", True)
+
+router = APIRouter()
+
+# In-process job store. R5.4 allows BackgroundTasks + a status row for Sprint-4; a durable `exam_jobs`
+# table (survives restarts / multiple workers) is the follow-on. Keyed by job_id; scoped to its user.
+JOBS: Dict[str, Dict[str, Any]] = {}
+_JOB_TTL = 3600  # forget finished jobs after an hour so the dict doesn't grow unbounded
+
+
+def _gc() -> None:
+    now = time.time()
+    for jid in [j for j, v in JOBS.items() if now - v.get("created", now) > _JOB_TTL]:
+        JOBS.pop(jid, None)
+
+
+def _template_or_404(ctx: ExamContext, template_id: str) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+    """Read the template AS THE USER — RLS makes a non-owned/other-institute template read as absent."""
+    res = (
+        ctx.supabase.table("exam_templates")
+        .select("id, exam_code, source_file_id, institute_id")
+        .eq("id", template_id)
+        .execute()
+    )
+    rows = getattr(res, "data", None) or []
+    if not rows:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Template not found")
+    return rows[0] if isinstance(rows, list) else rows
+
+
+async def _run_job(job_id: str, source: Dict[str, Any], exam_code: str | None) -> None:
+    job = JOBS.get(job_id)
+    if not job:
+        return
+    job["status"] = "running"
+    try:
+        sugg = await analyse_source(source, exam_code)
+        job.update(status="complete", progress=100, suggestions=sugg,
+                   counts={k: len(sugg.get(k, [])) for k in ("questions", "response_areas", "boundaries")})
+    except ExtractionUnavailable as exc:
+        logger.warning(f"analyse job {job_id}: extraction unavailable: {exc}")
+        job.update(status="error", error=str(exc))
+    except Exception as exc:  # noqa: BLE001 - the job must record any failure, not crash the worker
+        logger.error(f"analyse job {job_id} failed: {exc}")
+        job.update(status="error", error=f"{type(exc).__name__}: {exc}")
+
+
+@router.post("/templates/{template_id}/analyse")
+async def start_analyse(
+    template_id: str,
+    background: BackgroundTasks,
+    ctx: ExamContext = Depends(get_exam_context),
+) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+    """Kick off extraction for this template's source paper → {job_id}. Poll GET /jobs/{job_id}."""
+    _gc()
+    tmpl = _template_or_404(ctx, template_id)
+    job_id = str(uuid.uuid4())
+    JOBS[job_id] = {"id": job_id, "template_id": template_id, "user_id": ctx.user_id,
+                    "status": "queued", "progress": 0, "created": time.time()}
+    # the extraction service resolves + renders the source itself; the API only forwards the pointer
+    source = {"file_id": tmpl.get("source_file_id"), "exam_code": tmpl.get("exam_code")}
+    background.add_task(_run_job, job_id, source, tmpl.get("exam_code"))
+    return {"job_id": job_id, "status": "queued"}
+
+
+@router.get("/jobs/{job_id}")
+async def get_job(job_id: str, ctx: ExamContext = Depends(get_exam_context)) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+    """Poll an analyse job. On `complete`, `suggestions` = ghost regions for the canvas to render."""
+    job = JOBS.get(job_id)
+    if not job or job.get("user_id") != ctx.user_id:   # a job is only visible to the user who started it
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Job not found")
+    out = {k: job.get(k) for k in ("id", "template_id", "status", "progress", "error", "counts")}
+    if job.get("status") == "complete":
+        out["suggestions"] = job.get("suggestions")
+    return out