Assessment-marking workload
Estimate how long a cohort's assessments will take to mark, including resubmissions.
For Assessors, training managers
How to use this calculator
Start with the worked example below. Replace the figures in Your numbers with your own inputs, then select Recalculate. Read the assumptions and limitations before using the estimate in your planning. Save report downloads the last calculated results and inputs.
Total marking hours
28.9 hours
First marking, resubmissions and moderation combined.
- First-marking hours
- 25 hours
- Every submission marked once.
- Resubmission hours
- 2.4 hours
- About 12 tasks expected to return.
- Moderation hours
- 1.5 hours
- A 10% sample reviewed by a second assessor.
- Hours per learner
- 1.45 hours
- Total marking effort divided across the cohort.
This is an estimate to support your professional judgement, not a determination. Our tools draft. You validate.
Saves the last calculated inputs, results and assumptions to your device. Recalculate after changing inputs.
Your numbers
How many learners will submit.
Separate tasks each learner submits for this unit.
Time to assess one task and write usable feedback.
Percentage of tasks you expect to come back not yet satisfactory.
Usually less than a first attempt: you are checking specific gaps.
Percentage of judgements a second assessor reviews.
Time for the second assessor to review one judgement.
How this is worked out
Submissions = learners × tasks. Marking = submissions × minutes. Resubmissions = submissions × resubmission rate, at the resubmission minutes. Moderation = submissions × sample% × moderation minutes. Total is the sum, in hours.
What it assumes
- Every learner submits every task.
- A resubmitted task is marked once more, not repeatedly.
- Moderation happens after first marking, on a sample of judgements.
What it does NOT account for
- Does not include time spent designing or validating the assessment tools.
- Does not include appeals, reasonable adjustment or academic-integrity investigations.
- Does not model learners who never submit.
What to do next
- Compare the total against the marking hours actually allocated in your schedule.
- If the gap is large, look at task design before asking for more hours. Fewer, better tasks often assess the same evidence.
- Record your real minutes-per-task for one cohort and re-run this.
Sources
- Validation and moderation context: Standards for RTOs 2025: assessment validation expectations (reviewed 2026-08-26)