Assessment-tool development cost
Estimate what it costs to develop an assessment tool for a unit, from mapping the requirements through to internal review.
For RTO managers, learning designers, contract developers pricing work
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 cost
$9,656.00
All units, including the rework allowance, at the developer rate entered.
- Hours per unit
- 28.4 hours
- Mapping, writing and review, plus rework.
- Cost per unit
- $2,414.00
- Useful for comparing against a quote to buy the tool instead.
- Mapping hours per unit
- 2.67 hours
- Reading the criteria and deciding how each will be evidenced.
- Writing hours per unit
- 18 hours
- Drafting the instruments themselves.
- Total hours
- 113.6 hours
- Across every unit: check this against the time you actually have.
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 units of competency need a new or rebuilt assessment tool.
Roughly how many discrete criteria the tool must map to. Most units sit between 15 and 30.
Reading the criterion and deciding how it will be evidenced.
Separate tasks in the tool: knowledge questions, practical observation, project, third-party report.
Drafting the task, the learner instructions and the benchmark answers or observation checklist.
A second person checking the tool before it is used, separate from formal validation.
Cost per hour of the person building the tool, including on-costs, or the contract rate.
Percentage added for revisions after review. Zero is not a realistic answer for a first build.
How this is worked out
Mapping hours = criteria × minutes ÷ 60. Writing hours = instruments × hours each. Base hours per unit = mapping + writing + review. With rework = base × (1 + rework%). Total = per unit × units, costed at the developer hourly rate.
What it assumes
- The unit's requirements are read from the current training package release, not from an older version of your own tool.
- One developer builds the whole tool for a unit; splitting it across people adds coordination time this does not count.
- The rework allowance covers revisions found in internal review, not a failed validation.
What it does NOT account for
- Learning resources. This is the assessment tool only. The learner guide, slides and activities are separate work.
- Formal validation, which is its own calculator and its own obligation.
- Trialling the tool with real learners and adjusting from what that shows.
- Licensing or purchase of third-party assessment materials you adapt rather than write.
- Version control, publishing and distribution into your learning platform.
What to do next
- Compare the total against a quote for purchasing a mapped tool. Buying is often cheaper; the question is whether it fits your delivery and cohort.
- Budget the validation separately: a tool is not finished when it is written.
- If the rework allowance looks high, that is usually a signal to review earlier rather than to reduce the allowance.
- Check the mapping against the current release on training.gov.au before starting, not after.
Sources
- Standards for RTOs 2025: assessment system requirements: Outcome Standards, Division 1: assessment meets the requirements of the training product and the principles of assessment and rules of evidence (reviewed 2026-08-27)
- training.gov.au: The authoritative source for a unit's elements, performance criteria and assessment conditions. (reviewed 2026-08-27)