TAE study-time and completion planner
Estimate how long a TAE qualification will take at the hours you can genuinely commit each week.
For Prospective and current TAE students, and RTOs advising them
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.
Weeks to complete
76.33
Study weeks at your weekly hours, plus the weeks you will not study. Add feedback turnaround on top.
- Total hours remaining
- 434 hours
- Study, assessment and practical for the units you have left.
- Hours per unit
- 39.4 hours
- Study plus assessment, including the resubmission allowance.
- Units remaining
- 10
- After the units you have already completed.
- Months to complete
- 17.57
- The same answer in months, for comparing against an enrolment period.
- Hours per week to finish in six months
- 19.73 hours
- What it would take to finish within six months at your break schedule.
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
Total units required. TAE40122 has ten; a skill set has fewer.
Units you have finished or had recognised.
Reading, activities and drafting for one unit, before assessment.
Producing the evidence: written tasks, session plans, recordings.
Supervised delivery and assessment practice across the whole qualification, not per unit.
Realistically, in a normal week: not a good week.Most working trainers manage 4-8. Planning on 15 while working full time is how people stall.
Holidays, work peaks, family commitments across the whole period.
Percentage of assessments needing more work after feedback. Being marked Not Yet Competent is normal, not a failure.
How this is worked out
Units remaining = units − completed. Hours per unit = study + assessment, increased by the resubmission rate applied to assessment. Total = (remaining × hours per unit) + practical hours. Weeks = total ÷ hours per week, plus break weeks.
What it assumes
- Resubmission adds to assessment time only, not to study time: you do not re-read the unit, you redo the task.
- Study hours are usable hours. An hour with interruptions is not an hour.
- Practical hours are spread across the qualification rather than needing a single block.
What it does NOT account for
- Waiting for assessment feedback, which for many learners is the largest part of the elapsed time and is entirely outside your control.
- Finding a suitable group to deliver to for practical assessment: often the real bottleneck.
- Your RTO's maximum enrolment period, which may be shorter than the answer here.
- Course fees and payment-plan timing.
- Recognition of prior learning, which could remove units entirely.
What to do next
- Add two to four weeks for feedback turnaround before quoting yourself a finish date.
- Check the answer against your RTO's maximum enrolment period. If it exceeds it, you need more weekly hours or an extension, and it is better to know now.
- Arrange your practical delivery group early. It is the step that most often stalls a TAE.
- If the weekly figure is above eight and you work full time, plan for the longer timeline rather than hoping.
Sources
- TAE Training Package: training.gov.au: TAE40122 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, ten units. Confirm the current release and your RTO's specific structure. (reviewed 2026-08-27)
- Study hours per unit: Entered as an input. Nominal hours published by an RTO are a guide for funding, not a prediction of any individual's time. (reviewed 2026-08-27)