How Do Athabasca University Assignments and Tutor Marking Work?

Athabasca University (AU) in Canada runs most of its undergraduate courses as individualized study. There is no fixed class timetable: you start on the first of a month, work through the course at your own pace within a contract period, and submit assignments that a tutor or academic expert marks and returns with feedback. If you have studied with the Open University or another distance provider, this will feel familiar, but AU has its own rules on timing, marking and extensions.

This guide explains how Athabasca University assignments work in practice, what to expect from your tutor, how long marking takes and how assignment marks feed into your final grade. Policies can change, so treat AU’s current academic calendar and your course syllabus as the final word.

How does an Athabasca individualized study course run?

According to AU’s academic calendar, individualized study courses begin on the first day of each month, provided you register by the 10th of the previous month. Your registration gives you a fixed contract period to finish all the work:

Course type	Standard contract
0-, 1-, 3- or 4-credit courses	6 months
6-credit courses	12 months

Full-time funded students have shorter contracts, and overseas students are generally assigned start dates one month later than students in North America. Within the contract, you choose when to submit each assignment, as long as you follow any order or prerequisites your syllabus sets out. You can submit assignments once the course has officially begun, and some assignment instructions may not be available before your start date.

The flexibility is the attraction and the risk. Nobody chases you for a week-four deadline, so it is easy to drift for three months and then face every assignment and the final exam at once.

Who marks my Athabasca University assignments?

Your assignments are marked by your course tutor, sometimes called an academic expert. AU’s calendar describes the tutor’s role as providing subject-matter help, marking assignments, giving feedback and helping you prepare for exams. Some faculties work differently: Business courses use a Student Support Centre and Science and Technology courses use a Student Success Centre, so check your course home page to see who to contact.

A few practical points from AU’s published rules:

• You may contact your tutor from your course start date, but not before.
• AU’s service standard is for the tutor to make initial contact within two weeks of your start date.
• The standard response time for tutor emails is two business days.
• Tutors may be away for up to ten days for holidays, with other arrangements for longer absences.

Use your tutor early. A short email asking whether your plan for the first assignment is on the right track costs you ten minutes and can save a weak first mark.

How long does Athabasca take to mark an assignment?

AU publishes service standards for marking. For undergraduate courses, they include:

Situation	AU service standard
One assignment submitted electronically	7–8 business days from upload or email
Several assignments submitted electronically at once	5 additional business days for each remaining assignment
Assignment sent by post	5 business days from receipt by the marker, plus postage time
Re-marking by a different tutor	10 business days

The second row matters most for students who leave everything to the end. If you upload four assignments in the same week, the last one may not come back for several weeks. You also lose the chance to use feedback from one assignment to improve the next. If a standard is not met, AU directs students to its Learning Services Tutorial team.

How do assignment marks turn into my final Athabasca grade?

Your final grade is calculated using the evaluation scheme in your course syllabus, which sets the weighting of each assignment, quiz and exam. A few rules are worth knowing from the start:

• For courses started from 2003 onwards, the passing grade is the equivalent of a D, unless your syllabus states otherwise.
• Some courses require a minimum mark or completion of specific components, such as an assignment or the final exam. A mark of zero on a required component can mean failing the course, even if your other marks are good.
• A final grade cannot be calculated until every requirement is completed, submitted and marked.
• AU recommends submitting all your work at least six weeks before you need your final grade, for example for graduation or a transfer.

AU uses an alpha (letter) grading scale with grade points. The undergraduate grading policy sets out the bands as follows; confirm against your syllabus, as individual courses can specify their own requirements.

Letter grade	Percentage	Grade point	Descriptor
A+ / A / A-	90–100 / 85–89 / 80–84	4.0 / 4.0 / 3.7	Excellent
B+ / B / B-	76–79 / 73–75 / 70–72	3.3 / 3.0 / 2.7	Good
C+	67–69	2.3	Good
C / C-	64–66 / 60–63	2.0 / 1.7	Satisfactory
D+	55–59	1.3	Poor
D	50–54	1.0	Minimal pass
F	0–49	0	Failure

Unofficial final grades appear in myAU, and AU notes they can take a few more days to show on your transcript.

What happens if I cannot finish my Athabasca course in time?

AU allows you to buy up to three two-month extensions for an individualized study course. For most students, extensions are requested online through myAU up to the last day of the contract, and the fees are non-refundable. Full-time funded students follow a different, earlier process through the Student Financial Aid Unit, and extensions can affect funding. Extensions are not available for every course type, so check the calendar.

If you neither finish nor extend before your contract ends, AU’s calendar states that you receive an F for the course. Withdrawal rules also depend on timing: withdrawing within 30 days of the start date leaves no transcript entry, while withdrawing later records a W with no refund. Withdrawal is not possible after the contract end date or once you have written the final exam.

The safest approach is to decide on day one when each assignment will be submitted, rather than relying on an extension.

How should I plan Athabasca assignments across a six-month contract?

A simple approach is to work backwards from your contract end date and spread the assessed work evenly, leaving space for marking time and the exam request. Here is an example for a 3-credit course with three assignments and a final exam. Adjust it to your own syllabus.

1. Month 1: read the syllabus, introduce yourself to your tutor and work through the first units. Plan Assignment 1.
2. Month 2: submit Assignment 1 by the middle of the month, then keep studying while it is marked.
3. Month 3: read the feedback carefully and submit Assignment 2, applying what you learned.
4. Month 4: submit Assignment 3 and check that every required component is complete.
5. Month 5: request your final exam, following your course instructions, and revise.
6. Month 6: buffer for delays, re-marking requests or unexpected life events.

If you are fitting AU around a job, our seven-day plan for finishing an assignment while working full-time breaks each individual assignment into evening-sized tasks.

How can I write stronger Athabasca assignments?

Tutors at AU, like tutors anywhere, mark against the criteria in your course materials. A few habits make a big difference:

• Read the marking guide first. If your course provides a rubric, plan each section around what the higher bands reward.
• Use the course readings. Assignments are designed to test the course content, so show that you have engaged with it rather than relying mainly on general web sources.
• Answer the actual question. Underline the command words and make sure every part of the task is covered.
• Get the opening and ending right. A clear introduction and a conclusion that gives a direct answer make your argument easy to follow. See our guide to writing a strong introduction and conclusion.
• Reference consistently in the style your course requires, and follow AU’s academic integrity rules, including any guidance on generative AI in your course.

Can I get feedback on an Athabasca assignment before I submit it?

Start with your AU tutor or the relevant support centre, who know the course and its expectations. If you would like additional, independent feedback, our tutors can read a draft and explain how it measures up against the task and marking criteria through our assignment draft review. You can see how sessions work on our how it works page. We provide tutoring and feedback on your own writing; we do not write or submit assignments for students.