Student Supervision Load Calculator

Work out student supervision load instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Student Supervision Load Calculator

Supervision loads are usually costed at about sixty hours a year for a doctoral student, twenty for a masters and ten for an undergraduate project. Four, six and eight of each is 440 hours - eleven hours a week over forty weeks, or 27.5% of a 1600 hour academic year. That is before teaching, research and administration.

Formulas

Annual hours

hours = 60 x doctoral + 20 x masters + 10 x undergraduate

FTE share

share = annual hours / 1600 hour academic year

Worked example

With the default values below, Student Supervision Load Calculator returns Annual Supervision Hours of 440. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Doctoral studentsminimum 0: 4
Masters studentsminimum 0: 6
Undergraduate projectsminimum 0: 8
Supervision weeks per yearminimum 1: 40

Results

Annual Supervision Hours: 440 h
Average Weekly Supervision: 11.00 h
Share Of A Full-Time Post: 27.5%
Load Assessment: Heavy load - little room for other duties

Step by step

1Values used
2Annual hours
3FTE share
4Annual Supervision Hours= 440 h
5Average Weekly Supervision= 11.00 h
6Share Of A Full-Time Post= 27.5
7Load Assessment= Heavy load - little room for other duties

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax or fees or charges into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many doctoral students can one supervisor manage?

Guidance typically caps it at six to eight as principal supervisor, and fewer for inexperienced supervisors.

Does supervision load count in workload models?

It should, though many institutional models undercount it - particularly the intensive final months of a doctorate.