This paper proposes a model to re-balance assessment schedules through the quantification of students' workload. The initiative derives from the migration of a term-based to a semester-based calendar in a HE institution. The change required scrutiny of former and new assessment calendars which highlighted deficiencies in the administration of engineering courses, such as the uneven distribution of assignments during the academic year. The model and its application derived recommendations to achieve a better balance of workloads, past reflection on nexus between students learning experience and the outcome of mechanisms to evaluate the quality of education.