WGU PA Returned? What the Evaluator Comments Mean and How to Pass the Resubmit

Published: November 9, 2026

You opened the portal expecting to see Competent and instead the task is back in your queue with a note from the evaluator. Maybe it is the first time. Maybe it is the third time on the same task and you are starting to wonder if the evaluator just does not like you.

Take a breath. A returned Performance Assessment is not a failed course. It is not a mark on your record. It is a normal part of how WGU works and most students who finish a degree there have had at least a few tasks sent back. This post explains what the evaluator is actually telling you, why one small gap returns the whole task and how to revise so the next submission is the last one.

Everything here is based on WGU's published scoring policy, the submission guide in the student portal and the threads WGU students post in r/WGU every week. We have also helped a lot of WGU students get stuck tasks through and the same handful of mistakes show up again and again.

What "returned for revision" actually means at WGU

WGU does not grade Performance Assessments with a percentage. Each task has a rubric and the rubric is broken into aspects. An evaluator scores every aspect on its own scale. The most common scale is three levels: Not Evident, Approaching Competence and Competent.

To pass, every aspect has to reach the passing level. On the three level descriptive rubric that means Competent on every single line. Some courses use a four or five level rubric where one aspect can sit a step below the top level and still pass. Your task page tells you which rubric applies.

Here is the part that catches people. One aspect scored Approaching Competence returns the entire task, even if the other nine aspects are perfect. The evaluator is not saying your paper is bad. The evaluator is saying one specific requirement is not fully shown yet.

That is why the evaluation report matters more than the overall status. The status just says returned. The report tells you exactly which aspect fell short and what was missing.

How to read the evaluation report

Open the task, go to the Evaluation tab and read every aspect, including the ones that passed. Passing aspects tell you what the evaluator was satisfied with so you do not touch them. Returned aspects tell you where to work.

For each aspect that did not pass, do three things:

1. Write the aspect name next to the comment so you know exactly which rubric line it belongs to.
2. Read the wording of the Competent level for that aspect. The gap between what you wrote and what that level asks for is your entire revision.
3. Find the paragraph in your own draft where that aspect lives. If you cannot find it, that is your answer. It is not there.

Evaluator comments are usually more specific than students expect. "The submission does not include a cost estimate for the proposed solution" is not vague. It means add a cost estimate. "The analysis identifies the problem but does not explain its impact on stakeholders" means add a paragraph on stakeholder impact. Students lose weeks by reading these as personal criticism instead of as a checklist.

A few phrases and what they usually mean:

• Not Evident: the evaluator could not find this requirement in your work at all. Add it.
• Approaching Competence: something is there but it is incomplete, too general or does not match what the task asked for. Make it specific.
• Does not align with the task prompt: you answered a slightly different question. Reread the task directions for that part.
• Sources not cited or in text citations missing: the rubric requires sources for that aspect and the evaluator could not see them in that section.
• Approval Needed or a locked task: see the section below. You cannot resubmit until you have spoken with your Course Instructor.

Why the same task keeps coming back

The r/WGU complaint that comes up most is this one: "I fixed what they said and now they found something new in the same section." It feels like moving goalposts. Most of the time it is not.

Evaluators read the whole task each time. If your first draft had an aspect at Not Evident, the evaluator may have written one comment about the biggest gap. Once you add that content, the evaluator can now assess the detail inside it and may find a smaller gap. The task did not get harder. The evaluation got deeper because there was finally something to evaluate.

The other common cause is changing parts that already passed. Students rewrite the introduction, trim a section that was Competent or reorganize the whole paper while fixing one aspect. Now the evaluator has new content to judge and sometimes it no longer meets the level it met before. Fix the named aspect. Leave the passing parts alone.

How many times can you resubmit a WGU PA

As many times as it takes. WGU's policy says you may refine and resubmit a Performance Assessment until you pass. There is no attempt cap and no fee for resubmitting. This is the big difference from Objective Assessments, which are capped and need a mentor conversation between attempts. If you have failed an OA as well, our guide on what happens after a failed WGU OA covers that side.

Two things do limit you.

The instructor lock. After repeated returns on the same task, the evaluator can mark it Approval Needed. The task is locked until you talk to your Course Instructor and they approve the next attempt. This is not a punishment. It is WGU's way of making sure you are not throwing the same draft at the wall. Book the appointment, bring the evaluation report and ask the instructor to walk you through the aspect that keeps failing. Most students pass on the attempt right after that conversation.

The end of term. Every task must be submitted and passed by 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time on the last day of your term. A task still in evaluation at that moment counts as Not Passed for the term and the course rolls into the next one. This is the deadline that actually matters and it is why evaluation time has to be part of your plan.

How long evaluation takes

WGU's official service level is 72 hours from submission. In quiet weeks students often see results in 24 to 48 hours. In the last week of a month and especially the last two weeks of a term, it stretches toward the full 72 hours or past it because everyone submits at once.

Plan every submission as if it will take three full days. If a task has already been returned once, assume you may need one more round. That means a PA you want passed by the end of the term should be in the evaluator's hands at least two weeks before the term ends, not two days.

A revision checklist that passes

Before you click Begin Next Attempt, run through this:

1. Every returned aspect has new content, written inside the original document, not as a separate note or a new file.
2. The new content uses the rubric's own words. If the aspect says "evaluate the impact on stakeholders," your heading or topic sentence should say stakeholders and impact. Evaluators are reading fast against a rubric. Make the match obvious.
3. Passing aspects are untouched. Resist the urge to polish.
4. Sources are cited in the section that needs them, in the citation style the task names. A reference list at the end does not count as in text citation.
5. You resubmitted the complete task. WGU asks for all components every time so the evaluator has one whole piece of work.
6. You ran the similarity and professional communication scan that appears before submission. A yellow flag on professional communication is a strong hint to fix grammar and tone before the evaluator does it for you.
7. You read the task directions one more time, start to finish. Returned tasks are often returned because a required part of the deliverable, a table, a diagram, a recording, was simply missing.

Then submit through the portal: View Task, Submissions tab, Begin Next Attempt, upload your files and complete every step. Clicking Begin Next Attempt alone does not send anything.

When the task is the problem and not you

Some courses are known for stubborn PAs. Capstones, anything with a video or simulation component and the long business and education tasks with ten plus aspects. Students who sail through OAs still get stuck here because the skill is different. An OA tests whether you know the material. A PA tests whether you can show every requirement in the exact form the rubric wants.

If you are on your third return, the term is ending and you also have an OA to study for, it is reasonable to get help with the writing side. That is what our WGU OA and PA help is for. We work one task at a time from the evaluator comments and the rubric. You pay after that task passes. Revisions from evaluator feedback are included until it does. If the whole course has become the problem rather than one task, the take my WGU class page explains how a full course works, assessment by assessment.

If you would rather fix it yourself, the two best resources inside WGU are your Course Instructor and the Writing Center. Instructors can tell you what an aspect means in plain language. The Writing Center can fix structure and citations before the evaluator sees them. Both are free and both are faster than another blind resubmit.

Quick answers

Does a returned PA affect my GPA or transcript? No. WGU courses are pass or fail. Nothing about the number of attempts appears on your transcript.

Can I argue with the evaluator? You can ask your Course Instructor to review the evaluation if you believe an aspect was marked wrongly. In practice it is almost always faster to add the missing piece than to dispute it.

Will a different evaluator read my resubmission? Possibly. Evaluation is anonymous and tasks are routed to whoever is available. Write for the rubric rather than for the person.

Why did my task say Not Evident on an aspect I clearly wrote about? Usually because the evaluator stopped assessing once an earlier aspect failed badly or because what you wrote did not use the rubric's language and the evaluator did not connect it. Make the match obvious and resubmit.

Is there a limit on PA attempts if I am in the Teachers College or a licensure program? Some licensure courses have specific rules for field experience and demonstration teaching tasks. Check your program guide and ask your mentor before assuming the general policy applies.

A returned task is a list of what to add. Read it as a list, fix only what is on it and get the resubmission in with time to spare before the term closes. If you also failed an OA this term or are deciding how to order the rest of your assessments, our D196 study guide and D076 study guide cover two of the courses WGU students ask us about most.