Testy has two separate allowances. Spending one never draws down the other, so running out in one place does not mean running out everywhere. The tutoring allowance is shown by the usage chip at the top right of Testy's page, and Testy says when either one has run out and when it comes back.
The tutoring allowance
This one covers Testy's own page and Testy on a marked test review page. Reviewing a paper is the same work a student would otherwise bring to his page, so it draws on the same allowance. It also covers the questions and figures he makes, marking a piece in the writing studio and marking a writing task in the WritingHub Gym.
How it refills depends on what the family holds:
- With a prep bundle or a current class enrolment, it is a daily allowance and it comes back at midnight. Holding more than one qualifying thing gives the most generous allowance, not the two added together.
- Without either, it is a one off allowance for the life of the account. It does not come back tomorrow, next week or next term, and there is no way to earn more of it. A bundle is what turns it into a daily allowance.
When the one off allowance is gone, Testy's page closes behind a message explaining that. The dock in the corner keeps working.
The dock allowance
This one covers Testy in the corner of every other page: the dashboard, the classroom, practice, homework, the leaderboard. It is a smaller daily allowance, it is the same for everybody, and buying a bundle does not make it bigger, because Testy there is a companion rather than a tutor. It always comes back the next day.
What is free
Plenty is not counted at all: typing in the writing studio, marking the same piece again without changing it, marking a piece after its third mark, the lessons and warm-ups in the WritingHub Gym, reading the question on a marked paper, Testy's own nudges and edits to the plan. A Gym writing task is only counted when Testy actually marks it, so a task that could not be marked, was too short or was not a real attempt costs nothing.
If Testy stops
He says which it was. A daily allowance comes back at midnight. If the dock has run out, the tutoring allowance is untouched, so Testy's page and the review page are still there. Occasionally he says he is taking a short break, which is about us rather than the student, and passes.