The short answer
As institutions wind down iRubric (RCampus) in 2026, lecturers need a rubric tool that does not charge per-student access, carries no hidden fees, and actually grades against the rubric once it is built. An AI rubric generator like Lectimax Rubrica replaces the dated iRubric workflow: you build the rubric, it checks it against best practice, and Gauge applies it to real submissions. You stay the grader; the tool removes the administrative drag.
Why iRubric is on the way out in 2026
iRubric has served faculty for years, but three realities are pushing institutions to replace it:
- Retirement pressure. RCampus is shutting down or winding down iRubric for many institutions in 2026. Classrooms cannot rely on a tool with an uncertain lifespan.
- Per-student access costs. iRubric historically charged instructional access fees. On tight department budgets, a per-seat rubric tool is a hard item to defend.
- It tags, it does not grade. The old model stores a rubric and scores it by hand. It never closes the loop into actual assessment, feedback, or analytics.
What to look for in a 2026 rubric tool
| Need | Why it matters | Lectimax Rubrica / Gauge |
|---|---|---|
| No per-student fee | Affordable for individual lecturers, not just departments | Rubrica has no module access fee: browse, save, publish, export are free. Grading uses credits |
| Rubric library | Reuse proven rubrics, share with colleagues | Community rubric library |
| Best-practice guidance | Rubrics aligned to learning outcomes and taxonomies | CLO and Bloom's taxonomy guidance |
| Grades against the rubric | The rubric does real work, not just storage | Gauge scores submissions against it |
| Portability | Move your existing rubrics in without rebuilding | Import your PDF or Word rubric file directly, then tighten |
How to move your rubrics out of iRubric
Switching is less painful than it looks, because the rubrics you already wrote are the hard part, and now they move over in one file.
- Import your existing rubric. Drop the rubric PDF or Word file straight into Rubrica. The criteria, descriptors, and weightings come across together, so you are not retyping them from scratch.
- Tighten weak descriptors. Make each level observable and specific. This is where most old rubrics quietly fail and where Rubrica's AI assistant earns its place, flagging vague descriptors and suggesting rewrites.
- Set the weightings. Confirm each criterion's weighting against your marking scheme so the imported rubric scores the way you already grade.
- Pilot on one assignment. Grade one batch against the migrated rubric, review the output, and adjust before rolling it across your modules.
If your iRubric only exports as text or CSV rather than a file you can import wholesale, you can still move it over: paste the criteria into Rubrica, set the weightings, and tighten from there. The content is yours either way.
Plan the migration over a teaching break so your next term starts clean.
How to write a good rubric (the part that decides everything)
A rubric is only as good as its descriptors. Two rules carry most of the weight:
- Make every descriptor observable. Instead of "demonstrates understanding," write what understanding looks like at each level, for example "applies the concept correctly to a new case with a supporting reason."
- Make every level distinct. Adjacent levels should describe visibly different performance, not vary by vague adjectives like "good" versus "excellent."
An AI rubric generator helps here by checking each descriptor against clarity and alignment with your learning outcomes, then proposing rewrites you can accept or reject. You stay the author of the rubric; the AI is the reviewer.
FAQ
Is iRubric being retired? Many institutions are winding down iRubric (RCampus) in 2026. Confirm the timeline with your own university before planning a migration.
Is there a fee to access a rubric in Lectimax? No. Lectimax's Rubrica has no module access fee: browsing, saving, publishing, and exporting rubrics are free. AI actions like generating or refining a rubric use a few credits, and new accounts get 200 free credits on signup.
Can I import my existing iRubric rubrics? Yes. Import your existing rubric PDF or Word file directly into Rubrica, tighten the weak descriptors the AI flags, and pilot on one assignment before the full move. If your export is only text or CSV, paste that in instead and follow the same steps.
Does the rubric actually grade, or just store? Lectimax's Rubrica builds the rubric and Gauge applies it. The same rubric that guides your design scores real submissions, which closes the loop iRubric never closed.
Where to go next
- See how that rubric drives real marking in how to grade a batch with an AI rubric grader.
- Read the broader case in what is AI grading in higher education.
Move your rubrics, keep your judgement, and grade against them at lectimax.com. Uploads are not used to train AI models.