Skip to main contentSussex homepage Staff

Student Hub
  1. Student Hub
  2. Exams and assessments
  3. Exams
  4. Current location: Resitting an assessment

Resitting an assessment

Find out what you need to do if you are offered a resit or sit for an assessment.

Where to start

Go to Sussex Direct for information about what kind of resit you’re doing and when it takes place.

This could be any type of assessment, such as an exam, essay or presentation.

Your resit submission will have new titles and questions. The exception is for dissertations or projects, where you normally continue to work on your existing topic, usually without further supervision.

Resits for semester one modules take place in a designated period. Resits for semester two and year-long modules take place in a designated assessment period. See term dates for when resits happen.

If you need to know what to do for your assessment, get information from the School that owns the module:

Alternatively, see contact details for our Schools of study including foundation years and the Sussex Centre For Language Studies.

If you have a visa

If you’re studying at Sussex with a student visa, resitting an assessment may have an impact on your visa status. See resit information for students with visas.

If you need more advice about your immigration status, speak to our immigration advisers.

Difference between a resit and a sit

If you’re offered another opportunity to take an assessment, the mark you get may be capped or uncapped.

A resit is a further attempt to pass a module. The mark you get for a resit assessment is capped at the pass mark for the assessment. Assessments on Level 7 modules are capped at 50% while assessments on modules at level 6 or lower are capped at 40%. The uncapped mark is shown on your transcript.

Tip: See what level your module is in Sussex Direct by choosing your timetable and selecting the relevant module code. The level is listed under the FHEQ row.

A sit is a type of resit that gives you another opportunity to complete a module assessment. Check your Module Results page in Sussex Direct for details of the sit you’ve been given.

Your mark from a sit attempt is not capped and may be combined with marks you achieved for other assessments from the module.

You might be offered a sit if we accepted an exceptional circumstances claim.

Important: The mark you get for a resit or sit assessment will be used for progression and/or award purposes, even if it’s lower than your original mark. If you don’t take the resit or sit, your original mark will stand.

Optional resits and sits

You may be offered an optional resit or sit if you’ve been given the credit for your modules, and one or more of the following applies:

  • you have a marginal fail – a module mark of 35% to 39% for levels 3 to 6, or 45% to 49% for level 7 modules, and have met the criteria for compensated credit
  • the exam board has reviewed your performance at the level of the award and given condoned credit for the failed module
  • you have passed the module but because of your exceptional circumstances, the exam board has decided to offer a sit.

Deciding to take an optional resit or sit

Consider the following:

  • You need to be confident you can improve your mark. If your current mark is a marginal fail and your resit mark is lower, this may mean the module can no longer be compensated. Speak to the Module Convenor or your Academic Advisor for more advice.
  • Optional resit marks are capped at the pass threshold (40% for levels 3 to 6 and 50% for level 7 modules). Optional sit marks are not capped.
  • You need to consider the percentage of the overall module mark made up from this resit or sit (the weighting). This will determine how much the mark for the module can be improved by taking an optional uncapped sit or a capped resit. To check the percentage weighting of the optional resit or sit offered, select the resit assessment mode in the "Assessed By" column of your module results table in Sussex Direct.

Letting us know your decision

You must decide by the deadline shown on your Module Results page in Sussex Direct. Select the "accept" or "decline" option. You can change your decision as many times as you like before the deadline.

Important: If you don’t accept or decline this option by the deadline, it will be removed from your record.

Mandatory resits and sits

You’ll have mandatory resits or sits because you have not achieved the credit on all of your modules.

If you fail your resit, we might allow you to progress into your next stage of study with a trailed resit – this means you have to take the resit to get the credits for the module but you can do it later on.

See more about trailed resits.

Repeating the year instead of taking resits or sits

A repeat year means you do the teaching, learning and assessments again to get the credits you need to progress on your course or earn a degree. We won’t use any marks or credits from the original year – you’ll only be considered on what you achieve in your repeat year.

If you’re an undergraduate (except for students in year 1), the exam board held in the summer may offer you a repeat year, known as a stage. If a repeat stage is not offered by the summer exam board, this may be offered by the resit exam board in September.

If you’re not in your first year, and have not been offered a repeat by the summer exam board, you can apply in the summer to repeat a failed stage of study in the next academic year instead of taking resits or sits. Contact your School to discuss this option.

First year students who haven’t progressed will be automatically offered a repeat stage by the resit board in September.

If you’re a postgraduate, and the summer exam board has not offered you a repeat year, you can appeal to ask for this. Find out more about making an appeal.

Regulations

For more detailed information about resitting an assessment, see our regulations.

See more from Exams