Your Guide to Reassessments

This guide is designed to take you through the key information you need to know about reassessments, including the different types of reassessment - such as further first attempt and capped resits - as well as answering some of the most frequently-asked questions.

This guide will also cover the key University policies relating to reassessments to help you understand how this applies to you, such as your right to remedy failure and mitigating circumstances.

In this guide:

Key terms explained
Types of reassessment
Reassessment policies and regulations
FAQs

Need more advice?

If in doubt, speaking to your academic department (through your personal tutor or departmental senior tutor) is the next best step. They will be able to provide you with all the details for your specific reassessments and support you throughout the process.

We understand that reassessments can be challenging and if you are finding things overwhelming, we would encourage you to make use of the services available to you from the Wellbeing and Student Support teamLink opens in a new window.

Key Terms

Knowing just a few of the key terms will help you to navigate the different types of reassessment and relevant policies/regulations.

Capped Resit - A reassessment where the mark for the module has been capped at (i.e. cannot exceed) 40.

Exam Board - A panel of staff who review your academic performance in line with University policies. Exam Boards decide whether students can graduate, proceed to the next academic year, or may need to undertake reassessments.

Further First Attempt (FFA) - A reassessment that is not capped. In such cases, you are being reassessed as if it were your 'first attempt.'

Optional Resit - You do not have to take the reassessment to proceed to the next year of your course or graduate, but you can if you wish to do so.

Mitigating Circumstances - Different factors beyond your control which have significantly and negatively impacted your academic performance. These factors have not been 'mitigated' (taken into account) through another route, such as temporary withdrawal or extension.

Required Resit - A reassessment you must undertake in order to progress to the next year of your course or graduate.

'Reassessment' or 'Resit'?

You may find people use these terms in different ways. For example, 'resit' is often used to refer to in-person examinations rather than written coursework, such as an essay. Reassessment is a more all-encompassing term. What is most important is that you are clear on what kind of reassessment/resit you will be undertaking - if it is an in-person exam, essay, or otherwise. This will be clearly communicated to you following the results release dates, and the details will be made available in Tabula. However, if at any point you are unsure, please do seek clarification from your academic department.

Types of Reassessment

All reassessments are:

Optional or required
A further first attempt or a capped resit.

For example, if you are offered an optional reassessment, this could be either a further first attempt or a capped resit.

Click on each term below to find out more about what they mean.

Optional reassessments

If you have been offered 'optional reassessments,' this means:

You have met the requirements to graduate/proceed to next year but there is a module you have not passed.
You have the option to retake any components of that module you have not passed.
Summer exam board: Finalists cannot take an optional reassessment during the summer vacation period AND graduate in July.
September exam board: Non-finalists cannot take an optional reassessment to complete in the following summer AND proceed to the next year.
Your decision to take or not take an optional reassessment is likely to depend on your current mark, and whether you have an FFA or a capped resit. In some cases, you might decide this means a lot of work for little gain. In other cases, it could boost your overall mark and degree result.
This is a personal decision. You may wish to discuss your options with your personal tutor, but it is completely up to you whether to take the reassessment or not.

Required reassessments Further first attempt

If you have been offered a Further First Attempt (FFA), this means:

Unfortunately, you did not receive a pass mark on a module, but you have approved mitigating circumstances.
You have therefore been given a Further First Attempt (FFA) for any failed components in any failed modules.
An FFA means that your component and module marks will be uncapped; you are able to earn the full range of marks (which differs from a capped resit).

Capped resit

If you have been offered a capped resit, it means:

Unfortunately, you have failed a module and you did not have approved mitigating circumstances.
You have therefore been given a capped resit for any failed components in any failed modules.
A capped resit means that your component marks will not be capped, but your module marks will be capped at 40.

Reassessment Policies and Regulations

The Right to Remedy Failure

All assessments are reviewed by Exam Boards using the University's Right to Remedy Failure policy. This policy states that all students on a taught undergraduate or postgraduate programme have the automatic right to remedy failure on one occasion in each module at the earliest opportunity (with some very specific exceptions as outlined in section 1.3, such as lab-based modules).

In practice, this means...

You have the right to be reassessed for a module you have failed,
You have the right to be reassessed for a failed component within a failed module,
However, you are not automatically entitled to be reassessed for a failed component if you have passed the module overall.

Your right to remedy failure does not depend on whether you have mitigating circumstances, or if you have not met the requirements to progress/graduate - it is a right that applies to all students.

Mitigating Circumstances

Mitigating circumstances are those which are outside of your control, that you could not have predicted, and have a significant negative impact on your studies. Examples include:

Late identification of a specific learning difficulty, or disability, which requires reasonable adjustments to exam arrangements,
Serious illness or accident which occurred at the time of the assessment or during preparation for it,
Serious illness, accident, or death of someone close to you,
Unforeseen financial hardship,
Family difficulties such as unexpected caring responsibilities,
You have been subject to bullying, harassment, or threatening behaviour.

This is not an exhaustive list - you can submit a claim for any circumstances which are unexpected, beyond your control, unpreventable, and have had a significant harmful effect on your academic performance. For this reason, a permanent/chronic condition would not normally be covered by the policy and should instead be taken into account through reasonable adjustments.

It is important to discuss your mitigating circumstances with your personal or departmental senior tutor before you submit a claim, who will able to help ensure you have appropriate support throughout the process. You will also need to provide evidence for your claim, such as a doctor's letter. Claims can be submitted via the 'Personal Circumstances' tab in Tabula, or through myWBS for Warwick Business School students.

For more details, please see the Mitigating Circumstances Guidance for Students on the Education Policy and Quality webpages

Reassessment FAQS

When will I find out if I have reassessments? Where can I see the details of my reassessments?

You will receive an email from Student Records on results release day with details of your reassessments. You will also be able to find further details in Tabula under the 'Assignments' tab - however, please note you may need to allow some time for them to appear in Tabula as they will first need to be set up in the system by your academic department. Please contact your academic department if you are not sure about when the details will be available in Tabula.

When will my resit exam be held/when are my reassessments due?

Resit exams are normally held in September. You will be able to see the dates of your exams following publication of the Resits and Deferrals Examinations timetable.

You will be able to see the due date for assessments to be submitted via Tabula in Tabula itself.

If in any doubt about the timings or deadlines for your resits/reassessments, please contact your academic department.

What should I do if I have optional reassessments?

This will depend if you are a finalist (you are expecting to graduate) or non-finalist student (you are expecting to progress to the next year of your course).

If you are a finalist student...

You will not automatically be registered for reassessments. If you wish to take any of the reassessments you have been offered you will need to opt in. However, it is important to consider that if you opt in, you will not be able to graduate until such reassessments have been completed. If you don't take your reassessments, then you will graduate as expected. You will need to confirm your decision by completing the Finalist Optional Resit Form. If you do not complete the form by the deadline, then it will be assumed that you do not wish to take your reassessments and will graduate as expected.

If you are a non-finalist student...

You will automatically be registered for optional reassessments and will need to opt out if you do not wish to take them. You can confirm your decision by completing the Non-Finalist Optional Resit Form.

Can I retake an exam or assessment to get a higher mark? What happens if I can't complete my reassessments?

If you do not take your reassessments, they will be marked as failed and a decision will be made at the next Exam Board as to your next steps. You will be notified of the decision on results release day for resit students. You can find a list of results release dates here.

If there is a reason why you can't complete your reassessments, such as poor health or other unforeseen circumstances, then you are encouraged to apply for mitigating circumstances so that the Exam Board can take this into account when making their decision.