Information for students required to take resit exams
Section 1: Purpose and Contents of this page:
This page has been created to give guidance for students who have been informed they are required to resit an exam/multiple examinations before being permitted to proceed to the next stage of study.
Please ensure you have carefully read the guidance provided for your situation BEFORE you contact Student Immigration.
This information applies to holders of a Student Visa sponsored by the University of Warwick who are:
- Enrolled on an Undergraduate course whose student status is, or will be updated to, 'Resit without Residence' following the requirement to resit an exam(s)
- Enrolled on a Postgraduate Taught course who are required to resit an examination in order to pass the taught part of the course before progressing to the dissertation stage
If you have only just been informed that you are required to resit an exam(s) and your status is currently, or is about to be changed to, 'Resit without Residence', you should read the information on this webpage carefully along with the information on 'Withdrawals and Breaks in Study' .
You would normally be expected to spend your Resit without Residence period outside of the UK, unless you are able to switch into another immigration category which would allow you to remain in the UK.
Once you leave the UK you should not attempt to re-enter using your Student Visa, as this break in study will have been reported to the Home Office UK Visas & Immigration and it is likely that action will have been taken to cancel your leave.
If you are required to return to the UK in order to take your resit exam(s) then you will need to obtain appropriate immigration permission which permits study. You cannot use your original Student Visa since this will have been curtailed by the Home Office.
In order to sit your resit exam(s) you will need valid UK immigration permission which permits study, since the Home Office consider sitting examinations as academic activity, even if you will be in the UK for only a short time.
Suitable types of visas for resitting exams include:
- A Standard Visit Visa
- A Student Visa sponsored by the University of Warwick (if you are eligible)
- Any other UK immigration permission which permits study
Undergraduates with resit examinations scheduled for Term 3 (usually April - June) will usually be contacted by the Immigration Service in February/March with advice and information on visa options. When you receive this email, read it carefully as it will tell you what to do next.
To be eligible to apply for a Student Visa for your resit exam(s) there must be no more than 60 days between each period of academic engagement and the date you resume studies, when your statusreverts to 'fully enrolled'. For Undergraduate students this excludes official University vacations.
If you are required to resit more than one exam, these must be fewer than 60 days apart.
See the following example of a hypothetical Undergraduate with multiple resit examinations:
Date of first exam: 25 April 2022
Date of second exam: 1 May 2022
End of term: 2 July 2022
A student in this situation would NOT be eligible to apply for a Student Visa as there are 63 days between the second exam and the end of term, despite there being only 7 days between exams.
For Postgraduate Taught students resitting exams before progressing to dissertation, the date of resumption is the date of the Exam Board; if the period of time between the last academic engagement (exam) and the Exam Board date is fewer than 60 days and there is no more than 60 days between exams, you will be eligible for a Student Visa.
If you think you are eligible to apply for a Student Visa for your resit (exam)s then you can submit a remote CAS request to the Immigration Service. We will then liaise with your academic department to confirm your exam dates. Where we agree that we can sponsor your Student Visa we will assign a CAS to cover both the examination period and the remainder of your course. If your visa application is approved by the Home Office you will then have sufficient leave to cover both your exams and the revised course end date.
If we cannot confirm your eligibility for Student Visa sponsorship either because the time between periods of academic engagement exceeds 60 days or we have not been provided with exam dates, will we no assign a CAS and you will need to apply for alternative UK permission, such as a Standard Visit Visa
If, following the official results of your resit exam you are not permitted to continue with the remainder of your course (for example, the exam board decision is for you to be withdrawn from the programme) then the University will not be able to continue sponsoring your Student Visa. A report will be made to the Home Office which confirms this and your Student Visa will be curtailed, meaning you will need to either leave the UK or switch into another immigration category. For more information on this please see the pages on Withdrawals and Breaks in Study and Curtailment.
If you are not eligible to apply for Student Visa because you will not be resuming full time study within 60 days of the date of the last examination, or where there are gaps between resit examinations of more than 60 days and you do not hold alternative UK immigration permission which allows study, then you will need to obtain a Standard Visitor Visa.
If your circumstances are such that you could apply for either a Standard Visitor Visa or a Student Visa, you may wish to read the information about the Standard Visitor Visa on our webpage before making your decision as to which visa to apply for. The same web page gives you information about the application process, and about whether you need to apply before coming to the UK.
If you decide to apply for a Standard Visitor Visa, you will need to contact your Academic Department to ask them to produce a letter to support your immigration application, or to show upon entry to the UK.
Please be aware that you cannot switch from a Standard Visit visa to a Student Visa from within the UK. This means that, even if the results of your exams mean you can continue your course, you will need to leave the UK and make an application for a Student Visa overseas to cover the remainder of your course.
You must ensure that you enter the UK within the validity of your Visa.
If you have obtained a Student Visa then you must travel within the validity of your Temporary Travel Visa and have it stamped by a UKVI border official on entry to the UK. You will then collect your BRP after you are in the UK.
Holders of Standard Visitor Visas applied for in advance of travel should enter the UK after the start date and have their visa vignette stamped by a UKVI border official.
If you are a non-visa national and can enter the UK as a Visitor without applying in advance you should ask an immigration official to endorse your passport with an entry stamp - this is the start date of your visa. If this is not possible or you enter via an e-Gate then the date of your arrival is the start date of your Visa and you should retain evidence of this, such as a boarding pass or flight ticket.
Whatever visa you use to enter the UK, provide us with scans to enable your re-enrolment.
If, after reading the guidance above, and you are still unsure of what you should do next, please contact Student Immigration to discuss your situation via the following methods:
Please click on the following links for more information
University of Warwick:
UK Government:
Other contacts: