Resits: What happens and what to expect

University of Leeds
3 min readAug 1, 2023

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Going through resits in the summer can be a stressful time — and if you’re not sure how resits work, that can only add to the stress. If you’re looking for a bit of clarity around resits from someone with first-hand experience, hopefully this blog will help!

Whistle-stop tour

Practically, a resit works almost exactly like a standard assignment or exam: you find out the due date, you do the work required, and you submit. Easy. Breaking the process down to its most minimal parts makes the task appear way less daunting.

Now… a bit more detail.

Come your results at the end of the year, you may apply for a resit through student services if:

  1. You have failed a module
  2. You have been considered for mitigating circumstances

If you haven’t yet applied for a resit but believe you need to, get in touch with your parent school or the examination office.

Stay informed

Once you’ve applied, you’re set. You’ll receive all the relevant emails with information about your resit throughout the process (so make sure to stay on top of your university emails!), such as the date your coursework is due, when/where your exam is, and how to submit.

You can also sign up to the new resit newsletter that will run over the summer to keep you company and share useful information, support and opportunities.

Student on their laptop

Cost

Keep in mind, there is a fee involved if you are resitting due to failing. If you’re worried about the cost, eligible students can apply for the Financial Assistance Fund to help with course-related costs associated with resits (including cost of books, printer credit, study-related childcare cost, and study-related travel cost).

There’s more information about all of this on the Resits in August page. If you’re unsure about anything, don’t hesitate to get in touch with the assessment team, your school or module leader directly.

Could’ve, should’ve, would’ve…

It’s pretty normal for your brain to be racing with thoughts about your resit and maybe even thinking ‘how could I have prevented this?’ The reality of the situation is that it doesn’t matter now, and it does you no good worrying over things you can’t change. So, focus on going forward! Those unhelpful, tricky thoughts may come back to you at times, so a good trick to realign yourself is to stay present. Something I found useful for this was the worry tree:

Image of the worry tree — a way to manage and rationalise your worries. Follow the link in the caption for more information.
Worry Tree — visit worry-tree.com for more info

You “input” your worry at the top of the tree, follow it down like a flow chart and by the end of it you’ll have separated your past and future worries from your real time worries. This will hopefully help you to see what worries you have control over, when to take action and when to just let it go!

If you find yourself struggling mentally or emotionally, get in touch with the Leeds student well-being centre. They’re open for appointments throughout the resit period for any additional support you may need.

Written by A. Iqbal

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