Information on resits
What do I do about resits?
You may have been offered a choice of sits or resits in August and are wondering whether you
need to, or should do, them. The set of FAQs will help answer your questions. Because it is a
complex matter, with different circumstances possible, this document is advisory only. If you
want further guidance you should contact your academic advisor or the Student Progress and
Assessment office (SPA). See contacts at the end of this document.
The exam regulations are published here:
www.sussex.ac.uk/academicoffice/documentsandpolicies/examinationandassessmenthandbooks
This provides the definitive rules for classification and progression. This guide interprets the
regulations as best it can without providing excessive detail.
Why have I been given sits/resits?
There is a variety of reasons:
1. You had mitigating circumstances (e.g. unexpected illness) and could not take the
assessment(s).
2.
You have been awarded an honours degree but you failed one or two modules in the
final year.
3. You did not achieve enough credit for an honours degree but have been awarded an Ordinary
degree.
4. You failed to achieve enough credits for an ordinary degree and have therefore failed the
degree.
5. You have not achieved enough credits to progress to your next year of study.
6. Misconduct
Should I take the offered sit/resit?
Using the same numbering system as the previous section:
1. In this case you should take the sit opportunity. You are likely to raise your overall mean (the
‘grand mean’) and this could put you in a higher class. Your mark in the August sit will not be
capped.
For example, you missed one exam but your absence is excused because of mitigating
circumstances. You currently have only 105 credits and a grand mean of 58. The exam board
would have ‘condoned’ the missing 15 credits and awarded you a 2(ii). You have your degree
and can graduate in July. If you choose to take the offered sit, you might get (say) 60%,
replacing the 0% previously included in your grand mean. Your new grand mean is 62.5 and
you would have a 2(i) as well as a better transcript. You need not attend another graduation
ceremony but your award and certificate will be changed.
2. Your failed modules were condoned by the exam board and you have got an honours degree
and you can graduate at the July ceremony. You do not need to do anything more if you are
happy with that outcome. However, some people want to pass all their modules (it might be
needed for professional accreditation, for example). In this case you can take the resit and try
to pass. The possible outcomes of your resit are:
a. You pass, your mark becomes 40% (for resits, marks are capped at 40). This may
help with any accreditation you need and will also raise your grand mean. This could
raise your classification (but in most cases it will not). Every 10% points increase in
your mark on the module will raise your grand mean by 0.75% points.
b. You score lower on the resit than on the original exam. Your new mark counts!
Hence you have worsened your position but this will not result in a lowering of any
classification you have already been awarded. Hence if, for example, you have
already got a 2(ii) you can resit a failed module to try to improve it without risking your
2(ii).
3. In this case you obtained 60 to 105 credits in your final year and the exam board did not
condone the missing credits (because the stage mean was too low). This is enough for an
Ordinary degree (60) but not enough for honours. You have the option of taking the Ordinary
degree now and graduating in July, or taking resits in order to get an honours degree but you
will not graduate in July.
To obtain an honours degree you need to obtain at least 90 credits in the final year, with a
stage (year) mean of at least 40. Hence you might be offered resits on four modules where
you failed. You currently have 60 credits, so you would need to pass at least two of the four to
gain honours, and satisfy the stage mean criterion.
4. In this case you have less than 60 credits in the final year. You will have been offered resits in
failed modules. You will need to pass enough resits to satisfy the criteria for an Ordinary
degree (a total of 60 credits) or Honours (90 credits and a stage mean of at least 40%). If you
want to obtain a degree then you need to take the resits offered. You might not need to take
all the resits offered: this might make revising easier but it increases the risk you do not pass
a sufficient number of resits. The choice of strategy is yours in this case.
5. This is a slightly complicated matter. You need 120 credits to progress, i.e. to pass all your
modules. Hence you will need to resit modules if you have not achieved this. To pass the
resits you need 40% in each module to guarantee progression.
6. If the failure of a module is due to misconduct then you might not have enough credits for an
Ordinary or Honours degree. You need to take the resit in order to gain the credit for the
module.
Are the sit/resit marks capped, and which mark counts: the sit or the resit?
If you are taking a ‘sit’ then the mark is not capped. If you are taking a ‘resit’ then the mark is capped
at the pass mark, which is 40.
Please note: if you take a resit, it is the resit mark which counts, even if it is lower than the original
sit mark. This means that there is a risk that you could make things worse for yourself. Hence it is
probably not worth taking a resit in order to try to gain a few extra marks. Whether to take this risk is
ultimately up to you.
When do the resits take place? When will the precise timetable become
available?
The sit/resit exam period is 26 August 2013 to 6 September 2013 inclusive. The precise timing of the
individual exams will be announced on 2 August 2013. See:
www.sussex.ac.uk/spa/studentassessment/resits
For sit/resit coursework deadlines, please see your Sussex Direct ‘Assessment Deadlines & Exam
Timetable’.
The resit exam board takes place on 11 September and the results will be posted as soon as possible
afterwards.
Contacts
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For queries about Economics resits: Michael Barrow:
M.M.Barrow@sussex.ac.uk
For queries about Business and Management resits: John Bateman
J.Bateman@sussex.ac.uk
For queries about mitigating evidence, etc: Fiona Marshall:
F.Marshall@sussex.ac.uk
For routine administrative enquiries you can contact the Economics or Business and
Management course co-ordinators: ug-econ@sussex.ac.uk or ug-bam@sussex.ac.uk
The School’s Director of Teaching and Learning, Julie Litchfield (J.A.Litchfield@sussex.ac.uk) can
also be contacted about general teaching and assessment issues.