When another assessment attempt is bad for progress

Abstract

The history and current practice of resit tests are briefly reviewed. The evidence supporting resits and also the problems associated with resits are evaluated. In addition, the financial implications of resits for both students and institutions are explored, along with the need to ensure assessments establish currency of ability and are a reflection of the long-term capability of students. Although resit outcomes are typically capped at the passing score we argue that they still afford an unfair advantage. We conclude that where resit opportunities are provided then they should have higher pass marks than first sit attempts. However, we recommend that the stress of high stakes exams, and thus resits, should be avoided. Consequently, a case is made for an alternative to resits whereby multiple lower stakes assessment results are aggregated.

Keywords

• resit
• retake
• grade repetition
• summative
• assessment
• standard