University of Leeds scraps resit fees

Today (Thursday 8th February), the university announced it is removing fees for resits.

Resitting an assessment previously cost £2 per credit with a £50 administration fee. This meant that a single assessment worth all of the module credits could cost a student £90.

In a joint statement from the University and LUU, they said the removal of fees was a step in removing barriers to education.

Many students in Leeds are struggling from cost of living pressures. The critical extent of this problem was evidenced in an investigation for The Gryphon last month, which found that hardship fund applications had increased by 394%.

The University said it is responding to student feedback about the ‘hidden costs’ of university. In a context where living costs are rising disproportionately to the real-time value of maintenance loans, a resit fee is an unaffordable possibility to many.

The statement also cites student wellbeing as a reason for removing the cost pressure, “we also know that having to pay resit fees can add to the mental and emotional stress they may already be facing because their assessments haven’t gone to plan”.

The Gryphon spoke to Bethan Corner, the LUU Education Officer, who initiated the campaign to remove resit fees as part of her platform of addressing the hidden/additional costs of university. Unlike other proposals which would be course- or faculty-specific, resit fees are university wide. For Bethan, this meant this move was a “real win that we could do around hidden and additional costs”. She spoke about hearing from students who could not progress on their course, and had to drop out of university, because they could not afford the resit fee.

Bethan said the university were open to the idea from the beginning. Surplus profits from the 2022-23 academic year made the removal of fees possible beginning in January 2024.

The change means that no student would pay for resits for assessments taken from the January 2024 assessment period. Any student who has already paid for a resit following this will receive a refund. The removal of fees does not apply to assessments taken before January 2024.

On the possible critique that removing fees would de-incentivise students from working hard for their first-try assessments, Bethan said this was not a major consideration. She said that resits, especially those in the summer holidays, were already difficult enough for students and the net gain outweighs the small minority who may misuse this process.

The full University of Leeds and LUU statement is available from the following link