External students are those who are working towards a resit attempt which is an exceptional or final attempt. It is usually for a repeated semester or year.

The University’s guidance on external resits can be found here.

External students are still classed as University of Leeds students. You only stop being a student when you finish or permanently withdraw from your course.

You can’t usually go to any teaching sessions, but you can keep your student card and continue using the libraries.

You can read more about the financial and practical implications of being an external student in our related articles.

FAQs

How do I take my resits?

You are only required to attend university for assessments and exams, and often these can be done remotely. Your School will be able to tell you what you need to do and they will make arrangements for any areas of Minerva you need access to for your resits, as well as opening the relevant submission areas. Contact your School directly if you have any questions about this.

You need to register for your external resits by the deadline published by the University. If you don’t register by this deadline the University will presume you’ve withdrawn from your course.

Are there fees for resitting externally?

No, these were removed in January 2024. The University still expects you to pay any overdue resit fees from before this policy change.

Read the University’s guidance on resit fees here.

Can I apply to resit internally?

An internal student is one that can attend classes as usual and pays tuition fees. External students are usually resitting a smaller number of modules and do not attend classes as they have attended the teaching already.

You cannot ‘apply’ to be an internal student if you have been told you are resitting externally.

Instead, being an internal student for resits would usually be the result of a successful mitigating circumstances application.

If you think you need to be an internal student due to teaching missed throughout the year, first contact your School about your options and then contact LUU Advice if you still need help.

I’m on a visa, can I resit internally?

International student visas may be affected by having an external status. You can find the specific University guidance on external resits and visas here.

You cannot have internal status just because of the impact it might have on your visa. You should speak to the Student Visa Advice service for any queries about how you might be affected.

LUU cannot advise on visas and immigration.