Resits, Reasonable Adjustments, and Appeals

Resit Rules: Time, Frequency, and Scope

Not meeting the national standard is disappointing, but the process anticipates retakes. College of Policing candidate guidance sets three hard logistics points:

1. You may resit from three months after the date you completed your assessment.
2. You may attempt the assessments a maximum of two times in any 12-month period.
3. On a resit you must complete both national sift exercises again (SJT and BSQ).

Use the waiting period deliberately. Re-read your feedback report, study CVF Level 1 behaviours, and practise independent SJT rating discipline. A second attempt that repeats the same rushed BSQ faking pattern wastes the limited attempt budget.

If you met standard, you do not resit for sport—the next stages of recruitment become the focus.

Reasonable Adjustments and Accommodations

Some candidates need additional help because of temporary or longer-term conditions. Official examples of situations that might create disadvantage include pregnancy, injury, medical conditions, disability, or neurodiversity (guidance also references neurodivergence examples such as dyslexia and autism on related Join the Police messaging). The principle is equal opportunity to demonstrate ability, not a lowered standard of professional behaviour.

Untimed Means No Extra Time Award

Because both exercises are untimed, the College does not offer additional time as a reasonable adjustment. Extra minutes are not the lever—the design already removes a countdown clock. If your difficulty is processing speed, the untimed format itself is the primary structural support; still use self-facilitated breaks and accessibility tools as needed.

Self-Managed Accommodations (No Permission Required)

The online system supports several accommodations you manage yourself. You are not required to seek permission from the College of Policing or your recruiting force for these:

• Text-to-speech software
• Coloured overlay or changing screen and text colour
• Zoom in up to 300%
• Keyboard navigation for most of the website
• Self-facilitated breaks between questions and between exercises

Set these up during practice, not halfway through a scored scenario. Confirm zoom and colour settings on the actual device you will use for the live attempt. If text-to-speech is part of your normal access toolkit, verify it works with the platform interface before you unlock the scored exercises.

When to Contact Your Recruiting Force

If you have concerns about completing the exercises, or you need advice about support beyond the self-managed list, contact the force you are applying to directly. Forces can explain what further adjustments or process support may be available. Do this as early as practical after invitation—not minutes before the window expires.

College pages also point to broader guidance on reasonable adjustments for online assessments; use those official resources rather than informal social media checklists.

Appeals Procedure

The appeals pathway is narrow and evidence-based. Know it so you use it correctly—and so you do not rely on it as a substitute for preparation.

Step 1: Raise Issues Immediately

If something goes wrong during the assessment (technical failure, serious disruption, process problem), raise it with your recruiting force immediately. Delayed complaints are harder to evidence.

Step 2: Written Appeal With Evidence

If the matter is not resolved after initial communication, you must make a written appeal to the force you are applying to. This route applies when you believe extenuating circumstances or procedural concerns may have affected your performance. You will need to provide evidence.

What Can and Cannot Be Appealed

Critical official limits:

• If you met the standard, your appeal will not be considered further (you already cleared the gate).
• Appeals are only considered if you have not met the standard.
• Procedural issues may still be investigated because they can affect the assessment system more broadly.
• You cannot appeal based on an unsuccessful result alone. “I disagree with my percentile” is not, by itself, an appeal ground.

In short: appeals address process integrity and evidenced disruption, not ordinary disappointment with an outcome.

Extenuating Circumstances

Extenuating circumstances are described as likely to be a serious event or series of events, such as:

• illness
• accident or injury
• death or serious illness of a family member

Equally important is what is not extenuating:

• lack of preparation
• a heavy workload before the assessment

Those factors may hurt performance, but they are not treated as extenuating grounds in the official guidance.

Act Before You Sit When You Already Know There Is a Problem

If before completing the assessment you are aware of extenuating circumstances affecting your performance or involvement, you may ask to complete the assessment later. If the assessment window is about to expire, notify your force, explain, and request an extension.

Guidance is explicit that these known issues are not grounds for appeal after you have chosen to sit. It remains your decision whether to continue or withdraw and undertake the assessment later. Candidates are given this opportunity so they can perform when ready—not so they can create a retrospective appeal strategy.

Decision framework:

Contacts Map (Logistics, Not Guesswork)

Keep contacts straight:

• Platform technical support: supportservicesintl@talogy.com (support hours Mon–Fri 9:00–17:30 excluding bank holidays).
• College recruitment mailbox: recruit@college.police.uk for certain assessment-affected issues and queries not solved elsewhere; state your recruiting force in the email header when instructed.
• Recruiting force: process, adjustments advice beyond self-managed tools, results timing, appeals submission, window extensions.

Do not email every address with the same vague message. Match the problem to the owner: tech to tech support, process to force, policy/assessment issues as guidance directs.

Integrating Adjustments, Window Strategy, and Appeals Mindset

The healthiest candidate posture is proactive:

1. Configure self-managed accessibility tools during practice.
2. Ask the force early about any additional needs.
3. Sit only when you can give a fair account of your judgement and behaviour.
4. If disruption occurs, document and report immediately.
5. If unsuccessful without procedural defect, treat the outcome as information, observe resit limits, and improve CVF-aligned performance.

Appeals exist to protect fairness when something exceptional and evidenced goes wrong. They are not a second scoring panel for candidates who simply wish they had prepared more. Resits exist to give a later, cleaner attempt. Self-managed accommodations exist so common access needs do not require bureaucracy. Used together, these policies support a professional, fair national sift—not a maze of loopholes.

Final Logistics Checklist Before You Click Start

• I know my seven-day window end date.
• I completed practice (or knowingly accepted permanent skip).
• My device, zoom, colour, TTS, and keyboard setup is tested.
• I have a quiet block for ~45 minutes SJT and ~20 minutes BSQ, untimed but focused.
• I will rate SJT actions independently on the official five-point meanings.
• I will answer the BSQ honestly about typical work behaviour.
• I know resit, RA, and appeal boundaries so I will not invent rules under stress.

Logistics mastery will not replace CVF judgement—but it prevents preventable failure around the edges of an otherwise strong attempt.