What to do next if you've failed your ADIT exam

Unfortunately, the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) doesn't offer re-marks for ADIT exams. There are two options you can consider:

1. Recheck of Marks (£36 fee)
This isn't a re-mark, but a verification that all procedures were followed correctly. The CIOT will ensure all questions were marked and totalled accurately.

You can only apply for this option if:
(1) Your mark was between 44% and 47%, and
(2) Your script was not already moderated.

If you scored 48% or 49%, your paper has already been looked at closely before the results were released.

You must apply within 10 business days of the results being published, so act quickly if you're considering this option. The fee is refunded if there is a material change to your result.

2. Breakdown of Marks (£16 fee)
This provides a breakdown of your marks per question. Where you lost marks may be different from where you thought, so this is a low fee for a valuable piece of information. If you're planning a resit, we would recommend spending the money.

There are limits to its usefulness. You'll only see your mark for each question as a whole, so if a question had several subparts, you won't see how the marks fell across them. There is no deadline for requesting a breakdown.

Both services usually take around 10 business days to process, and the CIOT will email you the outcome.

Before booking a resit, take time to reflect on your exam experience. The breakdown of marks helps here, and so does comparing your memory of your answers with the suggested solutions when the CIOT releases them.

If you scored low marks on one or two questions, it could be a poor choice of optional question under exam pressure, a misreading of what the question asked, or an answer without enough depth. You’ll know to revisit these topics when you restart your studies.

If you had timing issues in the exam, your mark breakdown should reflect where you ran out of time. Consider your marks for the questions where you spent additional time, and ask yourself if allocating extra time resulted in higher marks. It often doesn’t, as the first tranches of marks in each question are easier to obtain. Generally, the best way to succeed in the paper is to manage your time well, which takes practice.

Your mark breakdown won’t necessarily help you understand what went wrong with your exam technique. This is where getting feedback on your answers to mock exams can help..

Only the most popular modules are examined in December, so this may not be an option. For example, Principles of International Tax, Transfer Pricing, UK Tax and EU VAT are all examined again this December. Exam entry closes on 16 September, so the decision needs to be made in the next few weeks.

If you have the option to repeat the exam in December, think about what work or personal commitments you have between now and then. If you’re always flat out at work in November and December, trying to resit then could add to your stress. If you realistically won’t have the time to focus on your studies, resitting without full preparation risks a second disappointment. Although it seems a long time away, waiting until June could be the better option.

For some papers, June 2027 is the next sitting. There will be a new syllabus for the 2027 exams, but typically the changes are not major.

Whether you’re resitting in December or June, you’re not starting from scratch. You already have a lot of knowledge from your studies to build on.

You might be wondering if you should focus on passing your resit or take it alongside a new module. Logistically, studying two modules generally works for the December sitting given the modules examined. The only exception is trying to sit two thematic papers together, such as Transfer Pricing and EU VAT.

Your mark is a good guide. If you came close, the resit workload may be light enough to take on a new module too. If there's more ground to recover, focusing on the resit alone may be a better choice. Passing one exam well beats attempting two under-prepared.

When considering taking two modules at once, be realistic about the time you have available to commit to your studies. Ideally, you can take some study leave before the exams. If you can only take two days off work with two exams to prepare for, you're really down to one mock exam per paper and a quick revisit of your notes in the days before the exams. Think about the time you'll have in the run-up to the exams for intensive study, as well as what you can commit each week between now and then.

If you prepare the same way twice, you risk the same result twice. The single biggest change most resitters can make is practising past paper questions under exam conditions, writing full answers against the clock before exam day arrives.

This is the biggest success factor we see with our students. Typically the students who do well complete the assignments from an early stage in the semester, take on board the tutor's feedback each week, and learn from sitting the two mock exams.

A fail is always disappointing. Give yourself a few days to process it before making any decisions. ADIT is a demanding qualification, which the pass rates reflect. Plenty of the students on each pass list will have been resitting after missing out previously.

Nothing can take away the knowledge you gained through studying. Now it's about building on that to achieve success next time.

If you would like to talk through your options, please get in touch. We're happy to help you decide on the right next step for you..