RHS retake fees

It is possible to retake parts of the New RHS theory and practical qualifications if these are not passed at the first attempt.

Level 2 Theory  exams:

The next sitting for the online exams will be in June 2025 . After this, exams will be in October and then February 2026.

You can only enrol for exams through a centre, so you need to make sure that you take your exams and any resits during your 18 month study period (or extend it to 24 months by arrangement).

Unit 1 takes place on  Monday 23 June at 9.30 am

Unit 2 takes place on Tuesday 24 June at 9.30 am

RHS exam fees for Level 2:

The current RHS exam fee for retaking a single Unit exam is £75; there is another £10 charge by the RHS for online exam retakes, and BEST  will charge £5 to cover Paypal fees* and exam administration. So the full fee for  Level 2 Unit exam resit in October is £90. [PLEASE NOTE this is lower than the main exam fee.]

Level 3 Theory  exams:

Online exams for Unit 1 and  Unit 2 will be in June 2025.  There are now only two exam rounds each year, so the next opportunity will be February 2026.

Unit 1 takes place on  Wednesday 25 June at 9.30 am

Unit 2 takes place on Thursday 26 June at 9.30 am

RHS exam fees for Level 3:

The fee for a retaking a single Unit exam  is £75; there is another £10 charge by the RHS for online exam retakes, and BEST  will charge £5 to cover Paypal fees* and exam administration. So the full fee for a Level 3 Unit exam resit is £90.[PLEASE NOTE this is lower than the main exam fee.]

Level 2 and 3 Practical assessment retakes:

These are very infrequent so rather than set up  Paypal booking we will contact any of our students who require practical retakes and ask them to make payment via bank transfer for their specific resits. This will not incur extra costs for Paypal transactions.

OCA:

The resits for the  Level 2and 3  OCAs will be in December 2025.   The resit fee for a complete OCA taken at home, for either level 2 or 3,  is £75. If only Section A needs to be retaken the resit fee is £30, if only section B, the fee is £45. 

Retake for Level 2 Practical PCA tasks:

Failures for practical tasks are graded by the RHS according to a traffic light system.

 A 'green' failure is where one task is below pass mark but the other two tasks are above this, and is averaged out to a pass and does not need a retake; for an 'amber' fail on one or two tasks, a retake of those tasks can be staged and photographed at the centre for submission to the RHS, to be graded by the Lead Assessor; where one task is failed with less than 5/20 this is a 'red' fail  and there is a chance to retake the whole PCA at a regional centre, or retake it at the centre next year if the option is available.

• where a task is graded an 'Amber' failure the RHS fee is £35 per task, plus £5 to cover set up and materials, so £40 per task.
• where a task is graded a 'Red' failure the fee to retake a complete Level 2 PCA at a regional centre is £110.
• the fee to retake a complete Level 2 PCA at your centre in a year's time is  £100  (£75 RHS fee and £25 to cover a further set up and materials).

Please note 'Red' retakes will involve a new set of PCA tasks.

• if the plant identification part of the PCA is failed,  the fee for an online retake at home of the Level 2 task is £30  and for Level 3, £60.

*Paying through Paypal  is a  relatively simple and secure transaction which does not require a Paypal account  (you can use a credit or debit card) and gives both parties a record of the payment to ensure everyone is registered for the exams they need.  However Paypal charges a small percentage on all transactions, and the RHS expects its exam fees  to be paid in full when it invoices us, so we have to charge a small premium to cover the shortfall.

When you use the online booking form, you will be asked if you have a student number. Please enter the first five digits of the BEST enrolment number you will find on your dashboard page of the VLE. This is a requirement until the final 'legacy'  level 3 exams in February 2025 as external candidates are automatically charged a £25 booking fee. After this we can reset the form to remove this step.