Between the exam and the certificate.

The weeks after a WSET exam raise the same questions every time. When will the result come? What does the grade mean? Can I resit and what will a resit cost me in grade? The answers sit in WSET's specifications. Some are worth knowing before the exam rather than after.

This is an independent guide, based on the current specifications. Rules change, so check the WSET website and your provider's own terms before you act.

Grade lines, level by level

• Level 1. Pass or fail only, with a pass at 70%.
• Level 2. A pass from 55%, a merit from 70% and a distinction from 85%.
• Level 3. You need 55% in each part of the theory paper and 55% in the tasting. The grade then comes from the aggregate of all papers: a pass from 55%, a merit from 65% and a distinction from 80%, with no paper below 65%.
• Level 4 Diploma. Each unit is graded on its own: a pass from 55%, a merit from 65% and a distinction from 75%. D3 needs 55% in both the theory and the tasting; D4 and D5 need 45% in each part and 55% overall. The Diploma itself needs a pass in all six units. Its final grade comes from the weighted aggregate across them, on the same 55%, 65% and 75% lines.

At Levels 2 and 3 and in the Diploma, a mark between 45% and 54% is a fail and a mark below 45% is a fail unclassified.

When results arrive

Results go from WSET to your provider, then to you, so timing varies. As a guide, WSET's own London centre quotes about four weeks for Levels 1 and 2, about ten weeks for Level 3 and about twelve weeks for Diploma results to reach it.

The result comes as a letter by email with a link to claim a digital certificate. WSET is replacing physical pins with digital badges, so ask your provider what it issues.

Resits: the rules that matter

• No limit on attempts. At every level, from Level 1 to the Diploma, you may resit as often as you need.
• No retaking a pass. A passed exam or unit cannot be retaken to improve the grade, so the first pass is the grade you keep.
• Level 3: the merit cap. Candidates who resit a failed unit cannot receive a grade above a pass with merit. A distinction can only be earned without a resit.
• Level 3: one unit at a time. If you passed one unit, you resit only the other, in the same language as the unit you passed.
• Diploma: failed units only. You retake only the units you failed. In D3, a passed part (theory or tasting) carries forward, so you resit only the part you failed.
• Diploma: the research assignment. A failed D6 assignment is resubmitted on a new title. An assignment handed in late counts as a fail.
• Diploma: three years. Registration lasts three years and unit passes stay valid for that period. If you re-register, earlier passes are reviewed against the specification in force.

The grade you pass with is the grade you keep.

At WSET's London centre, for example, a resit can only be booked once the fail result has arrived. Check your provider's dates and deadlines early, especially for D3, which is held only twice a year.

Re-marks, feedback and appeals

If a result surprises you, you can ask for an enquiry, which is a re-mark, with feedback on your paper. It is requested through your provider and paid for separately. A percentage breakdown of your marks can also be requested.

Deadlines are short. For the Diploma, an enquiry must be made within 15 working days of WSET issuing the results to your provider. At Level 3 and in the Diploma, an appeal against the enquiry decision must follow within 10 working days.

A re-mark is most worth considering when you are a few marks below a line. Even then, the feedback often matters more than the re-mark: it shows where the marks went.

After a fail

• Read the breakdown. Find the part that failed. At Level 3 a single part below 55% fails the theory unit, however strong the rest.
• Target the gap. If the written answers failed, practise written answers against a mark scheme; if the tasting failed, taste in the exam's format every week.
• Pick the date first. Plan backwards from the resit, with timed practice from the first week.

Candidates who do not taste alcohol, for health or religious reasons or because they are under the legal age, cannot complete the tasting assessments. At Level 3 they receive a record of achievement for the theory unit; in the Diploma, for D1, D2, D6 and the D3 theory.

Rehearse the format, not just the content

Many marks are lost to the format rather than to a lack of knowledge: a written question answered with the wrong verb, a tasting note with lines missing, a paper run out of time. The cure is the same at every level: practise in the exam's exact format against the real clock and mark yourself strictly.

Our apps rehearse each level in its own format: Worth Opening: WSET Level 2, Level 3 and Level 4 for iPhone and Android. Mock 1 is free at Levels 2 and 3 and Paper 1 is free in every Diploma unit. Independent study aid. Not affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by the Wine & Spirit Education Trust.