Failed the RES Exam? Your Re-sit Plan for One Paper or Both

Each RES paper is marked on its own and needs 60 marks out of 100. Missing one or both is common, and the re-sit rules are kinder than most people expect. This guide covers the first week after results, which re-sit you need, the two clocks that matter, and a plan for the next sitting. Fees and rules below are from CEA's exam page, checked 23 Oct 2026. Confirm them before you register. For the October / November 2026 sitting, that points to about 28 Nov to 13 Dec 2026.

The first five working days

An appeal against a result has to be filed on NTUC LearningHub's site within 5 working days of the release, with a fee (S$87.20 incl. GST at the time of writing). Decide on that first, because the window closes fast. The rest of this guide can wait a week.

Which re-sit you need

• Passed one paper. Book a modular sitting for the paper you missed: S$283.40 incl. GST. Your pass in the other paper stays valid within your course certificate's two-year window.
• Passed neither. Book a full sitting of both papers: S$512.30 incl. GST.

Registration runs in the same two stages as your first sitting. See how RES registration works, and have your result slip ready if you are booking a modular paper.

The two clocks that matter

The second clock is the syllabus. Exams from 1 January 2027 follow CEA's revised RES syllabus. It adds units on professional practice and ethics, anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism, and green buildings and green leases, and drops the foreign worker housing unit. The exam format and duration do not change. CEA's FAQ (version as at 27 Aug 2025) says you do not need to retake the course for the new syllabus while your certificate is valid, and the bridging courses that approved providers offer are optional.

So if your next attempt is in 2027, revise the units you already know and add the new ones. The syllabus page lists every unit, and our guide to what changes in the RES exam from 2027 covers what each new unit tests.

The next sittings

The next sitting is Paper 1 on Sat 13 Mar 2027 and Paper 2 on Sun 14 Mar 2027, both from 9.30am.

A re-sit plan for one paper

• Week 1: find where the marks went. Sit a free timed mock of the paper you are re-sitting, cold. Your result slip tells you pass or fail; a mock tells you which topics and which section cost you.
• Section B first. It is 20 case-study questions worth 40 of the paper's 100 marks. Work through a free Section B case study and read every explanation, including the ones you got right.
• Then your three weakest topics. Drill them by topic until your accuracy holds, and lock the numbers with the one-page cheat sheet.
• Two weeks out: a full timed paper. Aim to clear 60 with room to spare, not just scrape it, then go back over every mistake.

A re-sit is usually a shorter climb than the first attempt: you already know the format and most of the content. What changes the result is targeted practice on the gaps. Start free to see your weakest topics, or read what happens after results if you passed.