diff --git a/tests/integration/partial/integration_test_utils.py b/tests/integration/partial/integration_test_utils.py
index 6faef10738298260391a0660987d70757ded3f11..78fdddc5b92e02de02576efb2b16f059ab8f1863 100644
--- a/tests/integration/partial/integration_test_utils.py
+++ b/tests/integration/partial/integration_test_utils.py
@@ -3,8 +3,6 @@ import datetime
 import glob
 import json
 import os
-import sys
-import unittest
 from importlib import reload
 from typing import List
 from unittest import TestSuite, TestLoader, TestCase, TestResult
@@ -29,6 +27,18 @@ class IntegrationTestUtils:
     TEST_START_DATE: str = None
     TEST_JOB_DIR: str = None
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def check_resources_exist():
+        """
+        do a single check for the email cred file, which will raise an error suggesting that the user may not have set
+        their pythonpath correctly
+        """
+        emailcred_exists = os.path.exists(IntegrationTestUtils.EMAIL_CRED_PATH)
+        if not emailcred_exists:
+            raise FileNotFoundError(f"email cred file {IntegrationTestUtils.EMAIL_CRED_PATH} not found - have you set "
+                                    f"the working directory to the same directory as the tests you are running?"
+                                    f" (tests use a path relative to the test directory)")
+
     @staticmethod
     def build_arg_parser() -> argparse.ArgumentParser:
         parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
diff --git a/tests/integration/partial/run_test_suite.py b/tests/integration/partial/run_test_suite.py
index cded5c89ecee0e75d6717bab4b4bb0296341b5d5..4ba4814959194eeb37343d3574104f57e2fcef9b 100644
--- a/tests/integration/partial/run_test_suite.py
+++ b/tests/integration/partial/run_test_suite.py
@@ -1,15 +1,12 @@
 import sys
-import unittest
 from unittest import TestLoader, TestSuite, TestResult
 
-import HtmlTestRunner
 from HtmlTestRunner import HTMLTestRunner
-from HtmlTestRunner.result import HtmlTestResult
 
+from integration.partial.test_advisory import TestAdvisory
 from integration.partial.test_deposition import TestDeposition
 from integration.partial.test_env_suit import TestEnvSuit
 from integration.partial.test_survey import TestSurvey
-from integration.partial.test_advisory import TestAdvisory
 
 
 def build_test_runner() -> TestSuite:
diff --git a/tests/integration/partial/test_advisory.py b/tests/integration/partial/test_advisory.py
index 9cc1dce3689cec4c3962aec873b48476be8a4285..686433489658d23b01904348d11a797d2fc9fbec 100644
--- a/tests/integration/partial/test_advisory.py
+++ b/tests/integration/partial/test_advisory.py
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ class TestAdvisory(BaseAdvisoryTestSuite.AdvisoryTestSuite):
 
     def setUp(self) -> None:
 
+        IntegrationTestUtils.check_resources_exist()
         self.set_expected_values()
 
         if IntegrationTestUtils.TEST_OUT_PATH is None or not os.path.isdir(IntegrationTestUtils.TEST_OUT_PATH):
diff --git a/tests/integration/partial/test_deposition.py b/tests/integration/partial/test_deposition.py
index 92a6e1f00dcc576527c882aa81ac36b846887f0a..9655d4168acbaf13ca4050ad7871ee79b8734414 100644
--- a/tests/integration/partial/test_deposition.py
+++ b/tests/integration/partial/test_deposition.py
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ class TestDeposition(BaseDepoTestSuite.DepoTestSuite):
 
     def setUp(self) -> None:
 
+        IntegrationTestUtils.check_resources_exist()
         self.set_expected_values()
 
         if IntegrationTestUtils.TEST_OUT_PATH is None or not os.path.isdir(IntegrationTestUtils.TEST_OUT_PATH):
diff --git a/tests/integration/partial/test_env_suit.py b/tests/integration/partial/test_env_suit.py
index 8c33a3d1c90960d4631ea9dff14d36aaa8000835..c45b7f10a53e58085b68bffb1aa3d651d210dcd3 100644
--- a/tests/integration/partial/test_env_suit.py
+++ b/tests/integration/partial/test_env_suit.py
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ class TestEnvSuit(BaseEnvSuitTestSuite.EnvSuitTestSuite):
         self.ETH_PNG_COUNT = 6
 
     def setUp(self) -> None:
+
+        IntegrationTestUtils.check_resources_exist()
         self.set_expected_values()
 
         if IntegrationTestUtils.TEST_OUT_PATH is None or not os.path.isdir(
diff --git a/tests/integration/partial/test_epi.py b/tests/integration/partial/test_epi.py
index 197ce6ec6be072d3a3c4aa283db3905e9d82c7dc..f1e1d74f603d6f9faa186f776cf8777a8a2d1d45 100644
--- a/tests/integration/partial/test_epi.py
+++ b/tests/integration/partial/test_epi.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ class TestEpi(BaseEpiTestSuite.EpiTestSuite):
 
     def setUp(self) -> None:
 
+        IntegrationTestUtils.check_resources_exist()
         self.set_expected_values()
 
         if IntegrationTestUtils.TEST_OUT_PATH is None or not os.path.isdir(IntegrationTestUtils.TEST_OUT_PATH):
diff --git a/tests/integration/partial/test_survey.py b/tests/integration/partial/test_survey.py
index 59d63d5841b11f4357b1c29056a260fe7656cd1c..2581702c11a674201efabd05b70907e11c2559ad 100644
--- a/tests/integration/partial/test_survey.py
+++ b/tests/integration/partial/test_survey.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ class TestSurvey(BaseSurveyTestSuite.SurveyTestSuite):
 
     def setUp(self) -> None:
 
+        IntegrationTestUtils.check_resources_exist()
         self.set_expected_values()
 
         if IntegrationTestUtils.TEST_OUT_PATH is None or not os.path.isdir(