The paper presents a numerical model of pre-dose sensitisation in quartz. In particular, the thermal activation characteristics (TAC), isothermal sensitisation and the form of TAC for high values of pre-dose are considered. Relevant experimental results are shown and a suitable numerical model is derived. The model, based on Zimmerman's model consists of four hole centres (two shallow R-centres, one deeper R-centre and one L-centre), two electron traps responsible for the 110degreesC peak and 320degreesC peaks, respectively, and one reservoir electron trap. The form of TAC, isothermal sensitisation and the form of TAC for high doses are modelled. The modelled results are very similar to the empirical ones indicating that the suggested model might be successfully employed to investigate phenomena connected with sensitivity changes in quartz. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.