Disciplinaries & Academic Conduct

Updated

If you’ve been accused of something by UCB, get in touch with the Guild: as a separate charity, we can give you independent information and support.

The process that UCB uses will depend on whether the issue is based on behaviour or academic misconduct.

Non-Academic (Behaviour)

Behavioural or non-academic issues are addressed under UCB’s Code of Practice on Discipline. You can find it on the University’s Policies Page.

The process has three main steps:

  • An informal resolution, in which a staff member may meet with you to informally discuss concerns
  • A formal investigation, in which you will be asked to meet with a staff member to address concerns. This may lead to a formal disciplinary outcome.
  • In serious or repeated cases, a formal investigation may lead to a panel of uninvolved senior staff. If they believe that there is sufficient evidence, this can lead to the most severe disciplinary outcomes.

In each case, you will be given the chance to respond to any allegations against you before any decisions are made. You will also be given the chance to share any exceptional circumstances that affected you.

Appealing Disciplinary Decisions

If UCB issue you with a penalty under the disciplinary process, you can request that the decision or outcome is reviewed. This is called an appeal.

To make an appeal, you must contact the University Secretary in writing within 10 working days of the date of the penalty being issued to you. In your email, you must set out a valid reason for your appeal, which could include:

  • That there has been an error in the process that UCB followed
  • That the decision wasn’t reasonable
  • That there is further evidence that couldn’t be shared sooner
  • That there has been bias in making the decision or deciding the penalty
  • That the penalty is inappropriate

If the University Secretary believes that you meet one or more of these grounds then your matter will be reviewed by a member of UCB’s senior staff, who can change the decision or penalty. If you don’t appear to have valid grounds or if the senior staff don’t uphold you appeal, you will get a letter allowing you to have the matter reviewed externally by the OIA.

Academic Misconduct (plagarism, AI, etc)

Academic misconduct covers any allegations of cheating or gaining an advantage in an assessment or exam. The most common forms of academic misconduct are: plagiarism (using material from another text inappropriately) and the use of AI content if the assessment brief doesn’t permit it.

UCB addresses academic misconduct under its Code Of Practice On Plagiarism And Academic Misconduct, available on its Policies page.

The academic misconduct process has the following stages:

  1. A meeting with the marker and your Head of Department to discuss UCB’s concerns
  2. If the misconduct is serious, you will be invited to a Plagiarism Panel
  3. If UCB make a finding against you, you can appeal the decision

The outcomes of academic misconduct will depend on the specific details of the allegation. UCB’s Code of Practice sets out three forms of misconduct:

  • ‘Poor Academic Practice’ if the issue is minor and a first occurrence. This often leads to a warning and helping you to access academic support to avoid a problem in the future.
  • ‘Moderate plagiarism’ if UCB find that you worked with someone else inappropriately (“collusion”), have repeated poor academic practice, or have re-used your own material inappropriately (“auto-plagiarism”). This normally results in your mark being changed to reflect quality of the original portions within it.
  • ‘Serious plagiarism’ if UCB find that the plagiarism affects a very large amount of your work or if UCB believe you have attempted to deceive them. This can result in a range of outcomes and in the worst cases, expulsion.

Appealing Academic Misconduct Decisions

To appeal an academic misconduct decision, you must show that there was some form of unfairness or error in the process that was followed in making the decision. If you can do so, you must write to the Senior Pro Vice-Chancellor within 10 working days of the decision, explaining in your own words what the error was, or showing that the decision/outcome was unfair. The Senior Pro Vice-Chancellor will either: overturn the decision against you; support the decision but change the penalty, or; reject your appeal.

If your appeal is rejected, you can seek an independent external review from the OIA. Please contact us for further information.

How We Can Help

If you are being taken through the disciplinary process by the University, the Guild of Students can support you. Please book a meeting to discuss this further with our team. We can help you to understand the process, prepare for a meeting, and accompany you to any formal discussions if possible.

Please note – our team will need time to meet you, discuss the situation and prepare for the process. This means we normally need a minimum of 5 working days’ notice of any formal disciplinary meetings.