If a student is suspected of academic misconduct, the matter will be reported to the student’s Module Director/Lead and an investigation will take place.
Oral examination
As part of the initial investigation, the student may be required to attend an oral examination. This is to allow the student an opportunity to demonstrate that the work is indeed theirs and to share their perspective. At least 2 members of academic staff will assess whether the student’s responses indicate authorship of the work.
School inquiry
Following the initial investigation, and normally within 10 days of the concern first arising, if the evidence provided leads to a suspicion of academic misconduct, then the student will be invited to a meeting with at least 2 members of School staff.
The purpose of this meeting is to allow the student the opportunity to comment on the evidence and respond to the allegation of academic misconduct made against them.
The student will normally receive the invitation, on behalf of the relevant academic, to their University email address from the Programme Administration and Support Service (PASS) team.
Students will be given 3 working days’ notice to attend.
When invited to the meeting, or responding to concerns via email, the student may be asked to provide their:
- notes
- drafts, and
- any other records
relating to their preparatory work for the assessment.
Students are welcome to bring:
- a current member of staff
- a current registered student at the University, or
- a Students’ Union representative for support (see the Students’ Union support webpages for more information).
Please note they cannot speak on the student’s behalf.
A minute taker will be present at this meeting to record the discussion and outcome.
If students have any questions or require adjustments (such as additional time to prepare, an alternative meeting format, or other support) they should contact:
- the academic who has invited them to the meeting, or
- the Programme Administration and Support Service (PASS) team - via submitting a case through the Student Hub online portal
Potential outcomes of the School inquiry meeting
1) No further action
2) Poor scholarship
3) Academic misconduct
Committing academic misconduct is a serious offence in the University and has the potential to result in several sanctions, depending on the stage a student is at in their studies.
It can mean that the student is required to resubmit the work. It may mean that the student is given a capped mark. In the most serious cases, enforced withdrawal of a student from a programme may be required. Information on sanctions can be found in section 23.15 of the Code of Practice for Assessment.
To view the whole policy on academic misconduct, please see Section 23 of the Code of Practice.
If the outcome of the School inquiry is no further action
If there is insufficient evidence to justify a finding of academic misconduct, then no further action will be taken.
If the outcome of the School inquiry is poor scholarship
If the matter is considered poor scholarship, rather than academic misconduct, then no further action will take place under these procedures. Although, the poor scholarship will be considered through the normal marking process, which should resume following completion of the investigation. The finding will also be noted on the student’s record and may be considered in the context of any future allegations that the student has committed academic misconduct
If the outcome of the School inquiry is academic misconduct
Where a school inquiry has concluded that there is a case of academic misconduct to be answered, the student will be informed of this decision and all the evidence will be forwarded to the Appeals and Conduct Committee (ACC), along with a recommendation about the sanction.
The Programme Administration and Support Service (PASS) team will refer the case to the Casework team, who will assign the case for review by a panel of the ACC.
The ACC will review whether the evidence is sufficient to justify the conclusions that the student has committed academic misconduct, and whether the proposed sanction is appropriate, considering all the evidence and in accordance with the guidelines set out in the policy.
The ACC:
- may dismiss the case on the basis that the evidence does not justify a finding of academic misconduct, or
- may ask the School to investigate further, and provide additional supporting evidence for its view that academic misconduct has taken place.
If it finds the evidence does justify a finding of academic misconduct, it may uphold the sanction recommended by the School or substitute another sanction. It may also decide that the matter would be more appropriately heard by a full hearing of the ACC.
Where the School is asked to investigate further, the Casework team will communicate this with the relevant School colleagues for them to action as necessary.
Where the ACC either dismisses the case or finds that the evidence does justify a finding of academic misconduct and a sanction is determined, then the student will be notified of the outcome, including any sanctions, via their YSJ email, from the Casework team (casework@yorksj.ac.uk).
The outcome will also include any recommendations of actions and/or links to support services that the ACC recommends the student utilise going forward. The School colleagues listed on the academic misconduct referral that was sent to the Casework team will be copied into this outcome for their awareness.
If a finding of academic misconduct is upheld, details and timeframes will be included in the outcome notification about how students can request a full hearing, should they wish to dispute either the finding of academic misconduct or the appropriateness of the sanction.
Should the outcome from ACC decide that the matter would be more appropriately heard by a full hearing of the ACC, then the Casework team will notify the student of this, and organise a hearing which the student will be invited to attend.
Full hearing of the Appeals and Conduct Committee
Where the ACC has referred the case to a full hearing, or a student has requested a full hearing following a finding of academic misconduct being upheld, the Casework team will organise the hearing. The student will be notified at least 5 days in advance of the time and place of the meeting.
The meeting may take place physically or via video-conferencing.
A representative from the student’s School will be present to represent the School perspective. The student will also be present to speak on their own behalf.
Students are welcome to bring:
- a current member of staff
- a current registered student at the University, or
- a Students’ Union representative for support (see the Students’ Union support webpages for more information).
Please note they cannot speak on the student’s behalf.
At least 2 committee members will be present at the hearing. They will not have had any prior involvement or be from the student’s programme area. The Committee members will consider whether the evidence is sufficient to justify the conclusion that the student has committed academic misconduct, and whether the proposed sanction is appropriate, considering all the evidence, and in accordance with the guidelines set out in the policy.
The student will not be informed of the outcome in the hearing. The student will receive the outcome via their YSJ email, from the Casework team (casework@yorksj.ac.uk), within 10 working days of the hearing.
If a finding of academic misconduct is upheld, details and timeframes will be included in the outcome notification about how students can appeal the outcome. Students can only appeal if they feel that the decision of the Committee was unreasonable, based on the evidence provided, or that University procedure was not correctly followed for the academic misconduct process.
To view the whole policy on academic misconduct, please see Section 23 of the Code of Practice.