Academic Misconduct - Your School Meeting

If you have been accused of academic misconduct, you will be invited to a meeting with your School.

Before the meeting

You will receive a letter (via email) from your department asking you to come to a School meeting. The letter will include:

• the date of your meeting (you should be given 3 days' notice)
• what the allegation is (whether plagiarism, malpractice or fabricated coursework)
• which piece(s) of work the allegation is about
• a copy of the work fully marked-up (i.e. the sections that are believed to be plagiarised or fabricated will be highlighted, underlined or clearly indicated)
• a copy of the evidence related to the allegation (i.e. the book/website/other essay etc. that they think that you have plagiarised, or an explanation of other malpractice they think has happened).

Sometimes you may receive an email saying you will be investigated, but without the information above. This is because your School cannot give you your mark yet, but needs more time to collate the case. This can be very upsetting, but you must just wait for the next email.

At the meeting

At the School meeting, the panel will ask you about the case. They may ask things like:

• Do you understand what their concerns are?
• Do you admit to the plagiarism or malpractice?
• How did it happen?
• How did you produce the work in question, what were your methods?
• Do you have any mitigating circumstances which affected how you prepared your work, or led you to use someone else's work?

It is important to be honest and explain as much as you can, even if you have deliberately done something wrong. This will help the School decide on a penalty.

The Head of School or a senior member of staff acting on their behalf will normally chair the meeting. Your personal tutor, module leader and other relevant department members who have been involved in the module may also be present. There may also be a staff member to take minutes.

You can bring a supporter with you who can be anyone not directly linked to the case (family, friend, colleague). LUU Advice can help you prepare - please send us the material sent from the School and we will send you some detailed information and can answer questions you may have.

If you don’t attend your School meeting without good cause (such as illness) the School can assume that you admit to the allegation. They can then award a penalty and/or forward the case to the University. You will lose the right to appeal.

Your School can decide the penalty in the following cases:

• if you admit to misconduct (all levels)
• if it is your first offence, whether admitted or denied (all levels)
• if you deny a second or subsequent offence but your level does not count towards classification

In the following situations, your case will be passed to the Committee on Applications who will determine the penalty:

• if you are accused of cheating in examinations (all offences)
• if you deny a second or subsequent offence and your level of study counts towards classification
• if your School thinks they cannot give an appropriate penalty at the School level (likely to be for more serious or complex cases)

After the meeting

After the meeting, you will be told what will happen. There are 10 working days for your outcome to be sent to you, and any of the following three options are available:

• your School can decide that you are innocent of the allegation - this will end the procedure
• your School can decide a penalty, which may be a warning, but is often a requirement to resubmit the work for a capped mark
• your School may refer the case to the Committee on Applications

FAQs

Can I deny plagiarism (or other misconduct)?

If you do not believe you have plagiarised you can deny the allegation. Be aware that, depending on the situation, this may result in the case going to Committee. Always seek advice before denying academic misconduct and be sure you are clear about what you are being accused of before denying it. For example, understanding what can constitute plagiarism (including mistakes such as missing quotation marks).

Can LUU attend as a supporter?

We cannot normally attend School level meetings. The meeting should be relatively straightforward, though we understand it is stressful. You may take a friend or family member.

How can I prepare for the meeting?

You should look at the material sent by your School to understand what you have done wrong. If you're not sure, email your case papers with any questions you have to advice@luu.ac.uk or speak to us in our office. If, after seeking advice, you plan to deny the allegation you can prepare evidence to support this. If you have any supporting information for mitigating circumstances you can also prepare this.

If I have more than one piece of work affected, does this count as a second offence?

Where more than one assessment is brought under this procedure, if they have been submitted in the same assessment period they should be treated as one concurrent offence rather than separate first and second or subsequent offences. Where possible, your School should aim to look at these within one meeting. Having multiple concurrent offences can be an aggravating factor that increases the severity of an offence, but in general the University wants students to learn from their experiences, and where work is submitted in the same assessment period it is often deemed that you have not had the opportunity to learn from your mistakes yet.