Case summary June 2024 | Not Justified
A PhD candidate submitted their thesis for examination and attended a viva, which was overseen by an independent chair. The student was informed that the examiners had not recommended them for the award of a PhD, but had agreed they could make corrections and resubmit within a year for the award of an MPhil.
Case summary June 2024 | Partly Justified
An international MSc student was withdrawn from their course after admitting to plagiarism in multiple coursework assessments. The student appealed against their withdrawal explaining that they were under pressure to perform well, and that because both their partner and their child had been unwell, their partner had been unable to offer them any support. They also explained they felt unable to openly discuss their concerns with anyone.
Case summary June 2024 | Partly Justified
A student was registered on a full-time MRes programme. At the end of two years of study, students who met certain academic requirements could be considered for transfer onto a PhD programme.
Case summary June 2024 | Partly Justified
Due to a staffing restructure, a member of academic staff who was the lead supervisor for a PhD student accepted a redundancy package which took immediate effect. The provider took four months to confirm the student’s new supervisory team. The student made a complaint about how long this had taken and about unclear communications.
Case summary May 2024 | Justified
A student made an academic appeal against a fail grade for a practical exam involving interaction with patients in a healthcare setting (an OSCE).
Case summary May 2024 | Not Justified
A student passed a foundation year course but did not meet the grade boundary to progress onto a four-year MPharm course.
Case summary May 2024 | Settled
A student submitted their assignment online, four minutes after the submission deadline.
Case summary May 2024 | Not Justified
A postgraduate student did not achieve a passing grade for their dissertation at the second attempt.
Case summary May 2024 | Not Justified
After two assessment opportunities, an international student was successful in some modules but unsuccessful in others.
Case summary May 2024 | Not Justified
An international student was called to an academic misconduct meeting because their answers to a closed book exam had included a significant proportion of text copied from published sources and lecture notes.
We publish summaries of some of the complaints that we review. We always leave out of the summary any information that might identify the student who made the complaint. In some cases we decide that it is in the public interest to publish a summary of a complaint that includes the name of the provider.
