Case Summaries

Academic misconduct - CS022301

Case summary February 2023 | Justified

A student was found to have committed academic misconduct in their re-sit attempt in a taught postgraduate module. The provider applied a penalty from its standard table of penalties, that the module mark would be set at zero with a reassessment attempt if that were allowed by the regulations for the course.

The student asked their tutor for advice about what this meant for them but did not receive a reply. The student was entered into the resit assessment, submitted work, and received a passing mark. The student re-enrolled into the next part of the programme, which involved an optional placement period.

Subsequently the provider told the student that it had made a mistake when allowing them to complete the re-sit work. The regulations for the course did not permit a third assessment attempt. It cancelled the mark the student had achieved. The student was not permitted to complete the course and was offered the relevant exit award.

The student complained to us.

We upheld the student’s complaint (we found it Justified).

The provider had followed its academic misconduct process, and had reached a reasonable decision about the academic misconduct based on the evidence before the panel. But it didn’t clearly explain to the student the penalty it applied even though the student asked for help on this point. As a result of the provider’s error the student incurred additional expenses to extend their visa. They also experienced significant distress at being removed from the course having completed further work for assessment.

We recommended that the provider should pay the student’s placement fees and visa costs, and £2,500 compensation for distress and inconvenience. In setting the amount of compensation we took into account that the student had benefited from their experience on the placement.