15. Penalties for Unacceptable Academic Practice in taught schemes (undergraduate and postgraduate)
15.1 The Deputy Registrar shall apply one for the following penalties. These are outside of the points-based system and offences do not count towards other allegations of unacceptable academic practice.
(i) The penalty for a first offence shall be the issue of a formal written warning to the candidate.
(ii) The penalty for a second or subsequent offence shall be a maximum mark of 39 where the pass mark is 40 or 49 where the pass mark is 50 for the assessment. The student may resit the module for a capped mark if the module is failed, subject to resit opportunities being available to them.
15.2 Compassionate Approach to Academic Integrity
The University recognises that initial or minor breaches of academic practice and conduct may in some instances result from different practice or requirements at a previous educational institution, or education system, a different academic culture, or because of a gap in understanding between leaving and re-entering education system/higher education, or lack of support to develop good academic practice and conduct in the past, or other circumstances. The University also recognises that under the points-based penalty system any subsequent offence, may result in a severe penalty which may have serious consequences for a student’s degree class or even their ability to complete a degree.
Where a substantiated allegation of Unacceptable Academic Practice is a first, and minor breach of academic practice in the student’s first year of attendance at Aberystwyth University, and points to a genuine mistake, resulting in poor academic practice rather than unacceptable academic practice, the UAP panel/Chair of Exam Board (or nominee) may decide to refer the case to the Educational Route where the student will be
- invited to complete the online academic integrity course (https://libguides.aber.ac.uk/referencing, and/or ) within a specified period of time (usually five working days) and provide evidence of completion (available on BlackBoard).
- required to attend any further good academic practice sessions as directed by their academic department.
If the student completes these steps in the timeframe set out, no penalty should be applied, and the assessment should be marked following the departmental marking criteria; if they do not then the department should report the student back to the Academic Registry and the original penalty which would have been incurred under the points based system may be applied at a later date.
Some examples of minor breaches of academic practice that result in poor academic practice rather than unacceptable academic practice include (but are not limited to) poor referencing and unintentional plagiarism.
The intention of including an educational approach to UAP is to effectively prevent further allegations from occurring. Any subsequent offences shall count as a second (or third, if appropriate) offence on the points-based system.
In cases where the UAP panel considers the Educational Route not to be appropriate, the penalties as defined in the penalty table should be applied.
15.3 Chairs of Examination Boards, and Faculty and University panels, shall apply one of the penalties which are set out in the Guidance on Academic Practice. Penalties shall be applied on the basis of a points-based system, with consideration of the following elements:
(i) Previous record of Unacceptable Academic Practice;
(ii) Extent and severity of Unacceptable Academic Practice;
(iii) Level of study.
15.4 Previous allegations of UAP should not be taken into account when determining if UAP has occurred and panels should not be made aware of previous allegations of UAP until it has been determined if the allegation is substantiated or not. Once a decision has been made the panel may consider prior substantiated cases of UAP in determining the penalty as set out in the points-based system.
15.5 Panels may not take special circumstances into consideration in determining whether Unacceptable Academic Practice has occurred. Panels may however take exceptional personal circumstances into consideration in applying penalties, where it can be shown that these are relevant to the case. In such cases the student must show good reason why such personal circumstances could not previously have been submitted to the Faculty so that an extension to the submission deadline, or other adjustments to the assessment concerned, could be considered. Recommendations to reduce penalties, usually by one level, on grounds of special circumstances shall be submitted to the Academic Registry for consideration by the Academic Registrar or their nominee. In rare cases, a recommendation to reduce a penalty by more than one level may be made and will normally be sent to the Academic Integrity Champion for consideration.
15.6 Panels may not take the impact on progression into consideration in determining whether Unacceptable Academic Practice has occurred. Panels may however take the impact on progression into account when applying penalties if the penalty is likely to have an unintended impact on the student. Recommendations to reduce penalties on grounds of unintended impact shall be submitted to the Academic Registry for consideration by the Head of Academic Registry or their nominee.
15.7 Penalties shall be applied according to the points-based penalty system. In exceptional cases the Chair of the relevant Examination Board / Chair of the Faculty or University Panel may recommend a more severe penalty. Recommendations should be submitted to the Academic Registry, providing a full case in writing in support of the recommendations. In such cases the Academic Registry in consultation with the Academic Integrity Champion may apply one, or a combination, of the following penalties:
(i) Exclusion of the student from the University for a specific period or permanently;
(ii) Disqualification of the student from any future examination in the University.
15.8 Cases where an inconsistency is identified shall be referred to the Academic Integrity Champion for a final decision.
15.9 In cases where a UAP penalty results in a P, F or N indicator being awarded for a module or modules, this indicator will not be overturnable by recommendations for an H indicator or by an academic appeal outcome - any special circumstances should have already been declared at the time of the panel (see 15.5), and if appropriate taken into account in the issuing of the penalty. Under the ‘false start’ arrangement at Part One the UAP penalty remains on the record and a student with more than 20 credits of N will not be permitted to take a false start.