Academic Offences

Academic Offences

An academic offence is any act or omission whereby a student can gain an unfair academic advantage. You do not have to have intention to have committed the offence for it to have taken place.

Before proceeding with the Academic Offences Procedure, Schools will conduct an initial review. The Academic Offences Officer will appoint a member of staff to complete a Preliminary Consideration of the academic work in question.

The member of staff will make one of the following decisions:

That there is no evidence of poor academic practice, or of an academic offence; or
That there is evidence of poor academic practice but not of an academic offence and that:
- The student will be signposted to advice, guidance and additional learning resources; or
- The student will be required to undertake the Transition Skills for University module, available on Canvas or appropriate equivalent School or University course. Students who fail to attend or engage with this requirement will not be contacted further and lack of engagement will be taken into consideration in the event of further allegations of academic misconduct; or
- The student will be required to undertake the Transition Skills for University module, available on Canvas or appropriate equivalent School or University course. Students who fail to attend or engage with this requirement will not be contacted further and lack of engagement will be taken into consideration in the event of further allegations of academic misconduct; or
That on the basis of the evidence available an academic offence is suspected to have been committed, and the matter should be referred to an Investigating Officer for investigation.

There are multiple different academic offences covered by the University regulations:

Cheating
Plagiarism
Duplication
Copying or permitting copying
Collusion
Fabrication
Contract Cheating
Improper use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The definitions for these offences can be found under section 5 of the Academic Offence Regulations.

Academic offences fall within two categories either Standard or Serious offences. Section 6 of the regulations outline what the University will deem a serious offence and what they will deem a standard offence. This will also usually be outlined in any communication received.

The Process itself is straightforward and is outlined below.

The Process

A concern is raised by a marker of an academic submission
A Preliminary Consideration is made as to whether or not the issue relates to poor academic practice or a potential academic offence.
If it is deemed that an offence may have taken place, an Investigating Officer will be appointed, who will notify you of the allegation.
You will be invited to either attend a meeting with the Investigating Officer to discuss the allegation or submit a written statement in response to the allegation (or both).
Once all documentation has been received, the Investigating Officer will draft a report and submit this along with your statement and evidence to the Academic Offences Officer.
A decision will then be made and communicated to you under section 10.2 of the Academic Offence Regulations.
If you are happy to accept the outcome, there will be no further action through the process. If you are unhappy, you may submit an appeal to the Academic Offence Committee.
Your Appeal will be considered by a Sifting and Review Panel and will be either rejected at this stage or referred on to the Academic Offence Committee. If it is rejected at this stage, there is no further internal route of appeal.
If referred onwards, you will be invited to attend a meeting with the Academic Offence Committee. A decision will be made and communicated to you within eight working days.
There is no further route of appeal. Your only option at this stage is to submit a complaint to the Northern Ireland Public Service Ombudsman (NIPSO).

The purpose of an investigation is to understand what may have gone wrong and to determine whether you were aware of what you were doing at the time. It’s about gathering information, not making assumptions.

Possible Outcomes:

Academic Offences Officer

Standard Offences (on a balance of probabilities)

No further action should be taken
There is evidence of poor academic practice, and one or more of the outcomes under section 7 (Preliminary Consideration) may be applied; or
A standard academic offence has been committed, and a penalty will be applied in accordance with section 10.2; or
Refer the case to the Academic Offences Committee.

Serious Offences

No further action should be taken; or
There is evidence of poor academic practice, and one or more of the outcomes under section 7 (Preliminary Consideration) may be applied; or
A serious academic offence has been committed; however, taking into consideration the criteria outlined in section 8.2.1, there are mitigating circumstances and a penalty within those set out at section 10.2 will be applied; or
Refer the case to an Academic Offence Committee.

Academic Offences Committee

Taught students: Award a mark of zero for the relevant module(s).
Research students: For the Doctoral research degree submission, recommend that a submission for the appropriate Master’s degree examination be made (MPhil or as specified in appropriate programme specifications). Guidance must be given regarding any requirements for examination and/or resubmission.
Research students: For Annual Progress Review, fail the progress review with no right to resubmit. Where applicable, the student may be offered the opportunity to transfer onto the appropriate Master’s degree programme (MPhil, or as specified in appropriate programme specifications).
Suspension
Expulsion

Academic Offences Committee Appeal

Uphold the appeal in full or in part and either rescind or reduce the penalty initially impose; or.
Dismiss the appeal and confirm the penalty imposed by the Academic Offences Officer.

Academic Offences Appeals Committee

Uphold the appeal in full or in part and either rescind the penalty imposed by the Academic Offences Committee or impose a different penalty, which shall not be more severe than the initial penalty; or
Dismiss the appeal and confirm the penalty imposed by the Academic Offences Committee

If you’ve been contacted about a possible academic offence, try not to panic. This can feel worrying, but support is available. Get in touch with SU Advice, and we’ll talk you through the process, explain what to expect, and offer guidance at every stage.

If you’re an undergraduate student, you may find it helpful to contact the Learning Development Service, which offers support with academic skills such as referencing and paraphrasing. Postgraduate students can contact the Graduate School to find out what support is available to them.