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University Academic Misconduct procedures are initiated when you have been reported for being believed to have deliberately or recklessly breached the Regulations for Candidates in Examinations. You can find a full copy of them here, and they include that you are unable to:

  • - Use AI without authorisation
  • - Present work from another source as your own (plagiarism)
  • - Presenting work that you've previously submitted for assessment for a further assessment without consent (self-plagiarism)
  • - Work with someone else on your assessments when you weren't meant to (collusion)
  • - Pay or utilise someone to write your assessment for you (contract cheating)
  • - Use notes or devices unauthorised in an exam (cheating)
  • - Communicate with others in an exam (cheating)

You can be reported even if you didn't do it intentionally or realise it wasn't allowed, as you are expected to understand the regulations and take reasonable steps to ensure your compliance with them.

You may also be reported for Academic Misconduct in your College collections, tutorials or formative work. This would follow your College's procedures (not the Universities) and so the advice below does not apply. If you need advice on a college academic misconduct procedure, then read our Advice Agreement and Contact Us and we'd be happy to help whilst we finalise our written guidance on the matter.

Stage One- Concerns Flagged

If concerns have been raised then the Chair of your Examination Board will decide whether it can be considered Poor Academic Practice or whether it has breached the threshold for investigation by the Proctors.

What counts as Poor Academic Practice?

Cases that are deemed to be poor academic practice may be those where:

  • - The portion of material under review is no more than 10% of the overall text

  • - The material is widely available factual information or technical descriptions which cannot be paraphrase easily

  • - The material draws on a variety of sources in patchwork fashion such that it indicates poor English or poor understanding rather than an attempt to deceive

  • - Attempt has been made to provide references but they are incomplete

  • - Passage is considered 'grey literature' such as from a web source with no clear owner

  • - You have not previously been reported for poor academic practice or plagiarism

I've been found to have completed Poor Academic Practice. What does this mean?

If you are found to have completed Poor Academic Practice then your work will be marked on its academic merits, but up to 10% of the marks available for that piece of work may be deducted.

You should be informed (by the exams administrator) that the marks have been deducted for poor academic practice with an explanation given of where and how in your work this was evidenced. You will then have to take (or re-take) the Plagiarism Awareness online course.

Can I challenge the decision that it was Poor Academic Practice?

If you fail the assessment as a result of this, you can submit an Academic Appeal. If you feel the board didn’t act in line with procedures in determining the reduction of your marks, you could use this as grounds for your appeal (this would be considered a Procedural Irregularity).

If you don't fail the assessment as a result of this, you are unable to appeal the decision. You could consider submitting a complaint, but please bear in mind this could not have an academic outcome (i.e., it wouldn't be able to be used to raise your grade in that assessment), but could have another outcome such as an apology, change in policy or compensation.

Stage Two - Proctors Consideration 

My case has been referred to the Proctors. What happens next?

The Proctors will firstly determine whether there is an apparent case for them to investigate, or whether your assessment needs to be referred back for either marking as normal (as there is no Poor Academic Practice) or for your Board of Examiners to deal with as Poor Academic Practice (as above).

You will generally be told about the referral to the Proctors within five working days, although if you are currently undertaking exams this will likely be delayed until after you've finished them.

The Proctors will then give you a chance to respond to the allegations, and let them know if there was anything impacting you at the time of the assessments. This is known as an interview, although it is normally done 'via correspondence' - i.e. via them sending you a list of questions for you to respond to.

The questions you get asked by the Proctors will vary but they loosely will want to know:

  • - Your general understanding of plagiarism and what support you received from your department/college in understanding this

  • - Any explanations you have for specific parts of the assessment that have been highlighted as potential misconduct - for example, how did you go about writing this section or what explanations do you have for it being closely matched to another source?

  • - Any mitigating circumstances you were experiencing at the time

They will sometimes invite you to an actual interview, either in person or remotely. If this happens, it would be with the Proctor and a note-taker, and you'd have an opportunity to review the notes to confirm you are happy with them and submit any further information for inclusion after the interview.

What do I say in my response?

Our biggest advice is to be honest. If you feel there were errors in your understanding of the policies and/or you may have accidently (or intentionally) completed academic misconduct, it is best to admit this as early on in the process as possible.

If you don't feel there were any errors, try and remain calm and respectful in your response. Explain how you went about preparing the assessment and were mindful of the regulations surrounding academic misconduct throughout your preparation. If you have any of the notes you made alongside writing your work which help to show the work you put into the assessment, these could be helpful to send as supporting evidence to the Proctors.

If you were experiencing any mitigating circumstances, such as personal difficulties (including bereavements, relationship breakdowns, victim/survivor of a crime) or medical difficulties (including mental or physical health challenges) then explain these. You don't need to go into lots of details, but a brief summary of what happened and the impact it had on your ability to fully engage in your studies is helpful. You should provide this context whether you are admitting to the allegations or not.

For example, if you were experiencing depression you might say: 'In the month leading up to and including the submission of the assessment I was experiencing depression. I had difficulties sleeping, with my appetite and focussing on my work. This meant I was unable to focus fully on my studies.'

Ideally, you should provide some evidence to support the challenges you experienced.

I've submitted my response, what happens next?

The Proctors will try and conclude the investigation within one month from the date you were referred to them. They have six options available to them:

  • - No further action: neither plagiarism or poor academic practice have occurred and it should be marked as normal
  • - Poor Academic Practice: the assessment should be referred back to the examiners to be dealt with as poor academic practice (see above)
  • - Minor/Significant Plagiarism and Penalty Applied: minor or significant plagiarism has occurred and a penalty should be applied from the following options: Reduction in marks for the piece of work, 0% given and asked to resubmit for an uncapped grade, 0% given and asked to resubmit for a capped grade (where you can't get any more than the pass mark)
  • - Minor/Significant Plagiarism with Significant Consequences: where there is a case to answer that minor or major plagiarism has occurred, but the impact on you from the likely penalty is so serious (for example, you'd fail your course) that the matter should be referred to the Student Disciplinary Panel
  • - Major/Gross Plagiarism: there is a case to answer that major or gross plagiarism has occurred and the matter should be referred to the Student Disciplinary Panel. Potential penalties include all of the above as well as reduction of degree classification, failure of whole exam, expulsion, recommendation that degree is removed
  • - Plagiarism with no breach of Code: plagiarism has occurred but no breach of the Code of Discipline has taken place as your capacity for rational judgement was impaired

What factors will be used in assessing penalties?

The University may consider the following factors:

  • - Intent: whilst being reckless is not a mitigating factor to the allegation, evidence of deliberate intent may be considered an aggregating factor when determining the penalty. This is why we recommend being as honest as possible from the start, even if you did intentionally breach the code of discipline at the time
  • - Consequences of penalties: if the penalty would have a disproportionate impact on your academic continuation, then this may be considered. They won't consider the impact it would have on you personally or financially.
  • - Mitigating Circumstances: Whilst mitigating circumstances (unless they have impaired your capacity for rational judgement) will not stop you from being found to have completed academic misconduct, mitigating circumstances will be considered in the determination of your penalty
  • - Your experience: In appropriate circumstances, they may consider your experience of UK Higher Education in determining the penalty

The Proctors have applied a penalty, what do I do?

If you are in acceptance of the penalty, then your department/College will be in touch with details over your re-submission (if needed).

If you are unhappy with the penalty given, then you have the opportunity to appeal this within ten working days.

Stage Three- Appeal

Grounds of Appeal

Your appeal must fall under one (or more) of the grounds of appeal:

  • - That the procedures were not followed properly, where failure to follow the procedures was not trivial or insignificant
  • - That the Proctor reached an unreasonable decision (you must identify which aspects of the Proctor's decision you consider to be objectively unreasonable and explain why)
  • - That you have new material evidence that you were unable, for good reason, to provide earlier in the process
  • - That there was bias or reasonable perception of bias during the procedure
  • - That the penalty imposed was disproportionate, or not permitted under the procedures

The ground of appeal most appropriate for you will depend on what is said in your outcome letter. Read through this carefully to understand if you feel as though there has been any misunderstandings of your initial points which you can provide further detail on, if there's anything you believe they haven't considered fully enough or if you have an explanation which you haven't already presented.

How do I submit my appeal and what happens next?

Appeals should be sent to casework@proctors.ox.ac.uk and will be considered by a member of the Academic Conduct Appeals Panel who hasn’t previously been involved in your case. They may ask for additional subject expertise to help them decide, which the Proctors would help them organise.

Appeals are determined purely on the information you provide, and they are highly unlikely to do further interviews or investigations. Therefore, it's important to put your whole case forward when you submit this appeal.

There is no specific appeal form you need to complete. You should receive an outcome from your appeal within ten working days. All of the potential outcomes as per the previous stage are open to the person deciding your appeal, which includes the potential for a more severe penalty or a referral to the Student Disciplinary Panel.

Student Disciplinary Panel

Some cases may be referred instead to the Student Disciplinary Panel. You can find out more information about this here: Student Disciplinary Panel

If you have a question not answered by the above or would like your draft answers/evidence checked over by a member of our team, then read our Advice Agreement and Contact Us and we'd be happy to help.