Student Conduct

How do I make a conduct appeal against an Assessors or Committee decision?

You have the right to appeal to the Senate Student Conduct Committee in relation to any penalty imposed by the Senate Assessors or the Conduct Committee. The grounds for such an appeal are specified in paragraphs 33.112 a), b) and c) of the Code of Student Conduct:

• if you have new material evidence that you were unable, for valid reasons, to provide earlier in the process and which is likely to have had a material bearing on the decision at the earlier stage;
• if the procedures set out in the Code have not been followed, to your detriment;
• if the finding of misconduct or sanction(s) imposed at the earlier stage was clearly unreasonable.

How do I make a conduct appeal against a School decision?

You have the right to appeal to the Senate Assessors for Student Conduct in relation to any penalty imposed by the School under the Plagiarism Statement. The grounds for such an appeal are specified in paragraphs 33.112 a), b) and c) of the Code of Student Conduct:

1. if you have new material evidence that you were unable, for valid reasons, to provide earlier in the process and which evidence is likely to have had a material bearing on a decision at the earlier stage;
2. if the applicable procedure(s) have not been followed, to your material detriment;
3. if the finding of misconduct or sanction(s) imposed was clearly unreasonable.

Regardless of whether you are appealing against a decision of your School, the Senate Assessors or the Conduct Committee, your appeal must be made on one or more of the three permissible grounds, or it will not be accepted. It is not enough to simply disagree with the penalty or offer an apology, or to restate the explanations you have already given at the interview stage. Any appeal that does so will not be accepted.

Your appeal must clearly state on which ground(s) your appeal is being made.  You must also clearly state what remedy you are seeking but note that some remedies are not permitted by the University’s regulations (for example, it is not possible to grant a reassessment attempt for Honours work or work that is already a reassessment, and uncapped reassessment is also not permitted). 

33.112(a) If you are appealing on the grounds of new material evidence, you must explain why you could not have presented the new evidence at the earlier stage, and why it is likely to have a material impact on your outcome. You must submit the new evidence with your appeal letter.  It will not be accepted later. 

33112(b) and (c) If you are appealing on the grounds of defective procedure or unreasonable penalty, you must clearly demonstrate how the procedure was defective, or why the penalty is clearly unreasonable.  Note that ‘clearly unreasonable’ means the penalty was disproportionately severe in the circumstances, or was out of line with other penalties applied to other students for similar breaches.  A penalty that prevents you from progressing or graduating it not necessarily clearly unreasonable depending on the severity of the misconduct.

Your appeal, including any new evidence, must be made in writing to the Student Conduct Team (student-conduct@glasgow.ac.uk), within 10 working days of the issue of the written decision of the Assessors for Student Conduct or the School. All documents should be in English or accompanied by a verified English translation.

Appealing against a decision made by the Senate Assessors or the Conduct Committee

Upon receiving the outcome letter regarding your conduct, you have 10 working days to submit an appeal to the Student Conduct Team, in line with the guidance above. Once we receive your appeal, we will add it to the documentation that was considered by the Assessors or Committee and provide it to the Clerk of Senate. The Clerk of Senate will, together with another Conduct Committee member, review the appeal and decide whether or not the appeal meets any of the permissible grounds.  If so, we will arrange to hear the appeal at a full hearing. If not, we will write to you to explain why we are not going to take the appeal forward.

Appealing against a decision made by your School

Upon receiving the outcome letter regarding your conduct, you have 10 working days to submit an appeal to the Student Conduct Team, in line with the guidance above. Once we receive your appeal, we will contact your School to ask them for the paperwork relating to the case. We will also provide them with a copy of your appeal and ask them to make a written response. One of the Senior Senate Assessors will then review the appeal and determine, with another Senate Assessor, whether the appeal meets any of the permissible grounds. If so, we will arrange for you and a representative from your School to attend a meeting with the Senate Assessors to discuss the appeal. If not, we will write to you to explain why we are not taking the appeal forward.

If you decide to appeal a conduct decision, we strongly recommend you seek advice from the Students’ Representative Council Advice Centre.

We also recommend that you seek advice from your Advisor of Studies prior to making an appeal.

While an appeal may be upheld and have the effect of altering, reducing or removing the penalty, it is also possible that if the appeal is not upheld, the penalty may be increased if the Appeal Committee consider that the original penalty was too lenient. Please consider this carefully before making your appeal.

If your appeal is not taken forward, or if it is not upheld after a hearing, there is no further right to appeal. If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome, you can seek a review from the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO). We will give you information about how to do this in your appeal outcome letter. Note that the SPSO will not reconsider the details of the appeal but rather will determine whether the University followed its procedures correctly.