Student Conduct

We consider the following to be academic misconduct, regardless of intent:

• plagiarism, including from published and online sources, other students, and your own previous work. This includes just rewording the original work within the same sentence structure.
• using AI or ‘homework help’ sites to generate your work or having your work produced by another person or service.
• colluding with others, or inappropriately collaborating with others, such as using shared revision notes that you haven’t fully rewritten in your own words.
• translating other authors’ work into English from another language.
• bringing prohibited items into exams.
• using fraudulent methods to try to gain an academic advantage.
• fabricating content, including but not limited to data, results, and referencing.

The purpose of assessment is to demonstrate to the marker that you understand the topic – so everything you submit must be your own original work.

You can find the Code of Student Conduct here. All students are expected to follow the University’s rules.

• Familiarise yourself with the University’s rules about plagiarism, AI use, online exams, and on-campus exams. Not reading these rules won’t be accepted as an excuse for misconduct.  The University’s expectations may well differ from your previous learning experience, so make it a priority to understand what good academic practice means here.
• Make sure everything you submit is your own work, and that you’ve fully referenced each source you’ve used. Even in open-book style exams, you can’t simply copy from somewhere else – it's still plagiarism.
• If you’re not confident about your academic writing skills, or about how to reference properly, you can speak to your School about it or book an appointment with Student Learning Development. Also, check your Course Handbook.
• Avoid copying directly from your own notes, as you might have copied them directly from sources and forgotten to mark down the source. Also avoid copying from shared or jointly produced notes, as this will look like collusion or inappropriate collaboration if you and other students submit the same thing, or work which is too similar to have happened by chance.
• Read the instructions that are emailed out before each exam diet and listen carefully to the announcement made by the invigilator right before each exam starts. You will get a moment to check you don’t have anything on or near you that you shouldn’t, but any items found after that will be reported to us. Don’t try to bring anything into exams that isn’t allowed – it’s misconduct whether you intended it or not.

The penalties for academic misconduct can have a serious impact – so don’t risk it.

If you’re a non-Honours undergraduate student and this is the first allegation against you:

• Normally, you’ll be interviewed by your School. They’ll send you the details of the allegation including all the evidence they have. You’ll be able to submit a written statement as well as attending the meeting, and you’ll be able to take a supporter with you to the meeting. You’ll be asked some questions about what has happened. A School staff member will attend to take notes, and you’ll be told at the meeting what the outcome is, and this will be followed up with a letter.

If you’re an Honours or postgraduate student, or if you’ve been found to have breached the Code of Student Conduct before:

• Normally, you’ll either be invited to an online meeting with two Senate Assessors, or you’ll be asked to write a statement for them.
• If you are asked to write a statement but not to come to a meeting, the allegation and evidence will be sent to you and you’ll be given a deadline date for responding. Then, two Senate Assessors will consider the case and write to you afterwards to tell you their decision. You may ask for a meeting if you wish, but please note that this will mean delays in processing your case.
• If you have been asked to come to a meeting, you can also submit a statement, and you can bring someone with you. Someone from the Student Conduct Team will be there to take notes. You’ll be notified of the meeting at least a week in advance, as well as receive the allegation and the evidence. At the meeting, you'll be asked some questions about what has happened. You’ll be told what the outcome is on the day of the meeting, and this will be followed up with a letter within 10 working days.

Schools and the Senate Assessors have a range of penalties they can apply. This includes reprimands, grade reductions, and refusal of credit. You can’t be expelled by the School or by the Senate Assessors, but there is the possibility that a penalty they apply means you won’t be able to progress or graduate. This isn’t the norm, but it can happen, especially in cases where the piece of work is heavily weighted or is already a reassessment.

In every case, you’ll have the right to defend yourself and provide your version of events. Your case hasn’t been pre-judged. You’ll always have the right to submit a written statement and, if you attend a meeting, to have a supporter with you. You also have the right to appeal.  However, remember that intent can’t be considered – so not intending to breach the rules doesn’t mean no breach has happened.

You can seek advice and support from SRC at any stage - for example, if your School tells you there is a problem with your work, or if you realise you might have done something wrong. You don't have to wait until a formal referral has been made.

A misconduct case doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t still be able to graduate, but a penalty could mean your GPA is reduced, or that you have to do a resit or resubmission before you can graduate. So, your graduation might be delayed if the allegation comes to us soon before your expected graduation date, although we’ll do all we can to avoid this. 

In some cases, the outcome will have the effect that you won’t be able to get your intended degree.

You can’t graduate while an academic misconduct allegation is pending. It must be concluded first.

You have the right:

• to be accompanied at any meeting, and this can be by a friend, a family member, an SRC Adviser, a staff member, or any other person you choose
• to receive all the paperwork relating to the case at least a week before any meeting/written statement deadline
• to have the chance to respond to the allegation(s) either in person or in writing or both and to present anything you think is relevant to your case
• to appeal against the outcome
• to be treated fairly and respectfully throughout, without pre-judgement

No, you can’t bring a translator and we won’t provide one. As you are studying in the English language, there should be no need for a translator. You will be asked questions in clear and straightforward language and, if you need to, you can enable Zoom captions to help you. 

All meetings with the Senate Assessors are held via Zoom, so it doesn’t matter if you’re not in the UK. We’ll try to consider different time zones where possible.

No. If you don’t turn up or submit a statement, the case will be considered without you. It’s not in your best interest to do this, as you won’t have had any say or been able to give your version of events. Even though it might make you anxious, it’s still best to participate.

We don’t reschedule except in very exceptional circumstances, as we have so many cases to arrange. If you need to reschedule because (for example) you’re in hospital, you’ll need to make this request as soon after getting the invitation as possible and provide some evidence. In most cases, if the date doesn’t suit, you should submit a written statement instead.

No. The Code of Student Conduct and its related processes aren’t legal procedures, so you don’t need legal representation and we don’t encourage it. An Adviser from the SRC Advice Centre is a more appropriate option and won’t cost you anything. However, the Code does allow you to be accompanied, assisted or represented by anyone you choose, so if you want to bring a legal representative, you should make a request to us at least a week in advance. If you turn up to a meeting with a legal representative you haven’t told us about, they won’t be permitted to join the meeting so you’ll either have to go ahead without them or the meeting will be postponed.

Any legal representation you engage is entirely funded by you – the University doesn’t cover this cost.

You’ll receive an outcome letter from the Senate Assessors, usually within ten days of your case having been considered. It will be sent as a letter to your University email address. This letter will detail the facts relevant to your case, any decision or penalty, and your right of appeal.

After you receive the outcome letter, you should contact your School. This may be your administrator, your Adviser of Studies, or your course convener. They’ll be able to tell you the likely impact of the penalty, and any arrangements for reassessment, if this is relevant to you.

You have the right to appeal against the decision made by the School, Senate Assessors, or Conduct Committee. You can find full information on the conduct appeal process here - and note that this isn’t the same as the Academic Appeals process. If you decide to appeal, we recommend taking advice from the SRC Advice Team. Although the appeal might result in a lowered penalty or no change, the penalty could increase if the Appeals Committee think the penalty applied to you was too lenient.

If your appeal isn’t upheld, there’s no further University procedure, so if you are still unhappy with the outcome you can complain to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO). We’ll give you details of how to do this in your appeal outcome letter.

No – your academic grades will include any penalty applied but it won’t be evident that any reduced grade or refusal of credit is due to misconduct.

Only if they specifically ask the University if you’ve been involved in any misconduct. In that case we will tell them the nature of the breach and the penalty.

If you have reason to believe another student is doing or has done something unfair (using essay writing services, exam cheating, etc) you can tell us by emailing student-conduct@glasgow.ac.uk with the details. You should include any evidence you have. We might need to tell the other student who has made the report, but we’ll discuss this with you first.

No, these actions will be considered misconduct, no matter the reason. If you’re running out of time, or you’re unwell and can’t submit on time, there are three options:

1. Contact your School to ask for an extension so that you can finish your work properly
2. Submit late and accept the late penalty
3. Submit Good Cause, if you can’t finish your work because of illness or other substantial personal circumstances

Any of these are better than submitting work that isn’t your own, and a late penalty will be lighter than a penalty applied for misconduct.

You can consult them, you can’t just copy from them. That’s still plagiarism. Neither of these things will result in work that’s your own or that demonstrates your knowledge. You can consult other sources but you can’t just copy from them. You need to give your own thoughts and ideas, in your own ‘academic voice’.

The penalty depends on how extensive the problem is, whether there is enough original work to mark, and whether you have previously been involved in a breach. Available penalties are reprimands, grade reductions, a grade of H for the assessed element or the overall course, and refusal of credit. You might also be required to take additional training in good academic practice.

It’s likely a case of this type will be referred up to the Conduct Committee and typical outcomes are refusal of credit and, in some cases, expulsion.

Remember that if you just fail an exam, you’ll often have the chance to resit it (unless it is an Honours exam, or is already a resit). But if you’re found breaking exam rules, particularly if you have notes or a phone, there’s a good chance you won’t be allowed a resit and this could stop you from progressing or graduating. Don’t risk it. Make sure you’re completely familiar with the rules here at the University of Glasgow.

There are a range of penalties. In most cases you’ll get a grade of H for the exam, because it’s been compromised by the presence of the prohibited item. Depending on what the item is and where it was, you might or might not get a resit opportunity. If, for example, you’ve brought notes, or have tried to take your phone to the toilet, a resit won’t usually be given. If your exam is for an Honours course, or is already a resit, there’s no further opportunity. You should remember that having the prohibited item is a breach – it doesn’t matter whether you meant to bring it, or whether you’ve used it.

The Senate Student Conduct Committee is the highest level of the University’s conduct process. Some cases are referred to the Committee because they are too serious to be dealt with in any other way, or because the student has been found to have breached the Code of Student Conduct before. Cases can also sometimes be referred up after you have met with the Senate Assessors, but a decision couldn’t be reached. The letter you received telling you the case had been referred up, will tell you the reason.

You’ll receive full details of the allegation and evidence at least two weeks before the meeting date, and you’ll have a week to submit anything you think is relevant. You can also bring a supporter and any witnesses you wish, but you need to tell us about them in advance so we can schedule enough time.

The Committee will have a Convener and at least two other members – sometimes more – and their names will have been given to you in the papers you were sent. A Senate Assessor will be there to present the case, but they aren’t involved in deciding on the outcome.

The Committee members will ask you, and any witnesses, some questions and then they will ask you to leave the meeting while they decide whether the allegation is true.  If they do, they will invite you back in to say anything you wish to say in mitigation, and then they’ll have another private meeting where they decide what penalty, if any, should be applied. You’ll be told the outcome before the meeting ends.

The Committee can impose more substantial penalties than the School or the Senate Assessors. These include suspension and expulsion from the University because the Committee considers the most serious cases.