Appendix 2E
In Absentia Penalty Offer Letter
DATE
Student name
(via email)
Dear [name]
The School recently notified you about an allegation that you may have [allegation] in the [course] online examination, and sought your response. The allegation related to Question [xx] of the examination.
In the statement you submitted to us you said that…
[example text 1] you had not plagiarised intentionally. However, it was clear from your statement that you had misunderstood the instructions about referencing. It is clear to me that significant sections of text have been copied verbatim from your sources. While students may consult sources in open book examinations, it is not acceptable to simply copy from them. Even if you had correctly quoted the material, the work would still not have been your own effort – it would simply have presented a series of quotations.
[example text 2] you had not colluded with any other student or communicated with anyone during the examination time and that you had used your course materials to answer the question. However, it was clear to me that the similarities between your work and the other student’s could not have occurred by chance as they are so substantial. In my view this could only have come about either by collusion, or by both of you copying material from the same source. Neither is acceptable. You did indicate in your statement that you had used course materials to produce your answer and it is evident to me that the other student has therefore done the same.
The purpose of any assessment is for you to demonstrate to the marker that you understand the material. Copying directly from other sources does not demonstrate any understanding and it constitutes plagiarism, regardless of your intent.
I have considered the matter and find that your actions constitute a breach of the University’s Plagiarism Statement.
It is not my intention to invite you to attend an interview in order to confirm the penalty to be applied. Instead, I propose to apply the typical penalty of a reprimand and [academic penalty – eg a mark of zero for the question concerned] without the need for you to attend an interview. This penalty is being proposed because there is insufficient original material for your exam answers to be marked. A resit opportunity, capped at the pass mark, will be permitted if this penalty causes you to fail the course overall. [NOTE: Assuming the exam is not already a resit – in which case, no further attempt can be allowed.]
If you accept this outcome, please confirm to [email] within one week of the date of this letter. You may wish to speak to your Adviser of Studies about the potential impact of this penalty.
If you do not accept this course of action, and prefer to attend an interview, then you are entitled to do so. If you wish to attend an interview, you must confirm this within one week of the date of this letter, by emailing [email]. If you do not contact us by that time, we will apply the penalty described above.
If you attend an interview it is likely you will receive the same penalty as described above, as the assessment has been compromised and cannot be marked. However, this may change as depending on the information received. Penalties may be reduced or increased.
If you confirm that you wish to attend an interview, a meeting (or virtual meeting) will be scheduled, and you will be notified of the date and time you are expected to attend. If you request a meeting and then do not attend and do not provide any good reason for your absence, the meeting will go ahead and a decision will be taken and notified to you in writing.
In either of the above scenarios you will have the opportunity to appeal the decision if you wish, by submitting your appeal to student-conduct@glasgow.ac.uk.
The Plagiarism Statement can be found at https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/apg/policies/uniregs/regulations2023-24/feesandgeneral/studentsupportandconductmatters/reg32/
The Code of Student Conduct can be found at https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/apg/policies/uniregs/regulations2023-24/feesandgeneral/studentsupportandconductmatters/reg33/
Yours sincerely
[signature]