ACADEMIC PRACTICE REVIEW (APR)

Typically, this meeting is for students facing their first charge of misconduct and in their first year of study at the University.  An Academic Practice Review relates to allegations of poor practice such as a lack of understanding of academic protocols and referencing. 

It does not carry any penalties. Your Head of School (or a nominee) will meet with you will ensure that appropriate guidance is given on how to avoid the problem in the future. The meeting is normally scheduled to take place within five working days following notification and will be given a copy of any work or evidence to be considered at the meeting. 

The possible outcomes of an Academic Practice Review meeting are:

• The allegation is dismissed, and no further action is taken. No record is placed on your file.

• The allegation is upheld. This can either mean:

  • The allegation will remain on your file for the rest of your course and it will be taken into consideration in any future allegations.

  • Your work will receive a mark based on the merits the valid parts of your work.

• The allegation will remain on your file for the rest of your course and it will be taken into consideration in any future allegations. Your Course Leader will be notified of the outcome.  Your work will receive a mark based on the merits the valid parts of your work.

• The allegation is referred to an Academic Misconduct Panel.

ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT PANEL (AMP)

This meeting is for more serious allegations and in most instances, students will not be new to the university. The Panel will consist of at least three members of staff; a Chair and two members of academic personnel, not involved in teaching you, along with an administrator from the school who will take a written record of the meeting. The staff member who made the allegation will also be there to present their allegations. 

You will receive notification in no less than 5 working days before the meeting is due to take place. This may be after you’ve received notification of the allegation, but you will be given a copy of any work or evidence to be considered at the meeting.  As soon as you’ve received this you should seek advice from us.

During the meeting, the marker will present their concerns and will outline the facts and evidence which has led them to make the allegation. You will then be able to present your response. You can also read out any statement you have prepared in advance and/or hand it into the chair (see above). 

The possible outcomes of an Academic Misconduct Panel meeting are:

• The allegation is dismissed, and no further action is taken. No record is placed on your file.

• The allegation is upheld, and a sanction will be applied to the assessment. The University can impose a range of penalties against you, some of which may mean that you cannot continue with the course.

FITNESS TO PRACTICE PANEL MEETING

A Panel will formally consider whether you can remain on the course and whether you are 'fit to practice' within your chosen profession.

You are strongly advised to attend the Panel meeting; an adviser from our service can attend this meeting with you (subject to availability). You must tell the Chair of the Panel the name and details of your representative in good time before the hearing.

Subject to our availability, we can attend the Investigation Meeting with you.

You may call witnesses, but you must inform the Chair of the Panel at least 5 days in advance of the date of the hearing. You can also provide written evidence and submit this in advance of the hearing. You should also receive from the University copies of any documents to be considered by the Panel.

If you fail to attend without good reason, a decision will be made in your absence.

The Panel will consider the relevant professional code of conduct and/or professional requirements and, any witness statements when making its decision.

OUTCOME OF THE FITNESS TO PRACTICE HEARING

At the end of the Fitness to Practise hearing, you’ll be asked to leave the room while the Panel considers the outcome. The decision will be based on the evidence on the balance of probabilities. The Panel may decide your fitness to practice is considered impaired, and you should receive a sanction, or it might decide there are no grounds for concern regarding your fitness to practice, in which case the matter will be dismissed.

You can find the full list of possible penalties in the Fitness to Practice Procedure under Section 2.3:

CAN I APPEAL AGAINST A FITNESS TO PRACTISE DECISION?

You can appeal against the decision of the Panel if:

• new evidence has come to light that was not available at the time;

• the decision was disproportionate;

• there was an error or irregularity in the process.

The appeal must be submitted to the University Registrar within 10 working days of the decision being made available to you.

Brighton SU’s Support team can discuss your grounds for appeal with you and assist you through the process.

HOW WE CAN HELP

Contact the team: BSUSupport@brighton.ac.uk

• The Students' Union Support service can check your appeal, help you identify evidence & arguments, and guide you through the process. Still need advice? Contact us

STAGE #1

Early Resolution

It is hoped, the majority of concerns can be resolved informally within your school. In most cases, this approach provides a quick solution and avoids the formality of submitting a written complaint. You are encouraged to raise issues with your School Complaints Officer - the person nominated to listen to your concerns and help find a resolution with you.

When you contact your School Complaint’s Officer, it's important to be as specific as possible what your concerns are and to think about what might help to put the problem right. You can send them an email or ask to meet in person. You should contact them to let them know that what you are discussing is an early resolution to your complaint. We recommend you email your concerns or write them in a word-processed document to attach to an email. 

Tips on what to write

You need to be as clear as possible, as the person who reads your complaint will know nothing about your circumstances. Once you have written your complaint, you need to read it back and consider whether someone with no prior knowledge of your complaint would understand what you have written.

Writing a chronology of events may be helpful. Be as specific as you can with the dates that the events occurred.

Give examples to support the points you raise and include evidence where possible.

If you are complaining about a specific person, you should include their name otherwise your complaint cannot be followed up. If you know what their job title is, or which course they are studying, you should include this as well.

Only mention witnesses and people who support your complaint by name if they have given you permission to do so.

You do not need to write your statement like an essay. It is fine to write it as a list of bullet points.

If you are unhappy with the outcome of the ‘early resolution’ you can take your complaint to the next level, the formal stage. 

STAGE #2

Formal Stage

If you are not satisfied with the response to the early resolution stage or the matter is too serious to be dealt with informally, you can submit a Stage 2 complaint using a Stage 2 form.

You need to send the form, with as much evidence as you can, to the university’s complaint email address. 

You should receive confirmation of the receipt of your complaint within 3 days. A complaint investigator will be appointed who will then keep you informed about the progress of their investigation. You may be called to a meeting with them. Contact Brighton SU Support team if you would like someone to help you to get ready for the meeting. 

If you believe that the outcome of your Stage 2 complaint is unreasonable or unfair, you can request a review of the previous stages.

STAGE #3

Review

As this is a review of what has taken place at the earlier stages, you aren’t permitted to raise new concerns at this stage. If you have new concerns, you should use one of the earlier stages and make it clear this is a new complaint.

You must raise a request for a review (Stage 3) within 14 working days of receiving the written outcome of Stage 2 by completing a Stage 3 Review Form and sent via email to complaints@brighton.ac.uk

Your form should specify the reasons why you believe your complaint should be reviewed, which must fall within one or more of the following categories.

i) proper procedures were not followed

ii) the outcome was unreasonable.

iii) new material evidence has come to light which you were unable for a valid reason to provide earlier in the process.

If the Review Stage is upheld, then the complaint will be returned either to the original complaints officer to consider the further material or to a complaints officer not previously involved in the matter. 

Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA)

Once all university processes are completed, if you remain unsatisfied with the outcome you can contact the OIA - an independent body set up to review student complaints.

Free to students, the OIA deals with individual complaints against Higher Education Providers in England and Wales. The OIA will consider how your complaint was handled and is interested in whether the university has acted fairly, reasonably, and within its own procedures. You can contact them to speak about your case before you submit a complaint, and we recommend you do this.

Brighton SU Support service can discuss your concerns with you, help you clarify your issues, and help you formulate your complaint. We can guide you through the process, check your statements and attend meetings with you (subject to availability).