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Academic dishonesty covers any attempt by a student to gain unfair advantage (e.g. extra marks) for her/himself, or for another student, by unauthorised means. Examples of such dishonesty include collusion falsification, deceit, plagiarism and cheating in examinations.

Collusion includes the conscious collaboration, without official approval, between two or more students, or between a student(s) and another person, in the preparation and production of work which is then submitted as individual work. In cases where one (or more) student has copied from another, both (all) students involved may be penalised. The boundary between legitimate co-operation and unacceptable collusion varies according to the type of work involved. Staff setting the assessment exercise will issue clear guidance on how much co-operation is acceptable.

Falsification includes the presentation of fictitious or deliberately distorted data in, for example, laboratory work, surveys or projects. This also includes citing references that do not exist.

Deceit includes misrepresentation or non-disclosure of relevant information, including the failure to disclose any cases of work being submitted for assessment which has been or will be used for other academic purposes.

Plagiarism is the act of using other people’s words, images etc. as if they were your own. In order to make clear to readers the distinction between your words, images etc. and the work of others, it is essential that you reference your work accurately, thereby avoiding a charge of plagiarism. It is always obvious when a student has copied words from a text without referencing, as there is a change of writing style each time. If you do not reference your work correctly, it will come across as if you had ‘stolen’ words or ideas from other sources.

Re-presentation is the submission of work presented previously or simultaneously for summative assessment at this Institution.

Cheating is defined as any attempt to gain an unfair advantage in an assessment (including examinations), or assisting another student to do so. It includes: taking unauthorised materials into examinations, copying from other candidates, collusion, impersonation, plagiarism, and unauthorised access to unseen examination papers. In the event of an allegation of cheating you are advised to contact the Student Union Advice Centre immediately after the incident.

It is in the best interests of all students for the University to maintain the good reputation of its awards. Your co-operation is expected in actively protecting the integrity of the assessment process. It is the duty of all students to observe high personal standards of academic honesty in their studies and to report any instances of malpractice of which they become aware.

The minimum penalty for a proven case of academic dishonesty is usually a mark of zero in that module, with the maximum being exclusion from the University