Imperial College London

Each university has its own distinct set of disciplinary policies and procedures. Please use the links below to reveal the information of interest.

Links to procedures and policies

• General misconduct: Disciplinary Procedure for Students
• Academic misconduct

 

Precautionary / interim measures?

A student who is subject to a College Disciplinary Panel or who has a criminal charge pending and/or is the subject of a College or police investigation may:

• have restrictions placed on their access to College premises, and/or
• be suspended or excluded from the College,

by approval of the Provost, on the basis of the available evidence, as a precautionary action pending the outcome of that Panel hearing, the criminal investigation and/or the outcome of the criminal process.

 

Approach to police involvement?

The role of the student disciplinary process will be to determine whether there has been a breach of the student disciplinary policy and, if so, to decide if any action should be taken against the respondent, and whether they can remain a student of the College, with or without conditions.

The panel will not be reaching any conclusions about whether the student has committed any criminal offences, although it may in the course of its investigation identify a matter for the police and the courts, or rely on information and outcomes provided by the police or judicial bodies.

Where an allegation of misconduct which may constitute a criminal offence is made against a student, the College will follow two principles when dealing with disciplinary matters:

• the criminal process will take priority and, with the exception of any precautionary action that is necessary, the internal disciplinary procedures will be suspended until the criminal process is at an end;
• if the matter is not being dealt with under the criminal process, or where the criminal process has concluded, the College will consider whether a breach of College regulations has occurred and refer the matter for consideration under these internal disciplinary procedures, where appropriate.

 

Right to be represented?

General misconduct

Any student subject to disciplinary procedures shall be entitled at any Panel meeting, to be present and to be accompanied by a “friend” of their choice (a fellow registered student, a Students’ Union Officer or a member of staff of the College of his or her choice, who may speak on his or her behalf), other than a lawyer, to give evidence and otherwise be heard, to have access to all the relevant documents to be submitted to the hearing and to call witnesses.

Academic misconduct

The student can bring a ‘friend’ with them to the meeting for moral support but they may not be acting in a legal capacity. For the purposes of this procedure, a ‘friend’ is defined as either, a registered student of Imperial College London, an officer or advisor of the Imperial College Union, or a current member of staff at the College.

N.B. Even where universities state that legal representation is not permitted, we have often successfully argued that students ought to be in accordance with the principles of natural justice.

 

Penalties?

General misconduct

Penalties includes:

• a written reprimand and a warning about future behaviour;
• a requirement upon the student to give an undertaking as to their future good conduct within the College;
• a requirement upon the student to pay for any damage to property they may have caused or to recompense the College for any loss it may have suffered arising from the student’s misconduct;
• a requirement on the student to pay compensation of not more than £500;
• a fine of not more than £500;
• a requirement on the student to undertake specified tasks or services for the benefit of the Department, Faculty, hall of residence or the College community up to a maximum of forty hours;
• expulsion or suspension from any part of the residences other than their own room for such a period as the Tribunal may determine;
• that a resident shall not be entitled to remain in their room after a certain date;
• restriction of access to the College or a specified part thereof for a fixed period (‘exclusion’). A student who receives such a penalty will have restricted rights to enter College premises and/or to participate in College activities or access to College services, the terms of the restriction being notified to the student in writing. An order of restricted access may include a requirement that the student shall have no contact with a named person or persons;
• suspension from the College for a fixed period. A student who is so suspended will be prohibited from entering College premises and from participating in College activities although the suspension may be subject to qualification, such as permission to take an examination. An order of suspension may include a requirement that the student will have no contact with a named person or persons. A period of suspension is normally included in a student’s maximum period of registration;
• expulsion from the College, which means that the student will cease to be a member of the College and will have their registration terminated and lose all rights and privileges of registration.

Academic misconduct

Penalties includes:

• Informal reprimand but no further action is required;
• Re-submission required with correction to referencing/citation (not permitted to change substance of the work);
• Assessment is marked on its merits;
• Assessment is awarded zero, with re-submission required and capped at the pass mark;
• Module is awarded zero, with re-submission as required by the Board of Examiners, capped at the pass mark;
• Module is awarded zero, with resubmission required. The mark for resubmission of the module will be zero, though credit will be awarded should it be of a pass standard;
• Zero is recorded for the performance of the candidate in all assessments they sat in the academic year the offence occurred and where eligible, that the candidate will not be permitted to retake all the assessments until the next academic year. The retake marks will be capped at the pass mark;
• Zero is recorded for the module, no retake opportunities will be given, and the module will have no credit awarded. The student will not be permitted re-entry to for the module and they will not be given an award of the institution (expulsion);

Where an award has already been made:

• Award zero for module/assessment undertaken (where appropriate withdraw credit), rescind the award of a degree/diploma/certificate of the College, but retain any other credits awarded (where appropriate);
• Award zero for all assessment (and credit where appropriate) and rescind the award of a degree/ diploma/ certificate of the College.

 

Right to appeal?

General misconduct

Grounds - A student penalised under the Student Disciplinary Procedure may lodge an appeal only on the grounds of:

• procedural irregularity in the conduct of the Student Disciplinary procedure;
• the availability of new evidence which could not reasonably have been expected to be presented prior to the consideration of the allegation and the application of the penalty;
• the disproportionate nature of the penalty.

Deadline

An appeal, including a statement of the grounds on which the appeal is being made, must be submitted by the student concerned to the Central Secretariat in writing within ten working days of the date on which the written notification of the decision is sent to the student.

Academic misconduct

Grounds - Following the outcome of the consideration of an allegation of academic misconduct, a student may lodge an appeal on one or more of the following grounds:

• Where the student believes that there has been a material procedural irregularity in the conduct of the academic misconduct procedure;
• Where there is new evidence of extenuating circumstances which was not available to the Board of Examiners or the Academic Misconduct Panel and could not have been reasonably provided at the time of its decision;
• Where there is evidence that the Academic Misconduct Panel or Board of Examiners acted unfairly or where it was thought to have imposed an outcome out of line with the procedure.

Deadline

If the student wishes to appeal against the decision of the Academic Misconduct Panel, they must submit the appeal form to student.appeals@imperial.ac.uk within ten working days of receiving the decision of the Academic Misconduct Panel. They must give the grounds of appeal and include all relevant evidence.

 

Member of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (“OIA”) Scheme?

Yes – if the student is still dissatisfied, the student may direct their complaint to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) within one calendar year of the date on which the Completion of Procedures Letter was issued.

This means that you could potentially complain to the OIA once you have exhausted the University’s internal procedures.

 

Contact our Student & University lawyers:

If you require further information or advice from our team of specialist lawyers, please contact a member of the team using one of the methods below. 

This information was drafted in the months leading up to September 2023. It does not constitute legal advice. As University policies are updated from time-to-time, the information on this page may contain some inaccuracies and you should always check your University’s resources and/or seek legal advice where appropriate.

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