Policy and Systems for dealing with Malpractice

Malpractice

This policy relates to malpractice in any assessment and certification context and sets out the rights and responsibilities with regard to malpractice of learners and staff of Windsor Management College. Windsor Management College is committed to maintaining the integrity of our students’ learning and our responsibility as an assessment center, through a clear policy of educating our students about the dangers and implications of plagiarism. This is supported by thorough monitoring of students’ coursework and its drafting process, and through the establishment of clear sanctions for any student who fails to adhere to this process.

Policy Statement

Windsor Management College does not tolerate actions (or attempted actions) of malpractice by:

• Students
• Staff of Windsor Management College
• Other stakeholders eg parents, spouses, staff of associated colleges in connection with any assessments and certification.

Windsor Management College will impose the Disciplinary Procedure with students or staff of Windsor Management College where incidents (or attempted incidents) of malpractice have been proven. Where assessment malpractice is proven awarding bodies may also impose penalties or sanctions.

Requirements for Implementation

1. Students will be informed of the School’s policy on assessment malpractice and plagiarism during induction.
2. Students will be shown the appropriate formats to record cited texts and other materials or information including websites.
3. Windsor Management College staff should include assessment procedures, which reduce the opportunity for malpractice including for example:

• Periods of supervised sessions during which the student produces evidence for assessments.
• Altering assessment assignments/task/tools on a regular basis.
• Using oral questions with students for a single assignment/task in a single session for the complete cohort of students.
• Ensuring access controls, which prevent students from accessing and using other people’s work when using, networked computers.

4. Students should be asked to declare that their work is their own when submitting assessments.
5. Incidents of student assessment malpractice should be reported to the School and the Examinations Officer.
6. Incidents of staff assessment malpractice should be reported to the Head of Centre.
7. When a case of alleged assessment malpractice has been reported the incident should be investigated using the appropriate disciplinary procedure.

Scope of Assessment Malpractice

The following are examples of malpractice by students. This list is not exhaustive and other instances of malpractice may be considered by the School at its discretion.

• Plagiarism by copying and passing off, as the student’s own, the whole or part(s) of another person’s work, including artwork, images, words, computer generated work (including internet sources), thoughts, inventions and/or discoveries whether published or not, with or without the originator’s permission and without appropriately acknowledging the source.
• Collusion by working collaboratively with other students to produce work that is submitted as individual student work. Students should not be discouraged from teamwork, as this is an essential key skill for main areas.
• Impersonation by pretending to be someone else in order to produce the work for another.
• Fabrication of results or evidence
• Failing to abide by instructions
• Misuse of assessment, examination material
• Introduction of unauthorised material
• Alteration of any results document
• Cheating to gain an unfair advantage

The following are examples of malpractice by staff. This list is not exhaustive and other instances of malpractice may be considered by the School at its discretion.

• Failing to keep assessment mark schemes secure
• Alteration of assessment mark scheme
• Alteration of awarding bodies assessment and grading criteria
• Assisting students in the production of work for assessment, where the support has the potential to influence the outcomes of assessment, for example where the assistance involves staff producing work for the student
• Producing falsified witness statements, for example for evidence the student has not generated
• Allowing evidence, which is known by the staff not to be the student’s own to be included in the student’s assignment/task/portfolio/coursework
• Misusing the conditions of special access arrangements
• Failing to keep student computer files secure
• Falsifying records/certificates
• Fraudulent certificate claims that is claiming for a certificate prior to the student completing all the requirements of the assessment
• Failing to keep assessment/examination test papers secure prior to the assessment/examination/test

Sanctions

• If suspicions of plagiarism are confirmed, and the candidate has not signed the declaration of authentication, Windsor Management College will resolve the matter internally:
• On a first instance, this must include:
• Calling in parents/careers for interview;
• Consideration of dis-application of the student from one or more examinations;
• Internal circulation of the students’ details to all curriculum leaders and SLT;
• Strict deadlines for redrafting/rewriting of plagiarized coursework and a signed declaration of future intent/adherence to policy (recognizing that this could include barred entry from examinations).
• If students have already signed the declaration of authentication, or have committed a second plagiarism offence, the case will be reported.