Assessment Malpractice Policy

Student Assessment Malpractice Policy

 

Context

Most of your courses include tutor-assessed work that contributes towards your external examination marks e.g. course work, assignments, portfolios and essays.

This policy has been established to ensure that no student gains an unfair academic advantage through plagiarism, cheating or collusion.  These are forms of academic misconduct.  This policy informs you of the action Carnelian Training will take in suspected cases.

 

What is Assessment Malpractice?

• Taking someone else’s work, images or ideas and passing it off as you own e.g. using the internet to cut and paste material from a website, or by taking another students work that has been emailed to you.  This is called plagiarism.

• Cheating, this is, acting unfairly or dishonestly to gain an advantage.

• Agreeing with others to cheat or deceive e.g. by allowing other students to copy your work.  This is known as collusion.

 

If you are discovered or suspected of doing any of these things shown in the list above, then Carnelian Training will investigate and may take disciplinary action against you.

 

This is what is expected of you whilst you are undertaking qualifications with Carnelian Training:

• You will only hand in your own original work for assessment

• You will indicate clearly when you have used information provided by someone else by giving the person’s name and where you found the information.  For example, if you someone else’s words you will enclose the quote with inverted commas.

 

You will also repeat this information at the end of the piece of work (this is called a bibliography/reference section).  The same applies if you have received help.  This is the standard practice in the world of learning.  You should seek advice and guidance from your tutor if you are unsure how to do this properly.

• You will show when you have downloaded information from the internet and copied elements in to your work.

• You will never use material from another student given to you either by email or on a pen drive as if it were your own work.

• You will never present someone else’s artwork, pictures or graphics (including graphs, spreadsheets etc.) as if they were produced by you.

• You will never let other students use or copy from your work and pass it off as they had done it themselves.  If you are approached by another student to do this, or witness it happening, you should inform your tutor immediately.

 

What will happen if there is evidence of malpractice?

The member of staff who suspects any form of malpractice will inform the Director of Training.  You will be informed of any allegation of malpractice and an investigation will be carried out.

 

Disciplinary action will depend on how serious the malpractice appears to the investigators.  In all cases where there is clear evidence of deliberate malpractice the relevant examining body will be informed.  This examination body will inform Carnelian Training and the candidate of the action that they decide is appropriate.

 

The internal actions taken by Carnelian Training, if they believe from the evidence you have done something wrong, may include the following:

 

Moderate cases of Assessment Malpractice

This could include:

• Copying from books/professional work without acknowledgement, which has the effect of making a significant contribution to the overall work.

• Allowing another student to use your work.

• Limited copying of another candidate’s work (hard copy or from electronic material).

• Evidence of a limited amount of cutting and pasting information from the internet without acknowledgment, passing this off as your own work.

 

Possible action taken by Carnelian Training

• Your mark or assessment grade may be reduced or awarded zero.

• Subject to Examining Authority regulations you may not be allowed to take the unit/exam/test again.

• You may have to redo the work under supervised conditions in accordance with an agreed action plan drawn up by the course tutor.

• Yu may be given a different assignment to do on the same section of the specification.

 

Serious cases of Academic Misconduct

This could include:

• Extensive copying from textbooks.

• Extensive copying of another candidate’s work (hard copy or from electronic material).

• Buying, selling or stealing of work.

• Evidence of extensive use of cutting and pasting information from the internet without acknowledgment.

• Using model internet answers.

• Using past candidates’ work from previous years.

 

Possible action taken by Carnelian Training

This will depend on the seriousness of what you have done.  Any of the following may be given:

 

• No grade or zero mark in the test/exam/module may be given.

• You are not allowed to re-sit the exam or test, or you are not allowed to redo the piece of assessed work.

• You are disqualified from the course.

 

In all cases, a record will be made in your file of the allegation, the outcome and any penalty you are given.  This information may be used by Carnelian Training when it is asked to provide a reference for you.

 

You must sign the statement below to show you have read and understood the Carnelian Training rules on Assessment Malpractice as shown in this paper.

 

 

Statement of Malpractice

“I agree that I have read and understood the Carnelian Training policy regarding assessment malpractice.

 

I understand that if I cheat and present others’ work as my own, without showing who did the work and where I found it, Carnelian Training will take action.

 

I agree that all work I hand in during my course or put in my portfolio will be entirely my own, unless I show clearly in my work where I have used someone else’s work, have work with someone else, or received help.”

 

 

Signed:          ..............................

 

Date:               ..............................

 

Please return Malpractice Policy via email or by post to the company address below