The term 'disciplinary officer' shall be taken to mean 'Senior Tutor' or other such officer to whom the duties referred to in the context in which they appear below may be delegated by the respective Faculty Board from time to time.

This Code of Practice is governed by the requirements of the Bachelors Degree Regulations of the University for students admitted before 1 October 1996, of the Regulations for Undergraduates Certificates, Diplomas and Degrees (for students admitted after 1 October 1996) and the Regulations for Taught Degrees for students admitted after 1 August 2002 and applies only to undergraduate students.

(a) It is the responsibility of the Faculty Board to provide at the time of registration all necessary information about the requirements of the programme to enable students to understand what they have to do to fulfil the requirements. It is the responsibility of students to ensure that they have this information for the relevant year, and that they understand and comply with it. The compulsory elements of the programme may include:     

(i) attendance at seminars, supervisions, examples classes, laboratories and the like;
(ii) essays to be written and handed in, writing up of laboratory classes and the like.        

Students should also be told whether assessment of the compulsory elements of the programme are taken into account in either the Part I or Part II examination or in any resit examination which may be permitted.

(b) The Faculty Board is expected to ensure that the progress of students in their programmes is properly monitored and that their progress is from time to time discussed with them.

(c) The Regulations provide that a student may in certain circumstances when he/she persistently fails to perform prescribed work satisfactorily, be required to withdraw from his/her programme by the Board of the Faculty and his/her registration as a student terminated. The Regulations also provide that such a student must be given the opportunity of making representations on his/her own behalf before the decision requiring him/her to withdraw is taken. If these representations are unsuccessful, he/she may subsequently request a review of his/her case by the Senate. If he/she does request such a review, he/she will remain eligible to attend classes until the review is concluded.

A student who has been required to withdraw by his/her Faculty Board should remain in course until his/her appeal to the Senate has been heard.

The Regulations also provide that the Faculty Board may delegate any or all of its powers as it sees fit.  The power to require a student to withdraw should not be delegated to a single officer of the Faculty.

(d) Students are expected to comply with the Regulations and the requirements of their respective programmes.  Academic Discipline procedures may be initiated if a student has failed to comply with them.

 

(a) Each Faculty Board should appoint one or more disciplinary officer(s), whose responsibilities should include the initiation of disciplinary action when satisfied that a student has not offered a reasonable explanation of failure to fulfil academic obligations.

(b)(i) On receipt of such information the disciplinary officer should summon the student concerned to an interview.

(ii) In the light of that interview or of the student's failure to attend for the interview (such failure would be prima facie additional evidence of non-compliance with academic obligations), the disciplinary officer may decide to warn the student.

Whether to issue a warning will depend on the circumstances of each case but if the disciplinary officer does decide to warn the student he/she should convey the warning, or at least confirm it to the student in writing.

The letter should contain the grounds for the warning, the further action - such as the issue of a Formal Warning (see below) - that would follow if this warning is not heeded; a statement of what will constitute 'not heeding this warning' and if appropriate a time limit by which the student must have shown the required improvement.

(iii) If this warning is not heeded or the required improvement not shown by the stipulated time, the disciplinary officer will have in mind whether the student on account of his/her past record in this respect, is now seen or is in danger of being seen as a persistent offender as described in Section 5.2 of the Regulations, viz one who persistently fails to perform prescribed work satisfactorily.  If this is so, he/she will issue a Formal Warning, which would again stipulate the conditions to be met and the time by which these must be achieved.

When a written Formal Warning has been issued to a student, it will cease to have effect as such after twelve months, unless further proceedings under this paragraph are initiated as a result of the student's work and progress during this period.

(c) When a Formal Warning is issued, the disciplinary officer (or a committee authorised for this purpose) should at the end of the prescribed period or after the second year examinations, consider whether the conditions set out in the Formal Warning have been met.  If the disciplinary officer (or committee) considers that they have been met, the student should be informed that he/she is permitted to continue his/her course.  If the disciplinary officer (or committee) considers that the conditions have not been met, either:

(i) a further warning may be issued;

or (ii) the officer (or committee) may recommend that the student be required to withdraw from the University.

 

If a further warning is issued, the consideration of whether or not the conditions have been met should be as set out in this paragraph.

 

(d) The Faculty Board should lay down procedures by which the recommendation that a student be required to withdraw from the University be considered and a decision taken either to reject it or to accept and implement it.  That decision may be taken either by the Board itself in accordance with the Regulations or by a duly-authorised body acting with delegated powers.  Before the decision is taken, the student concerned must be given the opportunity (whether or not he/she takes it) of explaining himself/herself and making representations directly to the body empowered to take the decision.  If he/she takes the opportunity offered and decides to make representations in person, he/she may be accompanied by one other person, either a member of staff, or a student of the University, or a full-time officer of the Students' Union, who may speak on behalf of the student concerned.

 

Note: The Faculty Board should lay it down that no-one should take part in making the final decision who has directly supervised the student or been directly concerned with earlier stages of this disciplinary procedure.

 

(e) If a student is required to withdraw, he/she should be told that he/she may request a review of his/her case at Senate level in accordance with the Senate's Standing Orders on Academic Review Procedures.

(a) The Regulations provide for resit examinations, not as of right, but as one of the options open to a Faculty Board for a candidate who has failed the examination, and subject to certain limitations as set out in the Regulations.

 

(b) A student who has exhausted the resit provisions must be required to withdraw from the University.