PLAGIARISM AND ASSESSMENT MALPRACTICE POLICY

It is essential that you understand that all work submitted must be your own, including correct referencing of any (short passages of) quoted material. Similarly, your tutors are required to follow the correct procedures as laid down by the awarding body and the college, and this is carefully monitored through the verification process.

DEFINITIONS/TERMINOLOGY

  •  Student malpractice: any action by the student which has the potential to undermine the integrity and validity of the assessment of the student’s work
  •  Assessor malpractice: any deliberate action by an Assessor which has the potential to undermine the integrity of BTEC qualifications
  •  Plagiarism: taking and using another’s thoughts, writings, inventions, etc. as one’s own
  • Minor acts of learner  malpractice: handled by the Assessor by, for example, refusal to accept work for marking and learner being made aware of malpractice policy. Student corrects and resubmits work in question
  • Major acts of learner malpractice: extensive copying/plagiarism, 2nd or subsequent offence, inappropriate for the Assessor to deal with

RESPONSIBILITIES

London Bridge College: will seek proactive ways to promote a positive culture that encourages learners to take individual responsibility for their learning and respect the work of others

Assessor: responsible for designing assessment opportunities which limit the opportunity for malpractice and for checking the validity of the learner’s work

Internal Verifier/Lead Internal Verifier: responsible for malpractice checks when internally verifying work

Quality Nominee: required to inform Pearson of any acts of malpractice

Centre manager or their nominees: responsible for any investigation into allegations of malpractice

Addressing learner malpractice:

  • Promote positive and honest study practices
  • Students should declare that work is their own: check the validity of their work
  • Student induction and handbook will inform about malpractice and outcomes
  • Ensure students use appropriate citations and referencing for research sources
  • Assessment procedures should help reduce and identify malpractice

Aim:

  •  To identify and minimise the risk of malpractice by staff or learners
  •  To respond to any incident of alleged malpractice promptly and objectively
  • To standardise and record any investigation of malpractice to ensure openness and fairness
  • To impose appropriate penalties and/or sanctions on learners or staff where incidents (or attempted incidents) of malpractice are proven
  • To protect the integrity of this centre and BTEC qualifications.  In order to do this, the In
  • In order to achieve this London Bridge College  will:
  • seek to avoid potential malpractice by using the induction period and the learner handbook to inform learners of the centre’s policy on malpractice and the penalties for attempted and actual incidents of malpractice
  • show learners the appropriate formats to record cited texts and other materials or information sources
  • ask learners to declare that their work is their own
  • ask learners to provide evidence that they have interpreted appropriate information and acknowledged any sources used
  • conduct an investigation in a form commensurate with the nature of the malpractice allegation. Such an investigation will be supported by centre manager and all personnel linked to the allegation.

Procedure

  •  inform the individual of the issues and of the possible consequences
  •  inform the individual of the process and appeals rights
  • give the individual the opportunity to respond
  • investigate in a fair and equitable manner
  • inform Pearson of any malpractice or attempted acts of malpractice, which have compromised assessment. Pearson will advise on further action required
  • make the individual fully aware at the earliest opportunity of the nature of the alleged malpractice and of the possible consequences should malpractice be proven
  • give the individual the opportunity to respond to the allegations made
  • inform the individual of the avenues for appealing against any judgment made
  • document all stages of any investigation.

Where malpractice is proven, London Bridge College will apply the following penalties/sanctions:

  • Minor acts of student malpractice: handled by the Assessor by, for example, refusal to accept work for marking and learner being made aware of malpractice policy. Student corrects and resubmits work in question and undertakes not to repeat error.
  •  Major acts of learner malpractice: extensive copying/plagiarism, 2nd or subsequent offence, full investigation supported by the Head of HE / Assistant Principal and all personnel linked to the allegation. Document all stages

DEFINITION OF MALPRACTICE BY STUDENTS

This list is not exhaustive and other instances of malpractice may be considered by this centre at its discretion:

plagiarism of any nature

collusion by working collaboratively with other students to produce work that is submitted as individual learner work

copying (including the use of ICT to aid copying)

deliberate destruction of another’s work

fabrication of results or evidence

false declaration of authenticity in relation to the contents of a portfolio or coursework

impersonation by pretending to be someone else in order to produce the work for another or arranging for another to take one’s place in an assessment/examination/test.

This policy will be reviewed annually.

For more information on plagiarism click here

Last update: September 2020, Review: August 2021