Manchester academic misconduct: rules, timing and next steps

Read your letter and confirm your deadline

Start with the letter from the university. It should say what the university is looking at and what it asks you to do.

1. Read the letter carefully and note what it asks for.
2. Keep a copy of the letter and any messages you send.
3. Check your letter and the university's page for the deadline to respond.
4. Contact The Advice Service, the free help listed for this university, and ask it to explain the letter and the process.

The pages we read do not state a deadline for you to respond. They do give a university timing point: the university should normally decide whether a disciplinary referral is required within 20 working days from when suspected malpractice is detected. That is not a student response deadline, so confirm your own date in your letter and on the university's page.

What Manchester is deciding

For written work, a School Officer decides on the balance of probabilities whether there is poor academic practice or potential academic malpractice. 'Balance of probabilities' means more likely than not. If the School Officer decides there is poor academic practice, the work is referred back to the examiner with advice about how to proceed. If the School Officer decides there is potential academic malpractice, the School Officer should arrange for disciplinary action to be taken.

Examiners should continue to mark the work where possible as though it does not contain academic malpractice. The mark is withheld from you while any disciplinary action is pending. The procedure says this may pause your ability to progress on the programme until disciplinary action has concluded.

What can make the process cleaner

Use the university's definitions and your assessment instructions. If AI use is part of the allegation, the procedure says some general uses of AI, such as spellcheck and revision, may be permissible. More specific uses must not contravene the definitions of academic malpractice. Your programme can set further boundaries or allowances for AI based on its assessment needs, and must make these clear to you.

Read the unit and programme material you were given. Keep the actual drafts, files, notes and correspondence that exist. Do not create new records of past events. If you have evidence, it must be true evidence. Give the university what it asks for and keep copies of what you submit.

If there is a viva

A viva voce can be held over suspected contract cheating. You may be accompanied by a person of your choice for support only; that person must not take part in the viva. The viva is normally conducted by two members of academic staff, at least one of whom must be a subject specialist, normally the School Officer and the examiner of the assessment. It will not normally exceed 45 minutes.

Reasonable adjustments must be made so that candidates with additional support needs are not disadvantaged for reasons relating to a long-term medical condition, sensory impairment, specific learning difficulty and/or disability. Ask The Advice Service about how to request adjustments if you need them.

What happens after and if the outcome goes against you

The possible penalties depend on the guidance that applies to you. The AMBS guidance says penalties can include being awarded zero with or without loss of credit, failing the whole unit, demotion to a lower class of degree, or exclusion from the programme. That is AMBS guidance, so do not treat it as a university-wide penalty list for every Manchester student. If you are not in AMBS, ask your school or The Advice Service where your school's equivalent information is.

If the outcome goes against you, read the decision and any next-step information it gives. The pages we read do not set out appeal deadlines or grounds, so confirm those in the decision letter and on the university's page. Keep copies of the decision and any correspondence. The Advice Service can explain what the decision says.