- Definitions
1a. Study Mind is committed to fair and equitable educational practices and will not tolerate any student, tutor, employee, partner or organisation taking part in any activity that could be construed as malpractice or maladministration.
1b. Malpractice (by centres/providers): Malpractice is any activity or practice which deliberately contravenes procedures and regulations. It means that there are serious concerns about the integrity of the assessment or the validity of certificates. We take it very seriously. Examples of malpractice:
- Deliberate misuse of the Awarding Organisation logos by the centre/provider
- Contravention of examination regulations by the centre/provider
- Falsification of documents.
1c. Malpractice (by learners): Malpractice is any activity or practice which deliberately contravenes procedures and regulations. It means that there are serious concerns about the integrity of the assessment or the validity of certificates. We take it very seriously. Examples of malpractice:
- Cheating of any nature by learners, including plagiarism
- Contravention of examination regulations by the learner
- Repeated maladministration (normally three consecutive incidents).
1d. Maladministration: Maladministration is an activity or practice which results in non-compliance with regulations, but it’s normally the result of a genuine mistake rather than any deliberate plan to gain an unfair advantage. Examples of maladministration:
- Late registration of learners with awarding bodies
- Claiming certification for incorrect units
Staff and learners should take all reasonable steps to prevent malpractice and/or maladministration from occurring throughout the development, delivery and assessment of the Awarding Organisation’s qualifications and programmes. For more general concerns or complaints please see the Complaints Policy.
- Procedure
2a. All staff have a responsibility to be aware of the serious nature of malpractice and maladministration. Such situations must be carefully managed to ensure that it does not impact on the standards of delivery of any qualification.
2b. Any suspicion of malpractice or maladministration must be reported to the relevant awarding body by the senior management. Study Mind has an obligation to ensure that procedures are followed and senior management will be responsible for ensuring that Study Mind has not done anything that could amount to malpractice or maladministration. This includes (but not limited to):
- Sharing of materials attained against best practice (for example, direct questions from interview)
- Helping students find copies of past papers not legally available
- Doctoring grades for students
- Providing references for application
2c. Any activity by Study Mind or a partner employee that amounts to this will be dealt with as per the Code of Conduct. As serious offences, this would automatically lead to a formal warning and meeting with management, with further action taken if it was found to be purposeful.