Rights and responsibilities

2.4 Student Conduct

2.4.1

Students’ conduct shall not (1) cause actual or potential distress or harm to others; (2) cause actual or potential damage to the property or reputation of the College or others; (3) disrupt the normal functioning or operation of the College; (4) impede or interfere with the pursuance of work or study of those working or studying at the College; or (5) contravene any provision of the College’s Charter, Statutes, Regulations, policies or handbooks.

2.4.2

Conduct by which a student attempts to gain an unfair advantage in an academic assessment shall be dealt with separately under the Academic Misconduct Policy and Procedures (PDF), and student disciplinary offences in student accommodation are usually dealt with in the Student Accommodation Regulations.

2.4.3

The College shall maintain disciplinary procedures for investigating and considering allegations of misconduct. These procedures shall adhere to the Good Practice Framework of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator. In the implementation and application of the procedures, the College is committed to the fair and equal treatment of all individuals regardless of gender, age, disability, colour, race, religious or political beliefs. 

2.4.4

The College has the power under this Regulation to take action in relation to any student who is found to have acted in contravention of this Regulation, up to and including termination of registration.

2.4.5

The College has the power under this Regulation to take precautionary action, including suspension or exclusion, in relation to any student who is alleged to have acted in contravention of this Regulation.

2.4.6

Any student subject to a final decision made in relation to this Regulation which they are dissatisfied with may submit a complaint to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator, an independent agency established to consider complaints from students in higher education. The Office of the Independent Adjudicator will only consider a complaint once the College's own internal procedures have been exhausted. In order to submit a complaint to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator a student must obtain a letter of Completion of Procedures from the Governance & Legal Services Department.

Conduct that may be subject to criminal investigation

Since these Regulations are not an Act of Parliament, nor part of the law of the land, they do not seek to reflect or incorporate the approach of the criminal law in defining criminal offences with great precision. Their purpose is to regulate the contractual relationship between students and the College. 

2.4.7

If the matter is being investigated or prosecuted under the criminal law, then the  enrolled student has a responsibility under this regulation to notify the College.  Save for taking any necessary precautionary action, the internal disciplinary process shall usually be suspended until the criminal process is at an end. However, the College may invoke its disciplinary procedures more immediately if it considers this to be appropriate.

2.4.8

Where the student has received a caution or is convicted in relation to criminal offence, the College may take action in relation to them under this Regulation. A caution or conviction establishes responsibility for an act and therefore no further investigation shall be required by the College.

2.4.9

Where a decision is taken by the police or crown prosecution service not to pursue a criminal case against the student or where the student has been acquitted of a criminal offence, the College may still take disciplinary action if there are outstanding matters of concern which have not been addressed through the criminal process.