What is an academic offence?

An academic offence is an attempt to gain an unfair advantage in any formal assessment, such as coursework and exams.

Our expectations

We expect you to:

• behave with honesty and integrity in relation to coursework, examinations and other assessed work
• follow our conventions for academic writing (including appropriate referencing of sources) and ethical considerations

If you don’t follow these rules you may be charged with having committed an academic offence.

Examples of academic offences

• Plagiarism (copying or using other people’s work without proper referencing).
• Cheating in exams.
• Purchasing a pre-written essay for assessment.
• Falsifying data or evidence.
• Carrying out research without any necessary ethical approval.

You can find more examples in the academic offences procedures (.pdf)