Academic integrity policy

Academic integrity means that a student must ensure that the work they produce for assessment is their own. This concept – based on honesty, fairness, and respect – is a core part of studying in higher education as part of a scholarly community and lays the foundations for future professional life.

Please see more information within the Academic Integrity Policy.

Academic misconduct (sometimes called ‘unfair practice’) can be defined as any action that results in an unfair academic advantage. Actions that demonstrate academic misconduct include not acknowledging the work or ideas of others which can happen intentionally or unintentionally.

Please see more information in section 2.3 of the Academic Integrity Policy.

You should speak to your module tutors and academic advisors to ensure that you understand the assessment brief and requirements.

The Academic Skills service has useful advice on promoting academic integrity, available on their webpages. This includes advice with referencing, paraphrasing, note taking, using AI, teamwork, and time management.

The University recognises the importance of supporting students in understanding academic integrity. Each student will have their own previous experience of applying academic integrity principles to their work.

The varied ways in which the University supports students’ understanding of the core principles of academic integrity is outlined in section 2.2 of the policy.

One key resource is the Academic Skills service (ASk) which can support students to show academic integrity in their assessments. They offer a wide range of workshops and online resources regarding Academic and Digital Literacy Skills.

You're expected to understand the Academic Integrity principles explained in the Academic Integrity Policy. If you don't understand them, you should talk to your Academic Advisor, access support from Student and Registry Services, or talk to the Students’ Union Advice Centre.

The University’s expectations regarding acceptable academic practice is outlined in section 2.3 of the Academic Integrity Policy.

It's never the right course of action to ignore or not apply the principles of academic integrity. Doing so is unacceptable and will be defined as academic misconduct; this is a serious matter and will result in an Academic Misconduct report.

If you have personal concerns about your academic success or you're experiencing any overwhelming pressure to succeed, then you should talk to your Academic Advisor or module leader, access support from Student and Registry Services, or talk to the Students’ Union Advice Centre, friends or family.

If you feel that you have circumstances that are affecting your ability to study and complete your assessments such as ill health, we strongly encourage you to submit exceptional circumstances request/s ahead of your assessment deadlines and get in contact with Student Wellbeing Services through MyWellbeing.

Please note that under the Fit to Sit/Submit Principle, if you do decide to submit an assessment then you can't later claim that exceptional circumstances affected your performance.

Turnitin is a similarity detection service which helps to identify plagiarism. It's used by many Higher Education institutions around the world and its database contains 47 billion current and archived Internet pages, 1.9 billion student papers, and over 190 million articles.

Bath Spa University uses Turnitin for most assessments submitted on Ultra. Students’ assessments will also be independently checked by tutors for any indications of academic misconduct, to ensure good practice and avoid any false reports.

You may re-use part of your previously assessed material if the assessment brief for a reassessment task requires you to improve on your original performance. If you've failed a module and are retaking it with attendance or restarting the year, you can re-use part of your previous submission, provided you disclose this and appropriately reference any previously submitted content (if the assessment briefs remain the same).

Please check with your module leader before doing this. You may also use or refer to materials you have published for another purpose (e.g. on a blog, personal website, etc.) if these are referenced appropriately in the assessment task.

You shouldn't use all or part of a piece of work for an assessment that you have submitted previously for a different assessment for a module that you haven't taken before, whether this is in your current programme of study or for submission at any other institution. This is called self-plagiarism. Please see section 2.3 of the Academic Integrity Policy for more information.

If you're experiencing technical difficulties with your own equipment then we would advise that you contact the University for support. There are a number of computers available at our campuses. There's also the Laptop Fund and other discounts available. You can also loan a laptop.

If you must use someone else’s computer then please be very careful as it is very easy to access someone else’s work, intentionally or accidentally. If your work was made available to someone else and they submitted it as their own or they were heavily influenced by it, then you would be implicated in the act of collusion.

You may work with another student/s if the assessment brief requires you to plan or compile a task together.

The assessment brief will clarify the extent of that collaboration and what is expected to be your own work.

If another student approaches you for help with an assessment that is to be completed independently, you should helpfully direct them to the module leader so they can get the help they're looking for.

When submitting your assessment, please check the preview carefully to make sure it’s the correct file. If you've submitted the wrong file and the deadline for the assessment hasn't passed, you should be able to upload a new file.

If the deadline has passed so you can't upload a new file, please contact your module leader immediately to make them aware of the issue. They'll need to update Ultra to allow you to upload the correct file.

It's important you use generative artificial intelligence (AI) carefully and always disclose how you've used it in your assessments.

The Academic Skills Service has written guidance on how to use generative AI appropriately.

You should also ask your module tutor if you have any queries or concerns regarding how to use AI in your assessments.

You'll receive feedback on how to improve in your future assessments.

Depending on the extent of the breach, your marks may be reduced in your assessment, you may be asked to attend a meeting to discuss the breach, and/or you may receive an alleged academic misconduct report.

It may be the case that your tutor is concerned that you have over-relied on other sources and they need to find out more about how you produced your work.

It's important that you attend the meeting as this is your opportunity to discuss and show understanding of the concepts and evidence that you've presented in your assessment, in order to show that it was your own work.

If it's a formal meeting, there'll be two members of academic staff present and brief notes will be taken of the meeting. If the meeting takes place online, then it may be recorded.

You can ask a friend or a member of the Students’ Union to attend the meeting with you. You may be asked to provide copies of your drafts or notes, to support that it is your own work.

If you believe you may have breached academic integrity, then please be honest about this and any circumstances that may have led you to do this. The University can provide you with information of the support available to you to help you to avoid breaching academic integrity again.

Using an essay writing services (often called ‘essay mills’) or employing anyone to complete your assessments for you makes you vulnerable to blackmail. They can become threatening and can continue to demand more money from you. You should not use them in the first place, but if you have, please speak to someone about it.

The University’s main concern is to support its students and to encourage good academic practice. You can speak to your Academic Advisor, the Students’ Union, Student & Registry Services, Student Wellbeing Services, or any member of staff at the University.

You will need to redo the assessment so that it reflects your own work, but you will be supported with this and given sufficient time to complete it. The University will also support you with any threatening contact from the essay writing service.

An alleged academic misconduct report is the formal notification of a suspected breach of academic integrity at the University.

Where potential academic misconduct is identified, the module leader must complete an Alleged Academic Misconduct Report Form and include supporting evidence to be reviewed by the academic school or partner college.

If the concern goes beyond poor academic practice and the evidence suggests that possible academic misconduct may have occurred, then the report will be reviewed by the Academic Misconduct Panel.

More information on this process is given in section 3 of the Academic Integrity Policy.

You'll be sent an email to your Bath Spa University email address and personal email address to advise you about the alleged academic misconduct report.

You'll be provided with a summary of the concern and the supporting evidence that has been compiled to date. You' ll be given 10 working days’ notice of the meeting that has been scheduled to discuss the concerns.

You'll be given the opportunity to write a response to be considered by the Panel at their next meeting. This written response will need to be submitted by the stated deadline.

The Students’ Union Advice Centre can give you independent support including helping you to write a response to the report of alleged academic misconduct.

More information is available on the Students' Union pages and they can be contacted via su-advice@bathspa.ac.uk.

The Academic Misconduct Panel will then meet to consider the report and your response, and you will receive the outcome via email within five working days of their meeting.

If you wish to appeal the decision of the Academic Misconduct Panel, you should follow the Stage Two: Review procedure set out in the Appeal Policy and Procedure (section 3.8), available on the Appeals pages.

You'll only be able to request a review of the decision based on criteria set out in that document.

The Students’ Union Advice Centre is available to help you with any matters relating to a review request. More information is available on their pages and they can be contacted via su-advice@bathspa.ac.uk.