Anatomy And Physiology Online Courses - Assessment Malpractice Policy

Aim:

The aim of this policy is to ensure that there are no acts that seek to undermine the integrity and validity of assessment and the certification of the qualifications.

Malpractice:

The term malpractice covers any deliberate actions, neglect, default or other practice that compromises, or could compromise:

• The assessment process
• The integrity of a regulated qualification
• The validity of a result or certificate
• The reputation and credibility of the Awarding Body; or
• The qualification or the wider qualifications community

Malpractice may include a range of issues from the failure to maintain appropriate records or systems to the deliberate falsification of records in order to claim certificates.

Maladministration:

Maladministration is any activity, neglect, default or other practice that results in the Learner not complying with the specified requirements for delivery of the qualifications as set out in the relevant codes of practice.

Procedure:

Anatomy and Physiology Online Courses does not tolerate actions or attempted actions of malpractice by:

• Learners
• Team member including Consultant Tutors.

Anatomy and Physiology Online Courses may enforce penalties and/or sanctions on Students where incidents or (attempted incidents) of malpractice have been identified and proven.

Our rigorous assessment process will be open, transparent, and fair when handling incidents or (attempted incidents) of malpractice.

The policy on malpractice aims to:

• Record the incidents or (attempted incidents) of malpractice
• Inform the learner as soon as practicable by email, phone or by letter
• Inform the learner of their rights and responsibilities
• Provide the learner with an opportunity to discuss how they intend to rectify the situation
• Involve members of the Programme and Management team to assist with the investigation.
• malpractice incidents or alleged incidents.
• Handle the investigation in a fair, transparent, balanced and timely manner

Anatomy and Physiology Online Courses reserves the right in suspected cases of malpractice to withhold the issuing of a certificate, whilst the investigation is being carried out. The outcome of the investigation will determine whether or not the certificate is issued or withheld.

Intervention and Support for Learners

It is necessary for all learners to sign a declaration for all assessed work to authenticate that it is their own work. This will ensure that when any incidents of malpractice have been identified or suspected, it would be considered as evidence which may be used in any investigation. The learner must be made aware of this on each occasion that the document is being signed, confirming that they are agreeing to the statement which states that: “the work is their own”.

Types of Students Malpractice

Plagiarism – by copying and claiming another person’s work as your own, including artwork, images, words, computer-generated work, such as internet sources, inventions whether published or not without appropriately acknowledging the source and giving credit where credit is due.

Collusion – by working together with other learners to produce work that is submitted for assessment as individual work.

Impersonation – by pretending to be someone else in order to produce work for another learner or arranging for another person to take the place of another learner in an assessment or exam.

Altering – any results documentation, including assessment grading records and certificates.

Cheating – in a way that gains an unfair advantage through inappropriate methods.

Inappropriate Material – Inclusion of inappropriate, offensive, discriminatory or obscene material in assessment evidence. This includes vulgarity and swearing that is outside of the context of the assessment, or any material of a discriminatory nature (including racism, sexism and homophobia).

Inappropriate Behaviour – Inappropriate behaviour during an internal assessment that causes disruption to others. This includes shouting and/or aggressive behaviour or language and having an unauthorised electronic device that causes a disturbance in the examination room.

Frivolous Content – Producing content that is unrelated to the question in scripts or coursework.

Who will be involved in the malpractice Investigations?

• Course Assessors/Tutors
• Internal Quality Assurance Officer
• Member(s) of the Management Team

Who will contact the Learner?

• Internal Quality Assurance Officer

The Management Team will determine the penalty or penalties that the individual concerned may receive after all the processes and procedures have been explored during the course of the investigation.

Types of the Teams Malpractice:

The following includes examples of what Anatomy and Physiology Online Courses considers to be malpractice : by a team member.

• Failing to keep awarding body assessment records safe and secure
• Altering assessment and grading records without the proper authority
• Influencing the outcome of the assessment by producing work for Learners or providing the support that influences the grade awarded
• Producing false witness statements
• Allowing evidence which is known not to be the Learner’s own work to be included in the assessment
• Facilitating and allowing impersonation and collusion
• Inappropriate use of the reasonable adjustments and special considerations policy, where the support has the potential to influence the outcome of the assessment
• Making fraudulent certification claims and/or claiming for a certificate prior to the student completing all the requirements for assessment
• Obtaining unauthorised access to assessment and verification material

Types of Centre Malpractice:

Insecure storage of assessment instruments and marking guidance.

• Misuse of assessments, including inappropriate adjustments to assessment decisions
• Failure to comply with requirements for accurate and safe retention of Learner evidence, assessment and internal verification records
• Failure to comply with awarding body procedures for managing and transferring accurate Learner data
• Excessive direction from assessors to Learners on how to meet national standards
• Deliberate falsification of records in order to claim certificates

The policy also concerns those actions that:

• Attempt to compromise or may compromise the process of assessing the integrity of any qualification or the validity of an exam result or certificate; and/or damages the authority, reputation or credibility of Anatomy and Physiology Online Courses, the awarding body or any officer or Tutor.
• The Management team takes seriously any suspected or reported case of malpractice or maladministration, which may be the result of a deliberate act, neglect, or failure in practice or system, or due to actions of an individual(s)
• Anatomy and Physiology Online Courses will take appropriate disciplinary actions against the alleged/reported malpractice staff and the awarding body will be informed if deemed appropriate depending on the seriousness of the matter
• Should students or others wish to report possible malpractice or maladministration they should contact the Principal of Anatomy and Physiology Online Courses on 01273 974954

Appeal Procedure

Stage 1 – Review

Learners, staff members and Consultant Tutors, may request a review of the decision made following the above process. The review is conducted by a panel consisting of representative(s) of the Consultant Tutor, IQA, assessor. The panel will consider the report made initially on the malpractice incident, imposed penalties as well as any new information or evidence subsequently provided by other relevant parties. Following a review, the initial decision may be upheld or overturned, or upheld but with a change to the penalties originally imposed.

Stage 2 – Appeal:

If the learner, staff member or Consultant Tutor does not agree with the outcome of the review, they have the right to take the process to Stage 2, which would involve an independent review of the case. An appeal at Stage 2 will only consider whether the panel set by Anatomy and Physiology Online Courses at the review stage applied its procedures consistently, properly and fairly during the original investigation and/or the Stage 1 review and will cover any inconsistencies if noted.

• The appeal panel will have had no involvement with the assessment or the administration of assessments and have no personal interest in the decisions under consideration
• The appeal panel may uphold the original decision, or overturn it on the grounds that procedures were not properly followed. The appeal panel will not review the original investigation
• The Principal of Anatomy and Physiology Online Courses is responsible for ensuring that all parties affected by decisions on malpractice or maladministration are informed of the outcome of the above processes.

Reporting to the Awarding Body:

Malpractice or attempted acts of malpractice that have influenced the assessment outcomes will be immediately reported to the Awarding Body and in cases of malpractice to the qualifications regulator if there’s evidence that results or certificates may be invalid.

Oversee all investigations into suspected or alleged malpractice; withhold the issuing of results until the conclusion of the investigation, or permanently, where the outcome of the investigation warrants it; apply the sanctions and penalties listed in this document in cases of proven malpractice; report the matter to the regulators and other awarding bodies in accordance with the regulators’ General Conditions of Recognition and report the matter to the police if proven malpractice involved the committing of a criminal act.

Anatomy and Physiology Online Courses and the Awarding Body reserve the right, in suspected cases of malpractice, to withhold the issuing of results or certificates while an investigation is in progress.

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The application of this policy will be reviewed annually by the Principal.