College Academic Disciplinary Procedures

There is considerable variation in the way colleges and faculties proceed with cases against students who are perceived to be under-performing.  College disciplinary procedures are outlined in individual College Handbooks and Regulations, a copy of which is given to most students in Freshers’ Week (it may seem useless at the time, but its well worth keeping on your shelves, as you might just need it later in your time at Oxford).  Some are also available online. If they seem unclear, ask your common room Academic Affairs Officer or President, or your Senior Tutor to clarify.

If you are worried about your work, it is a good idea to speak to your tutor and see if you can get extra help or if they can suggest helpful reading.  Tutors realise that it takes students some time to adapt to the work in Oxford. If you do face disciplinary action due to poor academic performance, you should seek the advice of your common room officers.  The OUSU Student Advice Service can also offer help and support - get in touch with the VP (Access and Academic Affairs).

Outline of General Disciplinary Procedures

What follows is a general guide, since all colleges have their own specific regulations.  In some colleges you will receive formal warnings when your work falls below a certain level, and after such warnings, you will be set penal collections. In other colleges, penal collections are set much earlier on.  Be aware at all stages of the disciplinary procedure of your right, or lack thereof, to appeal against the actions taken by your college.

General Disciplinary Procedure:

•    Tutor informs you that your work is not up to the required standard; Senior Tutor or other authorities may be informed at this point

•    You are given a probationary period in which to improve at the end of which your case is reviewed.

•    If your work has not improved, penal collections are set and you are asked to achieve a particular mark.

•    If you do not attain the required mark, your college will either set more penal collections or will consider sending you down (expulsion).  If the procedure reaches this stage, there must be opportunities for the student to make representations to the college and to appeal against any decisions reached.

Best Practice

•    At each stage in the disciplinary process students should be given an adequate amount of time to improve their work.

•    If you are set penal collections, you should have enough time to prepare for them, and they should be undertaken in exam conditions.

•    All procedures should be adequately explained to you in the form of a letter with a timetable of events as soon as any formal action is initiated.

•    You should be given the right to written and/or verbal representation to the committee that makes the final decision.  You should have the right to have a junior member or fellow speak on your behalf.

•    You should be able to attend all relevant meetings and be accompanied by a person of your choice; this is already the practice in many colleges.

•    You should be given a tutor to whom you can speak and for whom you can seek advice form, who is not one of the subject tutors that initiated the disciplinary procedure.

Feedback from Tutors, Warden / Principal’s Collections and Formal Warnings

In many colleges, at the end of each term you meet with your tutors or with your pastoral tutor to discuss your progress throughout the term. While this may be the only formal meeting scheduled for the term it is fine to make an appointment with them anytime to discuss your progress or if you feel that there is a problem.  If your tutors feel that you have not been making sufficient progress or that your work is of a consistently poor standard they may consider initiating some form of academic disciplinary procedure.  This may range from noting your progress on the report they have written on your term’s work, which will then be kept on file, to asking you to sit penal collections.

In most colleges, you will also have a termly or bi-termly meeting with your Head of House.  In these “collections,” as they are called in some colleges, your academic reports will be read to you.  Tutors should write a report covering your academic progress and highlighting any problems.  In these meetings you will be given a chance to justify your term’s work and to offer reasons why you think you are not making good progress.

If, after either of these meetings, your tutors or college officials are still dissatisfied with your work they may either set penal collections, or, more commonly, they will issue you with a formal warning.  A formal warning basically means that you will be given a date by which your work should show improvement.  Your tutors will be asked to monitor your work or advise you on any extra reading you can do to get up to the expected level.

Penal and Pre-penal Collections

If your work has not improved by the date set out in any formal warning you will probably be set penal or pre-penal collections.  Penal and pre-penal collections can be set at any time during the term, not just after the vacation.  Make sure your tutors have made clear the conditions of your sitting these exams. They should tell you in particular what marks they expect you to attain and what they propose to do if you do not reach that level.  Do also make sure that you are set a collection that is appropriate to the work that you have been doing and agree beforehand with your tutors about the general content of the collection.  If you fail a pre-penal collection it is likely that you will be given another probationary period during which your work should improve.  If you fail a penal collection it may be the case that you will either face either another set of penal collections or have to appear before an academic disciplinary hearing.

Academic Disciplinary Panels/Hearings

College practice concerning disciplinary proceedings is not uniform.  Your common room Academic Affairs Officer will be more familiar with the procedures enumerated in the College’s handbook, and it is worth having a look at these regulations yourself.  In some colleges, students may face an academic disciplinary panel, made up of the Senior Tutor and three or four other fellows drawn from the disciplinary committee of the college’s Governing Body.  The student facing disciplinary action will be invited along to answer questions to establish matters of fact about the case, as will their tutors.  Submissions will also have been made by the student’s tutors regarding his or her work and progress.  The panel may draw up a report once they have questioned all concerned parties in which they will make their recommendations.

They may suggest that the student sit penal collections or set a date by which his or her work should demonstrate sufficient improvement.  At these panels, students are usually allowed to bring along a “friend” who may be a common room officer, a sympathetic fellow or a parent/guardian who may speak on the student’s behalf.  The student has a right to appeal to the college Governing Body against the decisions reached by the academic disciplinary panel.

Some academic disciplinary hearings are held during college Governing Body meetings (generally these are bi-termly meetings of all the college fellows).  The student will usually be allowed to appear at these hearings and present their case or allow junior members who attend Governing Body meetings (the common room President in most cases) or another tutor to present their case for them.  Decisions made by the college Governing Body are subject to appeals, which must go to an external judge (generally a committee of the colleges or the University).

Rustication

Rustication essentially means that a student has been sent down for a year.  When a student has had problems in their personal life or if they have suffered a serious or chronic illness, their academic work often suffers.  Compounded with short terms and the intense nature of study at Oxford, students can soon fall behind. If they need time to sort out their problems or recover, rustication will be suggested.  Essentially, it is a kind of temporary sending down, often agreed to by the student.  Rustication normally lasts for a year and the student returns the following year to the point at which they took leave.  During this time rusticated students will not be allowed to use university facilities such as libraries, nor will they be allowed to attend lectures, practicals, classes or tutorials.  In some cases rusticated students are not allowed to remain in college accommodation, so before pursuing this course of action, check with your college about what they are able or willing to offer you.

Rustication, like sending down, can be quite a difficult time for the student in question.  But help is at hand.  The University Counselling Service may be available for you to talk to, as are members of the OUSU Student Advice Service if you have any practical concerns.  When rusticated, you usually remain a member of your common room, which means that OUSU and all its relevant officers are available for consultation.

You will also have to check with your Local Education Authority (LEA) or Library Board about funding.  If you are going down from Oxford for a year, you may have to pay an extra year’s tuition fees and take out another year’s student loan.  In some cases of illness or stress, the LEA will pay your fees for you but it is worth checking with them first.

Sending Down

If you have been through the academic disciplinary procedure, and it has been decided that you are to be sent down, bear in mind that you can appeal the decision if you feel it is unjust.  If your appeal fails or if you accept the decision, the next step is to think about your future. It is important to remember that Oxford is not the be-all and end-all of your life and that it is possible to go on to have a very successful academic career after leaving Oxford.  Just because things do not work out here does not mean that you have limited academic potential, nor does it mean that you should not be able to earn a degree at another institution.  In some cases of sending down, tutors will arrange an application to another institution for you.  It is unlikely that you will be left alone with no help or advice.  The Careers Service can also help in suggesting options for your future if you decide that you do not wish to study any longer.

If you do decide to attend another institution, obviously you will have to get in touch with your source of funding, whether this is your LEA or Library Board, as soon as possible.  They will make the final decision about the amount of fees you will pay and how much student loan you will receive at your new institution.

The OIA

All students, upon completing all the procedures available to them, are entitled to appeal to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (the OIA).  This must be done within three months of the letter of completion of procedures being received from your college.  The OIA can rule on the procedures applied to the affected student, and if the appeal is upheld, make recommendations to the college or university.  Although these are not mandatory, they do carry significant weight and are likely to influence the college or university’s decision.  Appealing to the OIA is free.