Hvitfeldtska Academic Integrity Policy

This policy is in the process of revision but can be referenced in the meantime as it is. 

If you have any questions or concerns about it, please contact the Principal.

Revised:  August 2026

This policy is written in specific reference to the summative assessments as assigned by our program’s teachers and/or as prescribed  by the IB Organisation. The policy is interdependent upon our Assessment Policy.

The school philosophy

The school’s philosophy regarding Academic Integrity is that we value authentic learning, where, during the learning process and upon submission of final work, students exhibit the IB Learner Profile attributes. The IB learner profile attributes*, when looked at as an entire set, describe the values of integrity, honesty, trust, and acting with consideration to ethics. The IB teachers model these attributes themselves and we recognize and carry out the good practice of supporting students proactively. Our practices therefore are to regularly teach not only the skills involved in being academically honest, but also the larger concepts of respecting the intellectual property of others and how to act responsibly in academic endeavors.

Chart 1 highlights some key rights and responsibilities of the school community members.

To see a full list of rights and responsibilities for all stakeholders, see the IBO Academic Integrity Policy, linked in the “Additional Information” section at the end of this document.

See Chart 1 at end of page.

*IB Learner Profile Attributes: reflective, open-minded, balanced, knowledgeable, inquirers, risk-takers, communicators, principled, thinkers, caring

The policy statement

The school expects a student to submit summative work that does not involve any academic misconduct.  The school will not accept or grade a summative assessment if we detect cheating, collusion, plagiarism, or any other form of academic misconduct. (Academic misconduct is defined in the “References” section of this policy.) Importantly, the school cannot authenticate summative work without having followed the students’ drafting process. In other words, the formative drafting stages are as important as the final work.

For Pre-Diploma Program students, ungraded work will likely result in the overall grade in the subject being negatively affected. 

For Diploma Programme students, an ungraded assessment component results in no Diploma being awarded. It is important to note that if a student attempts to retake a Diploma Programme subject exam, it is often impossible to retake the internal assessment.  Hvitfeldtska does not permit re-doing an internal assessment as part of the retake process.

All processes leading up to a student’s summative assessment submission are scaffolded by IB teachers to ensure students have had the opportunity to learn and master concepts and skills related to academic integrity.  Additionally, student work is constantly being authenticated in the program, via a variety of strategies. Our Assessment Policy, for example, highlights one of the key ways teachers can authenticate work: receiving student draft work on time. 

Work Flow and Submission Chart 

This flow chart shows firstly, the expected process for Diploma Programme assessment components, as well as what can happen if the expected process is not followed.

(flow chart to be inserted) 

Please note that ultimately, each case must handled on a case by case basis as each situation will involve several factors and will be unique.  The Principal makes the final decision regarding what actions are taken when there are transgressions. The school does not accept and will not submit to the IB any summative assessment where academic misconduct is detected.

Examples

Example A:  A Diploma Programme student submitted a draft and had some missing page numbers in the citations in some places.  One way to view this was that the student made a simple mistake, a typographical error, perhaps.  But upon further investigation, the teacher noticed that the source that was cited, in its entirety, had nothing to say about what the student stated it said. This would be an example of malpractice/plagiarism.  Since this was identified prior to the summative assessment final submission, the student was permitted to re-write the specific section under supervision and this included finding and referencing a verifiable and accurate source. 

Example B: A Pre-Diploma Programme student wrote an in-class essay about a novel that was part of the assigned reading in the course. The essay was written without access to the internet. After the essay was marked, the teacher had some follow-up questions about the ideas in the essays, but the student couldn’t explain their thinking. It turned out that the student hadn’t read the novel, but, instead, had asked AI for a summary. This was a case of academic malpractice because it involved the student outsourcing their thinking instead of learning, disregarding teacher instructions, and failing to acknowledge sources. The student was flagged and did not get a grade on the assignment. When the course grade was set at the end of the school year, the teacher had less material on which to base their holistic assessment of the student’s skills. 

 The school endeavors to update other examples in the near future. 

Actions the school may take to support students who show they are struggling to master skills/concepts of academic integrity are as follows:

1.  Supervised, time-bound, writing session. In some cases of supervised writing, it is the copy produced in the supervised session which can be sent to the IB, as that is the only copy that can be properly authenticated and is in alignment with both the Assessment and Academic Integrity Policies.

2.  Mandatory attendance to study hall with the specific instructions for completing one or more sections of the internal assessment.

3.      An instruction from the teacher to re-write a section or sections.

4.      An offer from the school that the student redact a section or sections of work that are in breach of the academic integrity policy, so that in the final submission, the work meets IB standards.

5.      Request student to show their notes, process work, and talk about their sources.

The list is not exhaustive but is meant to exemplify some common actions we have or will take.  As mentioned in the introduction, each situation will be unique and it is the Principal who may need to make the final decision regarding a plan of action.

Additional Information.

1. Academic Integrity Policy Published by IBO 2019, updated February 2026. 

2. Definitions

The IB defines student academic misconduct as deliberate or inadvertent behaviour that has the potential to result in the student, or anyone else, gaining an unfair advantage in one or more components of assessment.

Behaviour that may disadvantage another student is also regarded as academic misconduct. It also includes any act that potentially threatens the integrity of IB examinations and assessments that happens before, during or after the completion of the assessment or examination, paper-based or on-screen. This includes behaviour in school, out of school and online.

Found in: Academic Integrity Policy published by IBO, 2019, page 3

Plagiarism: The IB defines plagiarism “as the representation, intentionally or unintentionally, of the ideas, words or work of another person without proper, clear and explicit acknowledgment” (Assessment principles and practices—Quality assessments in a digital age). This includes the use of translated materials. It is the most common form of student academic misconduct identified by or reported to the IB.

Internal and external assessment components

Each subject has between 3-5 summative assessment components which contribute to a certain percentage of the final grade for that subject. Each subject will have one    internal assessment and the rest will be external assessments.

An internal assessment is completed at school under the guidance and advice of the teacher. The teacher will typically be permitted to give one set of formal feedback on one draft of work. The next copy handed to the teacher will be the final copy and the

will mark it before submitting it to the IB. The IB will then request a sample of students’ work for moderation.

Beyond the final exams, there are a few external assessments that are completed at the school as well. The difference is that they are externally marked. These include      the Theory of Knowledge Essay, the Visual Arts Inquiry Portfolio and Study/Project, the Extended Essay, and the Higher Level Essay in the Group 1 Languages.

3. Consequences and Penalties from the IB. 

In the IBO's Academic Integrity Policy, it is stated that the IB organization and the individual schools are partners. "The IB needs to trust schools to complete due diligence and schools need to trust the IB to take its responsibility seriously in the interests of all their students. All stakeholders involved in IB education must meet the expectations and do what is required to embrace, promote and maintain academic integrity to ensure a fair and genuine assessment process."  In the previous section it is outlined what steps the school will take in case of a concern with academic integrity, and in the Learning section, it is outlined how we are responsible to ensure students are introduced to and can develop knowledge and skills associated with academic integrity.

The IBO also has their own practices if and when they detect student misconduct or school maladministration. If you as a student are interested to know what those consequences, you can refer to this folder and see 2.2 Penalty Matrices or 2.3 Penalty Precedents.

4. Artificial Intelligence  Academic Integrity Policy, IBO, 2019 (link) "Appendix 6: Guidance on the use of artificial intelligence tools"

Quick check if student use of AI is acceptable or not:

●       Did the student use AI to replace their own thinking, learning, writing, etc, if so then it is unacceptable.

5. Referencing and Citing

■   APA Referencing Style Guide

■   Academic Integrity Policy, IBO, 2019 (link)  Appendix 3: Plagiarism-this section gives advice for teachers to support students and also how students can avoid committing plagiarism.

■       Effective citing and referencing, IBO, 2022. (link) This includes information on how and when to cite.

■       Hvitfeldtska's own library (link) to visit in person to get support from the school librarians - and to visit digitally via their English section blog with information about databases, source criticism and reference guides. (link)

Chart 1 Rights and Responsibilities of Stakeholders