Fitness to Practice

The Policy

Fitness to Practice looks at whether a student has followed the rules and regulations of professional bodies governing their course. Students on particular professional courses are expected to maintain and respect standards set out by the course’s professional body. At the start of the students course these standards and expectations should be made clear. For example a Nursing student is expected to follow NMC regulations, in which the governing body uses these regulations to help decide whether the student is fit for the role of Nurse. 

Procedure 

The Academic Registrar will give a formal notice of impending disciplinary action relating to Fitness to Practice to each student named in the allegation of misconduct. This formal notice will include the Allegation of Major Offence, the details of the inquiry meeting, copy of the evidence, and information surrounding support and representation at the panel. 

Fitness to Practice panels are convened in accordance with the expectations of the relevant professional body. During the panel, the allegation will be discussed and evidence presented. This is the students opportunity to provide their side of the argument. If a student is unable to attend the panel, they can submit a written statement to the panel to be considered at the inquiry. 

Writing a Statement

In preparation for the inquiry students are advised to write a statement of the circumstances that led to the inquiry. For the statement students should include:

•  How you think the allegation has been brought up.

•  How you believe you haven’t broken any professional, statutory and regulatory bodies regulations, or the university’s own Code of Student Behaviour.

• What outcome they would like from this stage.

•  Any evidence that supports their statement.

• Any extenuating circumstances they may have been experiencing at the time.

After the inquiry the student will be issued a Decision Notice by the Academic Registrar. This will contain a summary of the major points of the inquiry, the rationale for its findings, the findings of the inquiry, if relevant and any penalty the student may face. 

Appeals

You have the right to appeal the decision made if you are not happy with it. However the Appeal must be based on one or more of the following grounds and only the student accused can appeal against the findings and/or against the sanctions imposed: 

A. a material procedural irregularity, which might have impacted significantly on the validity of the original hearing and the subsequent penalty; 

B. new evidence that could not reasonably have been made available to the initial disciplinary hearing; 

C. that the penalty imposed by the disciplinary hearing was too severe bearing in mind the circumstances of the case and the treatment of other students in similar positions. 

A student should submit a statement of appeal within 10 working days from the date printed on the Decision Notice they are wishing to appeal, which must be sent to the Academic Registrar. 

If the Academic Registrar decides the Appeal is valid they will appoint a new Appeal Panel, who have not been involved with the matter. The student lodging the Appeal is entitled to attend this meeting. 

The student will be informed of the decision in writing together with the reasons. The original decision can be retracted, amended or upheld. If the appeal is unsuccessful, the student will have completed the University’s appeal process and can take their appeal to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIAHE) if they are still unhappy and for an independent review.