As the University and Students' Union will be closed for a number of days over the winter break, we have put together the main information you might need in terms of academic and signposting advice. For additional information please visit our Academic Advice, Housing Advice and Signposting pages.
University Mitigating Circumstances Circumstances procedure
Mitigating circumstances is when you’ve experienced a serious or significant event, beyond your control, which has affected your health and personal life and stopped you from submitting an assignment or attending an exam on time.
If this applies to you, you can submit a mitigating circumstances form, with evidence, to your department within 7 calendar days of the assessment/exam deadline.
To find out more about the mitigating circumstances process, including criteria, support available, evidence required, how to complete the form and potential outcomes, please see here.
The University's Mitigating Circumstances Policy can be found here.
You can also take a look at our Step by Step Guide to Mitigating Circumstances.
Academic misconduct: Plagiarism and Collusion
Plagiarism is defined as “taking and using another’s thoughts and writings as one’s own”, and can occur in essays and dissertations, but also scientific experiments, diagrams, maps, fieldwork, computer programs and all other forms of independent study. Plagiarism doesn’t have to be intentional either, so it’s important that you follow the academic expectations of your course, and ensure that you are referencing properly.
According to the University, collusion is “the active cooperation of two or more students to jointly produce material where there is a requirement that that material be produced independently. A student who knowingly allows any of his or her academic work to be acquired by another person for presentation as if it were that person’s own work is also guilty of collusion”.
If the University suspect plagiarism or collusion in your work, you may be asked to respond to this allegation by writing to your department’s Plagiarism Officer. If a penalty is applied to your work, you then have the option to appeal this decision.
More information from the University about student discipline appeals, along with the appeal form, can be found at this page.
Senate Regulation 11 relating to student conduct and discipline can be found here.
You can also take a look at our Step by Step Guide to Plagiarism and our Step by Step Guide to Collusion.
The University Academic Skills Centre offers an online interactive resource designed to help you to understand what plagiarism is and how to avoid it.
UCU Strike Action
As you may be aware, members of the University and College Union (UCU) have voted in favour of strike action.
Currently, UCU has called members to strike between the 1st and 3rd December 2021.
The University have released FAQs to answer questions relating to the industrial action. These can be found here.
If you do have any questions then please contact your School office or email industrialaction@le.ac.uk.
Information regarding the Industrial action formal complaint procedure is available here. You can also take a look at our Step by Step Guide to Complaints. The deadline to submit this is the 23rd December 2021.
The Students' Union official statement is available here.
Signposting Support
There are lots of support and wellbeing services both on campus and in the wider community that can help ensure you have the best possible time as a student at University.
For those who are not currently based in Leicester, The Mix offer information on the support available across the country. You can use their website to search for local, regional, and national organisations who can offer you support with anything concerning you.
Useful links:
Student Space: Advice and Information for the Winter break
SU LGBT Home-For-The-Holidays Guide
Do you need immediate help?
There is always somewhere where you can get support if you need it. If you are in urgent need of help, you can see recommendations of services available on the Out of Hours Support page.