Plagiarism and assessment malpractice policy for staff and learners

Plagiarism and assessment malpractice policy for staff and learners identified while participating in programmes delivered by EdgeWorks™ or its partner organisations.

Purpose/scope

That we have policies and procedures in place to deal with malpractice.

To ensure that issues are dealt with in an open, fair and effective manner.

That centres provide appropriate deterrents and sanctions to minimise the risk of malpractice.

Definitions/terminology

Learner Malpractice: Any action by the learner which has the potential to undermine the integrity and validity of the assessment of the learner’s work (plagiarism, collusion, cheating, etc.).

Assessor Malpractice: Any deliberate action by an assessor which has the potential to undermine the integrity of qualifications.

Plagiarism: Taking and using another’s thoughts, writings, inventions, etc. as one’s own.

AI-Assisted Plagiarism: The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated text in assignments and assessments that are submitted towards the achievement of qualifications. AI is a powerful tool that can have benefits, for example, to help overcome linguistic barriers, but when used to generate the bulk of an assignment or assessment, it is a form of plagiarism and is subject to the same sanctions as standard plagiarism.

AI Use in Assessment: AI tools may support learning, accessibility or idea development. AI must not be used to generate full or partial answers for submission. Any use of AI must be declared by the learner, and unacknowledged AI-generated text will be treated as plagiarism.

Minor Acts of Learner Malpractice: Handled by the assessor, for example, refusal to accept for marking and the learner being made aware of the malpractice policy. Learner resubmits the work in question.

Major Acts of Learner Malpractice: Extensive copying/plagiarism, 2^nd or subsequent offence, inappropriate for the assessor to deal with.

Responsibilities

Centre: Should seek proactive ways to promote a positive culture that encourages learners to take individual responsibility for their learning and respect the work of others.

Assessor: Responsible for designing assessment opportunities that limit the opportunity for malpractice and for checking the validity of the learner’s work.

IQA: Responsible for malpractice checks when internally verifying work.

Head of Centre or their nominees: Required to inform the awarding organisation of any acts of malpractice. Responsible for any investigation into allegations of malpractice.

AI in marking and feedback

EdgeWorks™ assessors may use AI tools to support marking or feedback, but assessors remain fully accountable for all marks and decisions. Assessors must review all learner submissions in full and check any AI-supported outputs for accuracy, quality, and bias.

Assessors and IQAs must be trained in the ethical, safe and effective use of AI in assessment, including:

How to verify AI outputs.
How to identify errors, inconsistencies or bias.
How to escalate discrepancies between assessor judgement and AI-generated suggestions.
How to ensure AI does not replace professional decision-making.

Data protection and AI use

AI tools must only be used in a way that complies with UK GDPR. Learner work must not be uploaded to public AI systems that may store, reuse or train on the data.

EdgeWorks™ will:

Use only AI systems that minimise the risk of data leakage.
Ensure learner work is anonymised when appropriate.
Ensure no copyrighted materials are used to train AI tools unless explicit permission is obtained.
Provide learners with clear information about how AI is used in assessment processes and their data rights.

Where learner work contains personal data, it must not be uploaded to, or used within, AI tools unless EdgeWorks™ has established a lawful basis, ensured transparency, and applied appropriate safeguards.

Procedures

The Centre will address potential learner malpractice in the following ways:

Promote positive and honest study practices.
Ask learners to declare that work is their own: check the validity of their work.
Use learner induction and handbook to inform about malpractice and outcomes.
Ensure learners understand how AI may be used within the centre’s assessment processes and that assessors remain accountable for all marking decisions.
Ensure learners know how to raise concerns if they believe AI has negatively affected the marking of their work.
Monitor the impact of AI on assessor–learner relationships to maintain trust and fairness.
Ensure learners use appropriate citations and referencing for research sources.
Assessment procedures should help reduce and identify malpractice.

Definition of malpractice by learners

This list is not exhaustive and other instances of malpractice may be considered by this centre at its discretion:

Plagiarism of any nature.
Collusion by working collaboratively with other learners to produce work that is submitted as individual learner work.
Deliberate destruction of another’s work.
Fabrication of results or evidence.
False declaration of authenticity in relation to the contents of a portfolio or coursework.
Impersonation by pretending to be someone else in order to produce the work for another or arranging for another to take one’s place in an assessment/examination/test.
Using AI tools to generate part or all of an assessment submission without declaring it.
Submitting AI-produced content while representing it as original work.
Using AI to fabricate evidence or impersonate another learner.

Transparency and communication

EdgeWorks™ will communicate openly with learners about any use of AI in marking and feedback. Learners will be informed how AI is used, what is acceptable, and how human oversight is maintained.