51ºÚÁÏ

This policy applies to all learners on a Tes Institute programme. Where a learner is employed by a school, or on a school placement, while on a Tes Institute programme, the school’s policies and procedures will also apply. The Learner Agreement, which the learner signs as part of their programme onboarding process, includes a definition of what constitutes a breach of Tes Institute’s Disciplinary Policy.

A minor breach of Tes Institute’s policies or procedures, or of any clauses in the Learner Agreement, will lead to an investigation in the first instance by the relevant Head of Programme, who may request information from, where applicable, a partner school, other members of the Programme Team and/or other stakeholders (e.g. a pathway tutor). As part of such investigation, the learner will also be asked to comment and/or provide relevant information.

The investigation may result in:

• a written warning being issued to the learner;
• conditions being attached to their continuation on the Programme;
• the relevant Cause for Concern procedure being triggered; (see Review Process below)
• no further action being taken and no penalty imposed.

Minor breaches might include, but are not limited to:

• failure to notify Tes Institute of a relevant factor;
• poor levels of engagement with a programme;
• in the event of an issue with Tes Institute or a programme, failure to follow any applicable Tes complaints process appropriately (e.g. use of social media to raise complaints);
• issues with punctuality, time-keeping or attendance;
• issues with dress code, conduct or behaviour in school;
• failure to keep up with fee payments to Tes Institute;
• failure to provide relevant information to, or communicate with, Tes Institute;
• lack of progress on a programme.

The breach and outcome of the investigation will form part of the learner’s record. 

If another breach occurs, or the behaviour which led to the first breach continues, there will be a further investigation by the Tes Institute Head of Programme, which may result in one or more of the following outcomes:

• a further and final written warning being issued to the learner;
• further conditions being attached to the learner’s continuation on the Programme;
• the learner being suspended from the Programme with immediate effect, at which point a disciplinary review will be triggered (please see review process below);
• the learner being deemed to have failed the Programme, at which point the Head of Programme would request information from the learner and other key stakeholders, which may lead to a disciplinary review.

Gross misconduct is a breach of Tes Institute policies and disciplinary rules that is so serious that it amounts to a fundamental breach of trust and confidence between the learner and Tes Institute and/or a school partner. 

Tes Institute may suspend a learner from the Programme at any time and with no prior warning if the learner has, in the sole opinion of Tes Institute:

• put at risk themselves, a pupil, a fellow learner, a member of school staff, a member of Tes Institute or anyone else they come into contact with through the Programme; 
• brought the Programme or Tes Institute into disrepute;
• committed a serious breach of the Teachers’ Standards Part 2 if applicable
• behaved in an inappropriate, abusive or aggressive manner towards Tes staff or colleagues working on behalf of Tes (e.g. a pathway tutor), school staff or another learner. Please see the appendix for Tes Institute’s Professional Behaviour Policy.

This might include, but is not limited to:

• a criminal conviction or charge which was not known to Tes Institute at the time of admission to the Programme;
• a breach of professional 51ºÚÁÏ protocols;
• a deliberate breach of ethics protocols in relation to academic research;
• a breach of confidentiality;
• lying or cheating through the application, recruitment, selection and registration process, including failure to notify Tes Institute or the interview panel of a factor which may impact on a learner’s suitability for the Programme, e.g. a disciplinary investigation or disbarment by a professional body;
• cheating or plagiarism during the Programme – Tes Institute’s malpractice and maladministration procedures are set out below;
• failure to notify Tes Institute of a material or significant factor which would impact on the learner, Tes Institute or any school partner.

Such suspension will be notified to the learner in writing and will automatically trigger a Tes Institute disciplinary review.

Any disciplinary review will be held within 10 working days of such a review being triggered and will be conducted by two or more senior members of Tes Institute staff who are not involved in the Programme. The learner will be given the date of the review panel and the opportunity to provide a written statement, which will be considered by the reviewers.

At the conclusion of the review, the suspension may be lifted or may be made permanent, at which point the learner will not be allowed to return to the programme. The learner will be informed in writing of the outcome, together with the reasons for the decision, within 5 working days of the review being concluded.

Where the suspension is lifted, depending on the circumstances that led to the review, the learner may be placed on a ‘Cause for Concern’ when they return to the Programme. Cause for Concern is a formal process which is put in place to support learners who are struggling to meet Programme requirements. Further details are available from the relevant Head of Programme.

Appeals should be submitted in writing to the relevant Head of Programme within 10 working days of receipt of any disciplinary decision resulting in permanent suspension from a Tes Institute programme. An appeal may be made on the following grounds, supported by evidence:

• procedural error during the disciplinary proceedings which had a materially adverse impact on the learner;
• that the outcome of the disciplinary decision was unjust based on the evidence available to the review panel;
• that the action taken by the review panel was disproportionate to the disciplinary breach.

The decision regarding whether one or more grounds for appeal have been met will be taken by a senior member of Tes who has not had any involvement with the disciplinary proceedings or the circumstances surrounding the case. The decision will be communicated to the learner within 10 working days of receipt of the appeal. If it is decided that one or more grounds for appeal have been met, a date will be set for an appeals hearing panel. 

Every reasonable effort will be made to hold the appeals panel within 15 working days from the date of communication to the learner that one or more grounds for appeal have been met; however, it may take longer to hold the panel, depending on panel members’ availability. Any delay will be communicated to the learner.

Typically the appeals hearing panel will have three members, chaired by the Director of Tes Institute (or nominee), a second senior manager from Tes Institute and an external party.  The panel will be in receipt of all documentation associated with the appeal to date, as well as any new evidence that may be presented.

The panel may interview the party lodging the appeal, members of the relevant Tes Institute Programme Team and/or any external stakeholders involved in the process. The decision of the appeals hearing panel will be final.

The Tes Institute Head of Governance & Regulation will inform all parties, in writing, of the decision of the panel and the reasons for the decision within 5 working days of the panel hearing being held.

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These procedures apply to all Tes Institute staff and learners involved in assessment, including the submission of written work, as part of a Tes Institute programme. They set out the definition of maladministration and malpractice, including plagiarism and academic impropriety.

Maladministration is any activity or practice which results in non-compliance with administrative regulations and requirements and includes the application of persistent mistakes or poor administration.

Malpractice is any activity or practice which deliberately contravenes regulations and compromises the integrity of internal or external assessment processes and/or the validity of qualifications.

Academic impropriety is any form of cheating, plagiarism or other attempt to seek an unfair advantage in relation to any assessment for any Tes Institute programme. 

Examples of maladministration or malpractice are listed below. These examples are not exhaustive:

• contravention of qualification approval conditions
• failure to carry out delivery, internal assessment or internal/external moderation in accordance with regulatory requirements
• deliberate failure to adhere to learner registration and certification procedures
• deliberate failure to maintain appropriate learner records
• fraudulent claims for certificates
• intentional withholding of information from regulatory authorities which is critical to maintaining the rigour of quality assurance and standards
• forgery of evidence
• collusion, or permitting collusion, in assessments
• contravention of the specified assessment arrangements for the assessed qualifications
• insecure storage of assessment materials 
• plagiarism 
• inappropriate assistance to learners by Tes Institute staff
• submission of false information to gain a qualification.

Learners must fulfil their ethical obligation by ensuring that their work is what it claims to be.  Misrepresenting responsibility for the work of others will incur serious penalties such as receiving a Fail grade or expulsion from the programme.  Please see details of the Academic Impropriety procedure below.

Tes Institute defines academic impropriety as any form of cheating, plagiarism or other attempt to seek an unfair advantage in relation to any assessment for any Tes Institute programme.  This includes, but is not restricted to:

• seeking to pass off others’ work as one’s own;
• obtaining or attempting to obtain an assessment paper in advance of authorised release.

Whilst Tes Institute encourages learners to work together to undertake research and share ideas, all assessment tasks are to be entirely the work of the individual submitting them.  Any assessments found to contain work which is the same as, or similar to, that of another learner will be considered academic impropriety.

Learners are not permitted to seek unfair academic advantage, by, for example:

• seeking to present the work of others as their own;
• engaging others to complete their assignments/assessments or allowing others to contribute to assignments/assessments without attribution (referencing);
• obtaining an assessment paper in advance of authorised release.

These examples are not intended to be exhaustive.

Plagiarism may be defined as the reproduction of the ideas or writings of others and the presentation of them as one’s own. Plagiarism is considered such a serious offence that it is viewed as an attempt to secure a qualification under false pretences. Learners should be careful to distinguish between ideas which are their own, and those which have been derived from other sources, e.g. course notes, journals, books, etc. Information and opinions drawn from other sources should be attributed by means of a reference to that source. It is expected that all work submitted must be researched and written by the learner whose name appears on the document.

In order to avoid plagiarism and maintain academic integrity, learners are expected to:

• be explicit about any material or ideas they have sourced and included in their assignment;
• acknowledge the sources of this material/information by including a complete list of references.

Plagiarism occurs when learners fail to acknowledge ideas that have been sourced elsewhere such as:

• using phrases and passages verbatim without quotation marks, page number references, and reference to the author(s);
• using an author’s work in paraphrase without a reference or page number;
• copying ideas or aspects or parts of other learners’ work;
• copying material from the internet and inserting it without due acknowledgement;
• collaborating with another learner to the extent that very similar work is submitted by two (or more) learners;
• submitting work that has already been submitted for assessment in another programme;
• submitting work that has previously been submitted by another learner at any time and for any assessment.

Plagiarism is quite easy to detect and learners should take care to ensure no aspect of their work is falsely represented. In the interests of fairness and in an attempt to prevent instances of plagiarism, Tes Institute has invested in anti-plagiarism software for the purpose of assessing the originality of learners’ submissions. Assessments are put through the anti-plagiarism programme, which provides a detailed report confirming the originality of the submission.  The results are based on the search of current and archived web pages, commercial databases of journal articles and periodicals as well as previously submitted learner assessments.

Tes Institute acknowledges that artificially intelligent chatbots are tools that are now being used widely; however, content produced by AI platforms, such as ChatGPT, does not represent the learner’s own original work and, if found to be used without acknowledgement, will be considered a form of academic misconduct. As with all other resources, it is important that learners acknowledge that they have used generative AI tools in producing their work.

In the instance of evidence to question originality becoming apparent, Tes Institute may invoke disciplinary procedures.

All suspected instances of maladministration must be reported to Tes Institute’s Head of Governance and Regulation, who will initiate an investigation.

A.1    Scope and Overview

This policy applies to everyone who interacts or communicates with Tes Institute, including learners.

Tes Institute is committed to providing a fair, consistent and accessible service to everyone who interacts with Tes Institute, while ensuring as far as reasonably possible that everyone who works for Tes Institute – including members of staff and self-employed consultants, e.g. tutors - experiences a safe working environment and that their health and wellbeing is protected. Tes Institute may restrict access to its services or communications where it considers that someone’s actions or behaviour are likely to have a negative impact on anyone working on Tes Institute’s behalf or on Tes Institute’s work in general.

This policy sets out the kinds of actions and behaviour that may have a negative effect and what actions Tes Institute will take in these circumstances. 

Tes Institute recognises that some people may have difficulties in expressing themselves or communicating clearly, especially when anxious or upset and that some people may find it difficult to identify what impact their behaviour might have on other people. Tes Institute will always consider making reasonable adjustments for a disabled person if asked to do so but may still action under this policy if there are actions or behaviours which are having a negative effect on those working on Tes Institute’s behalf.

A.2    Examples of unacceptable behaviour

Examples of unacceptable actions or behaviour are set out below.

Aggressive, offensive or abusive actions or behaviour; these include but are not limited to: threats, physical violence, personal verbal abuse, derogatory remarks, inappropriate conduct in a video call, and rudeness – whether made to the Tes Institute representative directly or elsewhere (including online bullying). Deliberately provocative or inflammatory statements and unsubstantiated allegations, whether relating to someone’s personal or professional life, can also amount to abusive actions or behaviour. Any behaviour that makes someone feel threatened or uncomfortable is considered inappropriate.

Violence is not restricted to acts of aggression that may result in physical harm. It also includes behaviour or language, whether oral or written, that may cause someone to feel afraid, threatened or abused.

Unreasonable demands or persistence; examples of unreasonable demands may include: requesting responses within an unreasonable timescale; insisting on speaking to or corresponding with a particular member of staff or Tes Institute representative (e.g. a tutor); frequent phone calls, emails, or letters; repeatedly changing the substance of a complaint or raising unrelated concerns; or attending Tes Institute offices without an agreed appointment.

Examples of unreasonable persistence include: continual refusal to accept that a decision has been made in relation to a complaint; insisting that Tes Institute representatives answer questions on an issue which has already been dealt with; persistent refusal to accept explanations relating to what can or can't be done to resolve an issue; repeated threats of legal action, or demands to be put in touch with Tes Institute’s legal representatives, in place of engagement with Tes Institute’s formal complaints process; sending emails to multiple Tes Institute representatives; or repeatedly trying to revisit a complaint through Tes Institute’s internal processes, once those processes have come to an end.

A.3    Addressing unacceptable behaviour

If a member of the Tes Institute Programme Team or one of Tes Institute’s consultants believes that a person's actions or behaviour are unacceptable, they may contact a senior member of the Tes Institute team, who will discuss the matter with the relevant member of staff or person working on Tes Institute’s behalf. If necessary, the senior team member will take over communication with the person whose behaviour is in question. The senior team member will explain to that person why their behaviour is deemed unacceptable and will give them the opportunity to modify their actions or behaviour. This communication will take place via email, in order to ensure a written record. If the actions or behaviour continue, the senior team member will take steps to prevent or minimise the negative effects.

Some of the possible actions that may be taken by Tes Institute include:

• restricting or blocking future contact from the person whose behaviour is in question
• requiring that contact is with a specified Tes Institute member of staff only
• not accepting any further telephone or video calls from the person and only corresponding via email
• requiring the person to communicate with Tes Institute through a representative - or a different representative where it is the representative whose behaviour is causing concern
• only engaging with correspondence from the person in question if the person is raising new information or making a new complaint.
• suspending or terminating consideration of a complaint
• reporting the matter to the police or appropriate regulatory body, e.g. the Department for Education or the Teacher Regulation Agency
• taking legal action.

Wherever possible we will inform the person involved of the action to be taken before doing so; however, if it is deemed appropriate to contact the police or regulatory authorities – particularly if the actions or behaviour of the person raises 51ºÚÁÏ concerns – Tes Institute may not give the person prior warning of taking that action.

Tes Institute will record any incidents, correspondence and any actions taken under this policy to address the issue.