Student Conduct Procedure
As members of the University community, all students are expected to treat other people with dignity and respect and to comply with the University’s regulations and policies.
If you need to complain about another student’s conduct or have had a conduct concern raised about you, then this will likely be investigated through the University Conduct Procedure.
Please contact Student Advice for support through the Student Conduct Procedure. We are independent of the University and can provide you with confidential and impartial advice and guidance.
Student Conduct Procedure
Wellbeing Support
You can access support from the Student Support Intervention Team (SSIT) at any point throughout the process, through the online Report and Support form. Report and Support is a safe, confidential platform to share concerns and access support from trauma-informed specialist practitioners in the University’s Student Support Intervention Team. More information about SSIT is available on the Student Intranet.
What are the Universities expectations in relation to student conduct?
- Be a representative of the University and act accordingly.
- Treat other people with dignity and respect.
- Recognise the diversity of the Cardiff community and not discriminate against others based on their characteristics.
- Act responsibly, and be honest, considerate, respectful, and courteous towards others.
- Behave in a respectful manner towards others so that they do not feel that they are being harassed or bullied.
- Behave in such a way as to ensure you do not disrupt University activities or obstruct any student, member of staff, or visitor of the University in the performance of their study or work.
- Ensure that you do not publish comments or images on websites or social media or similar platform that might cause distress or offence to another person.
- Respect other people’s right to enjoyment of their property, including that the University and the Students’ Union, or use of a public space.
- Comply with any reasonable request to meet with a member of University or Students’ Union staff when the request is related to University or Students' Union business.
- Provide accurate information at enrolment and when making financial payments.
- Provide accurate information including your full name and student number to University or Students’ Union staff when requested.
- Always carry your student card with you and not allow another person to use it.
- Ensure you do not share or publish academic material related to your learning and teaching without permission of the University.
- Avoid conduct which could amount to a criminal offence.
- Observe the principles and practice of freedom of speech, freedom of expression and academic freedom.
- Use appropriate University procedures to raise issues formally for example the Student Complaints Procedure or the Student Conduct Procedure.
The expectations of student conduct are in addition to the expectations of the Students’ Union in respect of societies, clubs and Students’ Union events and premises.
Details of these expectations can be found within the Student Conduct Procedure.
I have been involved with a police investigation, do I need to report this to the University?
If you are under Police investigation or you have been arrested, cautioned, charged or convicted you should report this to the central Student Cases team (studentcases@cardiff.ac.uk) within 7 days of you being notified about police action.
Depending on the nature of the concern disclosed, this may trigger an investigation through the University’s Student Conduct Procedure.
I need to report a student conduct concern
How do I report a student conduct concern to the University?
As a student, you can contact your Head of School by email to tell the University about your concerns.
If the conduct is serious or relates to sexual misconduct or discrimination, you should report this to central Student Cases team directly as the informal stage will not be appropriate in most cases. You can contact Student Cases at studentcases@cardiff.ac.uk.
We would encourage you to provide as much information as possible regarding the student whose conduct is concerning you. This will help Student Cases to identify the person as soon as possible and avoid putting delays or barriers in place. If you have any concerns about your safety then you should disclose this in your email.
If you have questions or concerns in relation to the process, please contact Student Advice.
Is there a time limit to raise concerns regarding a Students Conduct?
Student Advice encourage you to tell the University about concerns as soon as possible and within the following timeframes outlined in the Student Conduct Procedure:
You are usually expected to report a concern within 28 days of the incident. This deadline does not apply if you want to report sexual misconduct or other types of violence and abuse. Please raise these concerns as soon as you feel able to.
Who can raise concerns regarding the conduct of a student?
Concerns can be raised from members of staff, the public or by Cardiff University Students.
If you have any questions about raising the concern of student conduct with the University, please seek advice from the Student Advice Team.
Can I report conduct concerns anonymously?
The University cannot take forward anonymous reports of student conduct unless there are exceptional reasons, for example if there is standalone evidence about the conduct concerns e.g. police action or screenshots of social media posts.
If you have concerns about raising a complaint about another student and how this may impact you, then please do reach out to Student Advice to discuss this.
I am not sure if the conduct procedure is the most appropriate to raise concerns through, what if I use the wrong procedure?
The University may decide at any time during a case that the concern you have reported should be considered under a different process or procedure. For example, the Fitness to Practise Procedure if the responding student is studying on a programme leading to professional registration or the Student Support Intervention Procedure if the responding student’s health and behaviour is causing concern for their own or another person’s safety or is causing significant disruption to distress to others.
How and when will I be contacted regarding my concern??
- The University should let you know within 14 days that your concern has been received.
- The University may ask you to provide further information or meet with you to gather further information. Please contact Student Advice if you are contacted about attending a meeting as we may be able to support you through this.
- At the end of investigation, the University will share with you as much information as possible on a ‘need to know’ basis, considering data protection regulations.
- You will then be given an opportunity to review the decision if you feel necessary, please contact Student Advice for guidance on this.
Someone else has raised concerns regarding my conduct
I have had a concern raised against me, what can I expect to happen now?
- The University will notify you if they receive a concern about your conduct that they are looking into under this Procedure or a linked procedure, such as Fitness to Practise.
- You may be notified that precautionary measures such as a temporary suspension or conduct commitment will apply to you following a risk assessment by the Academic Registrar.
- You may be asked to meet with Head of School or a member of Student Cases informally to discuss the concerns.
- If a formal investigation is started you will be given details of the concern and the opportunity to respond before any final decisions are made.
- The University will let you know how you will be updated about progress of the case and who you can bring to meetings to support you.
Student Advice can support you through this procedure and advise you on your options so please do get in touch. We offer confidential and impartial advice as we are independent of the University.
I have been invited to a Student Conduct Panel following an investigation meeting, what support is available?
Arrangements and details of a Student Conduct Panel can be found within the Student Conduct Procedure (this is linked at the top of this webpage).
If you have been invited to a panel, please contact Student Advice as soon as possible as we can help you to prepare for this and accompany you if possible.
I have been through the Student Conduct procedure and received an outcome that I am not happy with, do I have a right to appeal?
You can request a review of the decision under the university review procedure, more details regarding this can be found on our webpage here.
Please contact Student Advice for further information on how to request a review and the potential implications that this may have.
Contact Student Advice
Advice@cardiff.ac.uk
+44 (0)2920 781410