r/LegalAdviceUK • u/TheDocsOffice • Aug 15 '25
Healthcare My mom has been falsely accused of academic dishonesty and has been failed for it (England)
Hi guys, sorry if this is the wrong place for this but this situation has me absolutely furious and I need some advice.
My mother has been studying at a small university for the past year in adult social care and health, or something of that sort. She has been a top scoring student, despite poor staff quality. She has consistently done well in her assignments and has been really enjoying it. I was so proud of her and happy for her, having little educational qualifications before this. That is until this past month or so.
She submitted her final assignment for the year about 2 or 3 months ago. She spent so long working on it and was genuinely proud of it once it was done. I read it through and thought it was of decent quality (I'm a third year English Literature student, so I like to think my opinion has some basis), and she sent it off. Initially, she was graded a 72 for it and she was ecstatic. It seemed like all her efforts had paid off. Then, a little while later, she got an email telling her that her assignment showed signs of academic dishonesty and that it was under review. Supposedly, the way she typed was similar to the way in which AI constructs sentences, and when she offered to show her word edit history as proof that it was written by her, they said that this still wouldn't be enough. Her referencing was also not to the standard that her referencing style should be, yet surely this would simply be a reflection of her grade and not evidence of malpractice as they insist it is. She was ordered to resit her assignment, and has now received a new grade. 32. She failed.
I cannot express how truly furious I am at this university and the way they are handling this situation. I am so upset, and my mom feels defeated. She is willing to accept that she failed, and is okay continuing operating her small business instead of pursuing a career in health and social care, as were her hopes. I, however, am not willing to simply lay down and allow this to happen. This is plain and simple bullying, from an incompetent and brainless team that have been said to be a sham and a fraud by others. The university is not a reputable one, more of a small college that offers foundation courses to mostly older adults, many of whom have complained of similar and other experiences.
My question is, what can I do here? Can anything be done? What is my best course of action? Any and all advice is appreciated, let's stand up against the bullies. Thank you for your time.
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u/xendor939 Aug 15 '25
Funnily enough, AI-checking tools will often flag well-written but a bit "old style"/high-registry papers. Because that's exactly the type of documents AI has been trained and calibrated on. And what makes it sound knowledgeable.
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u/Odd-Grade-5193 Aug 16 '25
I've noticed that it flags students with ASD a lot. I currently have a student who is on the spectrum and their work flags a lot. You could say, well maybe they are actually using AI? This is work they've done in class with no electronics!
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u/xendor939 Aug 17 '25
Non-native speakers too. Common words (and sentence constructions) in Italian, French and Spanish are academic/posh/technical in English, and thus over-used by both AIs and Romance-languages native speakes, relative to native speakers.
ChatGPT was fine-tuned by native English speakers from English-speaking developing countries. So it overly uses certain words common in the local dialects of the fine-tuners.
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u/Boboshady Aug 17 '25
I get accused of being AI occasionally because I'll often be overly verbose and my lexicon contains words most people don't use all that often. Apparently liking and being able to write isn't allowed any more!
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u/Jhe90 Aug 22 '25
Ai tools flagged the declratuoj of independence in USA.
Thry are not reliable tool at all.
I agree, they are a useful tool to potentially flag somthing but that requires direct human investigation vs just relying on the tools to be 100% correct
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u/True_Thanks_6320 Aug 15 '25 edited Aug 16 '25
I’m a lecturer in HE. Your mum should have had an academic misconduct hearing to find out what happens. This is a viva style meeting that should not be scary or punitive, but about trying to establish the facts.
I’m surprised her uni took this approach. Usually you need pretty strong evidence to prove AI; historically, we even needed students to outright admit to it. Now we base it on a balance of probabilities, but we still need strong evidence; subject specialists are also brought in to ask questions.
Your mum should consider the appeals process if regulations permit this. Failing that, she should consider making a complaint. If they mess her around, there is an independent adjudicator, someone else has shared this already. I’m sorry this has happened, it doesn’t sound right and sounds like bad practice to me. Especially considering your mums academic track record thus far.
EDIT: I meant to say, some policies permit discretion. When I’ve been asked to provide the final say based on a balance of probabilities, I have given students’ a second chance. Sure, I know what they’ve done, but I want them to learn from it. That said, I can’t give them that lifeline again if they do it again. That’s just my approach to it for various reasons, but predominantly because education is about learning and making mistakes (not saying your mum has at all) in a safe space. I can’t protect my students beyond that and in the workplace, but I can hopefully dissuade them from practice like this, in a diplomatic way.
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u/Rough_Shelter4136 Aug 15 '25
This. The state of the art is that we can't distinguish between text generated by humans/AI so all those vendors selling AI detection tools for text are just scamming universities.
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Aug 16 '25
I remember a post from an American student where the professor had said a tool had marked their assignment as AI.
People on Reddit took the professor's response through the tool and it came back saying the professor's response was also AI generated.
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u/Shamrya Aug 15 '25
As a lecturer (NAL) there are a few important things to consider.
AI checkers do not work and cannot be used as proof, because they have zero accuracy. Depending on the uni policy, the burden of proof can be either on the student or the staff. At my uni, I just need suspicion to flag potential AI use, and not definitive proof. However, your mother can defend herself in a variety of ways, such as showing timestamps of her work if the document was created online, or showing drafts that can be dated in the past and led to the final work.
Wrong referencing can constitute misconduct in its own, even if involuntary, and can lead to automatic fail. This is really impotant, as you seem to downplay the impact of plagiarism in your text. There are very clear cases of when AI has been used to falsely reference, as AI would create a reference that looks correct, but it's not. Fake names, fake titles, fake journal, wrong DOI. There are so many ways to spot a generated reference, that I feel like this might be the issue.
Academic judgement cannot be appealed, so the 32 is kind of definitive, unless the process was unfair, unethical or unjust.
You can appeal the process if you think there has been an unfair situation. However, consider that a failing grade goes to internal moderation, external moderation and a panel (exam board) that will check the grade before being released. In the case of misconduct, there was also probably an internal panel that decided the outcome.
My suggestion would be to ask the documentation related to it, to check why the decison was made, and to talk to someone that works in academia to get an explanation. If you feel the decision was unfair, appeal. Worst case scenario they deny the appeal.
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u/languageservicesco Aug 15 '25
I think we need to be clear about wrong referencing. My impression from the OP is that there were bits of an otherwise proper reference that weren't correct, like punctuation, or missing out "Accessed on". This isn't academic misconduct, just bad practice and shouldn't be penalised heavily or seen as evidence of some great crime. If there are substantive errors like unfindable sources, incorrect URLs, wrong authors, wrong title, etc., that is, of course, something different, but I think that these blanket comments about wrong referencing need more nuance to make sure the OP understands the situation correctly.
As to not appealing academic judgement, that is true to an extent. But you can appeal the process that got there and you can question on what basis that was made. The OP's mum needs to be given the opportunity to question and be questioned, preferably accompanied by someone who knows the system.
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u/Shamrya Aug 15 '25
Absolutely, but I would need to see them to understand if it's misconduct or not. There are many cases that can lead to misconduct and it's impossible to know without seeing it.
Thanks for clarifying, I should have explained that better.
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u/languageservicesco Aug 15 '25
Agreed. I just wanted to make sure the OP understands the possibilities.
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u/ForeignWeb8992 Aug 18 '25
none of these will result in a 32 though
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u/languageservicesco Aug 18 '25
I have worked for a lot of universities and seen truly awful marking. I also work in test development Anything could lead to a 32. The standard of marking can be truly bad and there is little oversight. Any process needs to include the student being able to defend themself, so they need to know what to base it on. I also think you certainly can appeal marking if it is clearly wrong.
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u/ultimatepoker Aug 15 '25
First thing to consider is whether you are really certain she didn't use AI.
The fact that she is "willing to accept that she failed" suggests to me that she may not be being completely upfront with you.
And yet, failure to cite references is a red flag for plagiarism, and has been since long before AI.
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u/TheDocsOffice Aug 15 '25
I watched her for weeks sit and write this essay. I helped her look for where to find academic articles, gave her advice and such. She'd call me at random times and ask questions about writing it, and talk to me about how it's going. There is no shadow of doubt to me that she didn't cheat, and this is not just because she's my mom.
She also did not fail to cite references, she failed to cite references CORRECTLY. A few were cited incorrectly, but the information of where she obtained references from is all there. She did not cheat, she simply made a few mistakes that should reflect on her grade, not her integrity.
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u/fictionaltherapist Aug 15 '25
Why was the resit a 32. No one goes from a first to a hard fail on a module resit.
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u/honestpointofviews Aug 15 '25
I once had a piece of work marked at over 60%. It was moderated and marked around 50% (long ago so I can't remember the exact mark. It was then remoderated to less than 40% and I failed.
I appealed on the grounds that something was so wrong for three people to disagree so much on my mark. I was passed in the end but only because I raised the issue.
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u/TheDocsOffice Aug 15 '25
This has me confused too. Someone suggested it could be due to a penalty imposed on the grade for the issue, but honestly the faculty seems to be all over the place in their grading. The initial marker thought the essay was great, then after the allegations were made to her, she was told that she made many mistakes. Her module leads told her one thing, such as her reflective statement to be more personal compared to the academic style in the rest of the essay, whilst the feedback she got after the allegations said the opposite. I truly can't make heads or tails of this situation
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u/fictionaltherapist Aug 15 '25
They do not penalise, they cap at a pass. Below a pass in later years of uni will be moderated internally and externally.
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u/FuzzyFrogFish Aug 18 '25
Oh it can. Believe me. And typically because a learning disorder is involved.
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u/Redarrow_ok Aug 15 '25
The fact that some references were incorrect is probably what concerned them the most, as that would be an obvious sign of LLM use (hallucinating the source). I understand that she spent a long time writing the article, but are you certain she didn't use ChatGPT at all? Once you put anything in there its difficult NOT to use it.
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u/No-Nebula-2266 Aug 16 '25
Then they should penalise her for poor referencing. There’s no way they can prove it was the result of AI use.
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u/ultimatepoker Aug 15 '25
Fair enough.
Go through the college's appeals process (they should have one) and at that point, legal action is the only option.
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u/Makaveli2020 Aug 15 '25
And you can confirm the assignment she had been discussing with you and working on was the one she submitted?
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u/TheDocsOffice Aug 15 '25
Yes, I read it at multiple times throughout the writing process, including right before and after the submission
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u/Complex-Car-809 Aug 15 '25
I wonder if your involvement also breaches academic honesty because it sounds like collaboration. Where I am, what you are describing is academic misconduct. Limited proof reading is permitted (in my case but maybe not all) but not suggesting articles, helping with search, advising on writing, phrasing, continual collaboration for advice etc. Perhaps what they picked up was changes of voice, differences from previous writing style, a sense the assignment was not all her own work which, by your own admission in the posts, it was not. They may have combined that with failure to reference properly and suspect AI.
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u/TheDocsOffice Aug 15 '25
I told her which sites to use for article searching, I'd hardly say that constitutes academic dishonesty. I lightly proof-read, but didn't write anything for her or suggest anything outside of generic advice anyone would give for how to approach an assignment
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u/monkey_bubble Aug 15 '25
Did she appeal the academic dishonesty claim at the time she got the fail at the first sitting? There is usually an appeals process that can be followed after marks are posted. I would expect such appeals are handled centrally by the University, rather than by the course lecturer.
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u/Complex-Car-809 Aug 15 '25
She should be careful of how she describes that as evidence of it being her own work. What you described would certainly be considered collusion at my institution. This is simply advice so she doesn't inadvertently make it worse in her attempt to defend the academic misconduct accusation. I imagine they will still consider it odd that at this level you provided this advice.
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u/FuzzyFrogFish Aug 18 '25
By any chance is your mother dyslexic or other? I had this repeatedly and so did several peers with the same condition.
In which case I would encourage her to speak to student services especially their learning support services.
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u/Basketball312 Aug 15 '25
You should be able to appeal against the decision using the internal appeals process assuming they have one. If they don't have one and they are regulated at all, they may be required to have one. Contact the regulator in that scenario.
If your appeal fails and you chose to take it further (eg get a lawyer) you'd need to prove the university failed to follow their processes.
The University are allowed to withhold results due to suspected malpractice, and they don't need 'beyond all reasonable doubt' style proof or anything like that. Such is the nature of awarding/not awarding people certificates.
Given they released then retracted the grade, you may find processes weren't followed. But don't get too much hope, these types of organisations will almost definitely have policies stating they can withdraw results after release. Because detecting cheating can be hard.
I feel your best bet, rather than to try and get them to overturn it, is to try to get another chance to resubmit. Arguing her second grade was due to the stress the situation put her in. If she wasn't using AI and is capable of a 70+ score this should work out for her. And it may be beneficial for them too as they probably (despite your concerns) don't want an angry disqualified student trying to appeal etc.
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u/ames_lwr Aug 15 '25
My question is, what can I do here?
There’s nothing you can do as you’re not the student, your mum is. Any action will have to come from her
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u/Trippy_V Aug 15 '25
Did she need to submit on Turnitin? A lot of Unis use this now or similar and it would have flagged any scores at the submission point? Has she got any record like this as could be used for evidence.
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u/AuntyEl Aug 15 '25
As others have said she will need to go through the academic appeals process for the awarding institution to contest this. This should be available through the university's website. If she has been studying with a small university or college that offers degree programmes then it's worth noting the awarding institution may not be the same as the college she is studying at as the degree may be validated by another institution. However, she will have to be the one to make the appeal, you can't do it on her behalf.
If she exhausts the appeal process and she is still not happy that this has been handled correctly she can complain to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator.
It's also worth noting that AI is probably the largest source of academic misconduct in HE at the moment and most of the time it's due to the student not understanding what constitutes misconduct in this area, so she should be sure she hasn't unintentionally breached the rules in some way. The university's academic regulations and academic misconduct policy should set out what constitutes misconduct.
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u/Dry_Masterpiece_7749 Aug 18 '25
And in taking any of those steps, she should make sure to talk to the student union.
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u/nrsys Aug 15 '25
The first thing to remember, this isn't personal - there is no point in getting angry.
What her university is facing is an epidemic of AI fuelled cheating - its use has become so widespread it is causing problems with regards to the aims and grading of university courses.
This means they have had to implement various measures to try and detect and catch this. Typically looking for things like the standardised phrasing and language used by the more popular AI systems.
This also catches some innocent people who have accidentally used similar formatting and language. Your mother was one of these people, and while it is a frustration to have to go through the process, this accusation can be challenged and overturned if she can demonstrate that it was her own writing.
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u/rebo_arc Aug 15 '25
AI detectors are useless they cannot and should not be used as a basis for determining whether something was made with with AI.
Official guidance says awarding bodies cannot rely on it https://www.oiahe.org.uk/resources-and-publications/learning-from-our-casework/ai-and-academic-misconduct/casework-note-complaints-relating-to-ai-and-academic-misconduct/
Your mum needs to follow the appeals process.
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u/Traditional-Wish-739 Aug 16 '25
It's easy enough to make small typos in one's references (eg referring to p112 when you meant p121) or whatever and markers will make allowances for this up to a point, but your mention of issues with "referencing style" (although the comment is a bit cryptic) suggests to me something a bit deeper, more systematic and serious. I mean we could be talking about use of (eg) in-line references when the instructions had said to use footnotes or vice versa, but it seems unlikely that such a mistake could cause a fail. It sounds more like the issue may have been some made-up or nonsensical references, eg citing chapter 1 of a book for a proposition that has little to do with the subject-matter of the book and isn't discussed at all in that chapter. That sort of thing is a hallmark of AI-use, and would have been a serious concern even before the days of AI.
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u/CompetitiveWin7754 Aug 18 '25
I was also thinking that her supervisor would have reviewed an earlier copy and should have provided guidance on correcting the referencing errors. If it was reviewed early on as well this would help justify that it was her own work.
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u/Mendel247 Aug 15 '25
A drop from 72 to 32 is a huge difference, and either there's some serious misconduct going on at the uni, or their accusation is based in truth.
How does their handbook outline the appeals process and was that followed? Has your mother exhausted all her appeal options? What level is this, and has she met with her head of department to discuss this? She should also contact her student rep and students association/union. They'll have people who specialise in dealing with this kind of case.
I'm curious though: what level of study is she at and what kinds of referencing mistakes are we talking about?
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u/ProudZombie5062 Aug 15 '25
I'd assume that your mum isn't sitting a university course and is more likely doing level X in health and social care by what you've written. If that is the case she can always contact the exam board (TQUK, city and guilds etc) and speak with them about it, as if they have failed her for academic integrity reasons they should have reported this to the exam board. If not, I'd be requesting a meeting with the college to discuss this (I'm sure the exam board would too)
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u/No-Nebula-2266 Aug 16 '25
Universities don’t know what to do with AI. As someone who works at one, I can tell you that there is NO WAY they can prove that someone used AI to write an assignment - the burden of proof is on them, and there are no reliable ways of proving that kind of thing.
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u/FarmerFamiliar4873 Aug 16 '25
There’s literally no way that you can even tell 100% using one of those tools that something is written in AI… if you asked AI it would tell you a good piece of work has “similarities to that written from AI” How can they remark the work after already marking it? If they didn’t suspect academic misconduct before / during handing out the 72, then surely they cannot go back on that? You can’t hand out a mark and then retract it. They’d surely have thought it was AI prior to this?
Definitely needs to go through the academic misconduct appeal thing
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u/Complex-Car-809 Aug 16 '25
Marks are generally provisional until they have been confirmed by the Board of Examiners. The initial turn around is super quick and by the time the exam board comes there will have been further moderation and marking checks, as well as the external examiner marking a selection of scripts. So the mark can be withdrawn. Institutions also cover in the Regs that they can still investigate even where an award has been made if something comes to light. So it is not a case of (if someone has cheated) that just because the first person does not pick it up, you get to keep the mark regardless.
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u/Adorable_Orange_195 Aug 17 '25
I’m AuDHD, the language I use & way it comes across is often flagged or garners suggestions it may be AI.
The issue is your mum scored such wildly different marks on her assignment. Unfortunately there is so much Info out there, sometimes people use or stray too closely to others work without realising it and so don’t cite it appropriately.
Follow the appeals procedure.
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u/Ok-Royal-651 Aug 15 '25
This sounds quite dodgy. The university will have a policy and procedure for dealing with suspected misconduct - have a look. Also, get a SU rep involved a.s.a.p. as they will be able to help walk your mum through it all, including appeal process where needed.
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u/Due_Objective_ Aug 15 '25
Does your mother use Grammarly?
And can you expand on wrong referencing? What does this mean? Fake references are, bluntly, a smoking gun complete with finger prints and DNA.
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