Academic Integrity is how the university expects all student to understand what you are allowed to do in assessments and what is unfair and not allowed.
Big issues
A big cause of accidental or intentional academic misconduct is having situations going on in life that impact your time and ability to do your work - this is known as extenuating circumstances.
The university has the extenuating circumstances policy in place to help with that.
You have 1 self-certified EC per semester which can grant a 5 working day extension to course work and does not require evidence, this is best used for things like colds and sickness that would not have medical evidence.
You have an unlimited amount of evidence ECs you can apply for, these can provide a 10 working day extension to coursework, but require genuine, independent evidence to receive.
If you EC an exam, whichever type of EC, it will be deferred to the next assessment period, not given a 5 or 10 working day extension.
If you feel that your academic performance in your upcoming exams will be impacted by circumstances outside your control, you may need to consider applying for ECs. Please talk to your Personal Tutor first if you can, and you can seek advice from our academic advice team.
If you have any questions or queries, then get in touch by emailing at ussu.advice@surrey.ac.uk
You can find more information on ECs here or email us at ussu.advice@surrey.ac.uk
Generative AI is everywhere now and you may already use it, but do be careful.
Check your assessment briefs and instructions from your lecturers as to what use of generative AI they will allow. If you are allowed to use AI to some degree, then make sure to reference or notify the University you have used it. That would usually be in your assessment.
Consider it like any other source; double check what it suggests, use proper citation of anything you take from it or that it leads you to.
Beware of using it for 'structure' it can be tempting to take more and more of what it suggests especially under time pressure and academics are very experienced in recognising how generative AI 'talks'.
Do not use it to write your references, it will make mistakes and often entirely make up sources that do not exist - a real clue that there is an issue with academic misconduct. These are called hallucinations and they are very obvious to markers when they occur.
If you experience IT issues during an exam or coursework submission, you must notify the University as soon as they occur.
Email your module leader with your completed work before the deadline and raise a question through MySurrey help immediately.
Take photographs and videos of the issue - ensure it clearly shows the time and date and what the issue is, to show that you tried to submit before the deadline.
If any problems occur and keep a record of your communication, and if possible, take any photos of the error you’re looking at. This communication can then be used as evidence for ECs applications.
You will likely need to submit an evidenced EC with this evidence so it is crucial to document the issue and have sent your work to your module leader before the deadline (or as instantly after as is possible) by email.
We are able to advise on the EC application.