Academic misconduct is any action that could give you or another student an unfair advantage in an assessment. It's all about keeping your work honest and fair. The Academic Misconduct policy aims to protect the value of your qualification by making sure everyone's work is their own.

Key examples of misconduct are:

• Plagiarism: Using someone else's words or ideas without giving them credit. This includes work from other students or websites.
• Self-Plagiarism: Submitting your own work that you have already used for a previous course.
• Collusion: Working with other students on a piece of work that should be done alone and then presenting it as your own.
• Contract Cheating: Paying a service or another person to complete your assignment for you.
• Inappropriate use of AI: Using AI to create work that you submit as your own.

The policy sets out clear procedures for identifying and dealing with these issues and outlines what happens if you break the rules. If you need help understanding the policy or need support, you should contact the Assessment Team: assessment@oca.ac.uk

Plagiarism checks at formal assessment

All extended written work, like critical reviews, essays, reports and pieces of creative writing (prose, poetry and script), must be checked for plagiarism at assessment. The OCA uses a program called Turnitin to do this.

This happens for you automatically if you are a music student submitting work for assessment through OCA Learn. If you use the GDrive service to submit your work for assessment, the Assessment Team will enrol you into a one off "Plagiarism Checks" course on OCA Learn to carry out the check. You might get an automated email about this during the assessment event, but you don't need to do anything about it.

To help with these checks, all your written work must be submitted as a word-processed document in either a .pdf or .docx file format. Links to work on a blog or other online platforms cannot be used.

 Assessment event schedules for undergraduate students:

Additional dates of note for Graduates and Exit Award students:

Additional dates of note for students that complete Stage 1 (HE4) or Stage 2 (HE5):

* For students in the Southern Hemisphere, please refer to assessment events by the month of the deadline for submission.

† These dates could be subject to change if the Exam Board has to be rescheduled.

Assessment event schedules for undergraduate students:

Additional dates of note for Graduates and Exit Award students:

Additional dates of note for students that complete Stage 1 (HE4) or Stage 2 (HE5):

* For students in the Southern Hemisphere, please refer to assessment events by the month of the deadline for submission.

† These dates could be subject to change if the Exam Board has to be rescheduled.

What do the different dates in the schedule mean?

• Unit completed by: This is the date by which you need to have your unit completed in order to be invited to a given assessment event. Remember, completion is defined as submitting all assignments to your tutor, and having received all tutor feedback reports.

• Invitation to event by: If eligible for the given event, this is the latest date by which you would receive your invitation to submit for assessment.

• Deadline for submission: This is the last day and time which you will be able to submit your work for assessment. Please note that any work submitted outside the deadline for submission dates and times cannot be accepted without penalty (see below).

• Unit results sent by: You should expect to receive the assessment unit results from a given event by no later than this date. These will be sent to you by email to your OCA email address.

• Diploma Supplement sent by: This is the date by which you can expect to receive your Diploma Supplement (should you be graduating or exiting with an award). This document includes the Transcript and for graduates will confirm the degree classification.

• Certificates posted by OU: This is the date by which you can expect to receive your certificates (should you be graduating or exiting with an award). This is the formal award certification and is posted out to graduates and students exiting with exit award eg Cert/Dip HE.

• Transcript sent by OCA: This is the date by which you can expect to receive a transcript from the OCA (should you be completing Stage 1 or Stage 2). This is a new requirement under OU validation and these are sent to students on achieving credits for Stage 1 (HE4) or Stage 2 (HE5). 

How do these dates work?

The 'Unit completed by' is the date by which your unit needs to be recorded as complete in order to be eligible for assessment at a given assessment event.

After this date, we compile the list of eligible students and use this information to create the required spaces for you to upload your submissions, via the GDrive or the OCA Learn VLE. Your invitation to submit will be sent to you by no later than the 'Invitation to event by' date. Your invitation will take the form of an email, from the Assessment Team account - assessment@oca.ac.uk - and will confirm your method for submission - either the GDrive service or the OCA Learn VLE.

The latest date that work can be uploaded to these spaces (GDrive/OCA Learn) will be the 'Deadline for submission' date, and any submissions sent to us/uploaded/edited beyond this date will be subject to the appropriate penalties (see the answer to the question What if I'm late with my submission? below for more).

Please note that those with GDrive folders will retain 'Viewer' access after the deadline for submission.

After the assessment event has concluded, we will email you no later than the 'Unit results sent by' date to confirm your unit results. This email be sent to your OCA email address with a copy of your marksheet attached.

If you are due to receive a diploma supplement or certificate or transcript, these will either be emailed to you or posted out to you on the dates sent by/posted by in the schedule.

What do I need to do to be invited to an assessment event?

Any student eligible to be invited to an assessment event needs to have completed their unit by the 'Unit completed by' date for that event.

Completion of a unit is defined as submission of all assignments to the tutor for that unit, and receipt of the tutor’s feedback.

To ensure you are invited to your preferred assessment event, you will need to agree to a schedule of assignment submission dates with your tutor ahead of the key dates for that assessment event. This will allow time for you to submit your work to them for feedback, and time for your tutor to respond with their feedback and have your unit recorded as complete. With this in mind, we would advise you to allow at least 14 days from when you submit your final assignment to your tutor, and the 'Unit to be completed by' date. However, each tutor's availability will vary, so make sure you have contacted them in advance of these dates to make appropriate arrangements.

Should you complete your unit after the 'Unit completed by' date for your preferred assessment event, you will be eligible for invitation to the assessment event that follows.

Please note that the progress tracker for your unit on OCA Learn does not have to show as '100% complete' in order to be invited for assessment. For further information you can refer to the following FAQ on the OCA Help Desk - Why doesn’t my course show 100% completion?

What if I am invited but cannot submit?

If you've been invited for assessment, but you have extenuating circumstances which mean that you will be unable to submit your work for assessment, you could apply to postpone assessment to the following assessment event. See the Student Handbook for details on postponing assessment and how to apply.

If you fail to submit work for assessment when invited to do so, and have not been granted a postponement of assessment, you will receive a fail for the unit and a mark of zero (0%). You will then be offered a re-submission opportunity at the next assessment event. Full details on re-submissions can be found in the Academic Regulations.

Each assessment event has a submission deadline; this is the date by which you must have provided the coursework that you wish to be assessed. This is usually two weeks after you've been invited for assessment; see the complete assessment schedules in this section for details.

What if I'm late with my submission?

If you submit work after the submission date but within six days, the mark that you receive at assessment is reduced by 10% for each day late the work down to 40% for undergraduate, and 50% for postgraduate but no further. 

If work is submitted more than seven days past the submission deadline and/or does not include all the required assessment components, submission will be refused and you would receive a mark of 0% for that unit. See the Academic Regulations for details.

Whether you have been getting ready for assessment throughout your unit or are just beginning the process now, here are some suggestions on how you can best utilise your time: 

1. Aim to have a two week period to prepare for assessment. 

2. Check that you can access the GDrive folder sent to you (or access OCA Learn for Music units). Don’t leave this until the last minute. There is still plenty of time to ask for help if there is a problem. 

3. Consider uploading a test document if you are not confident with GDrive and would like to practice. 

4. Undertake the exercises in the Selecting Work for Assessment book activity in the Preparing your submission section. This will help you gather the assessment requirements you need to submit. 

5. Review the work you have produced and start to make a selection of creative work. It's useful to return to this process, so you have time to reflect on it. 

6. Refer to the learning outcomes of your unit to ensure your selection supports your choices. 

7. Work through the Critical Reviews exercise. The points on referencing and word counts may be useful to any student with an extended piece of writing within their work. 

8. Now that you have considered your learning log entries and selection of creative work, undertake the Producing a reflective presentation or evaluation exercise. Re-read your tutor reports to help identify key moments in your learning to help you with your reflective presentation. Remember that you can do this as a video, which might make it easier, and allows you to try different versions. 

9. Check you are happy with your selection of work, and make any changes. 

10. If you have not been uploading as you go, submit your work to the GDrive folder (OCA Learn for Music units). The larger your digital files, the slower it will take to upload. Different broadband providers supply different upload speeds and your location and IT equipment could also affect your service/access to it. Allow time for this activity. 

11. Once your work is uploaded, check the Checklist document in your GDrive folder.

It is always useful to reflect on your feedback, identifying what you feel are the key themes and areas for development. This will help you identify what you can take from your feedback and develop a reflective approach to your studies.

• Undertake your own self-evaluation of your work. You may want to re-read your reflective presentation or evaluation to help you. How would you mark yourself against the assessment criteria?

• Take some time to compare your summative feedback with your own self-evaluation; what are the similarities and differences?

• Do you understand the feedback? Consider sharing your feedback with a fellow student, a trusted friend or mentor, to help unpack it together.

• What are you taking from your summative feedback and self-evaluation? Draw up a set of key themes or aims you would like to develop. You may want to share these with the tutor on your next unit.

If you have a concern regarding your assessment results, then you may consider requesting an academic appeal, as outlined in the OCA Academic Appeals - Policy and Procedures. If, after consulting this policy, you believe that you have grounds for an academic appeal, please refer to Section 8. Academic Appeals Process - specifically Section 8.3. Stage 1 Informal - to inform making your appeal.

Please note that disagreeing with the assessment results alone does not constitute grounds for an academic appeal. If, however, there is evidence of a procedural irregularity that could have had an impact on your assessment results, then this may be considered eligible for appeal.

The deadline for the receipt of academic appeals for a given assessment event is confirmed in your assessment outcome email. The deadline is normally 4 weeks after the release of assessment results, but consult your assessment outcome email for specific confirmation.