Submitting a report on Report and Support automatically starts a Disciplinary investigation.
When you submit a report to an adviser, you are first arranging a meeting with a Student Life Adviser in Student Services, so they can offer support and give you options for next steps to take, such as further support and reporting to the police or starting an official University complaint.
By making an anonymous report the University can still take action against the accused.
An anonymous report is 100% anonymous and we will not know who you are or who you are accusing. Anonymous reporting lets students make a report to tell the University what happened when they may be not ready to talk about it further. It also helps the University get a better picture of what is happening in the student population and we use the data collected from Report and Support to be able to inform senior leadership and to allocated resources. All data collected is 100% anonymised.
Nothing will happen if I submit a report, so that is why I reported anonymously.
If you report anonymously nothing can be done. However, if you report to an adviser you will have an appointment offered to you with a Student Life Adviser in Student Services. They will believe you and will not judge you. Everything will be kept confidential.
If I report another student, they won’t know that I’m the one reporting them.
In order for a fair and balanced investigation to take place, the responding student will receive information about the origin and nature of the report. This means that they will be told who has made the report.
If you are considering making a report and have concerns about your safety in relation to this, your Student Life advisor can talk through the options and review any risk mitigation tools available.
If I tell the University what happened, they will make a report to the police.
Data Protection Regulations mean that the University cannot contact the police or other third parties without your consent, unless there is a significant safeguarding concern that legally requires us to make a report on your behalf.
If you are considering making a report to the police, a Student Life advisor can talk to you about this and help you contact the right people.
If I report another student, they’ll be kicked off their course.
There are a range of outcomes and penalties as a result of a disciplinary investigation, including financial penalties and educational training.
In the most serious cases, the Disciplinary Officer may refer the matter on to a Senate Student Discipline Committee hearing, where a panel can decide upon and issue penalties including suspension or expulsion.
If a responding student is on a course requiring registration with a professional body (such as Medicine or Nursing) there may also be a Fitness to Practice investigation to identify whether their behaviour has breached the code of conduct required of that professional body.
There may be times when the behaviour you have reported requires the university to proceed with a Fitness to Practice investigation due to wider safeguarding considerations.
If you have concerns about the person you are reporting being on a professional course, you can speak to your Student Life advisor.
There’s no point reporting because I won’t be believed
If you report to an adviser you will have an appointment offered to you with a Student Life Adviser in Student Services. They will believe you and will not judge you.
If you decide not to make a formal referral to the disciplinary process, this has no bearing on the validity of what you have reported and your entitlement to support. Everyone has the right to make an informed decision about what is best for them.
If I tell the University what happened, they will tell my parents
Data Protection Regulations mean that the University cannot contact your parents without your consent. The only time we can contact your parents is if you want us to, or if there is a significant safeguarding concern.