Academic Integrity and Assistance Policy

Purpose and Scope

1. This policy outlines expectations for students relating to academic integrity to support the responsible use of assistance by students.
2. This policy applies in the context of the Academic Regulations for Taught Programmes, the Assessment Policy and Procedures, the Reasonable Adjustments to Assessment Policy, the Audio or Video Recording for Educational Purposes Policy, and the Academic Misconduct Procedure.
3. This policy applies to the assessed coursework of students on taught programmes (including the taught components of research postgraduate programmes) and is premised on the principle that the use of assistance will normally be permitted. If there are specific circumstances whereby demonstration of the learning outcomes associated with the assessment require restrictions on the use of assistance then these restrictions will be clearly set out in the assessment brief.
4. This policy forms part of the student contract. Students agree to the terms of this policy and related procedures on registration, including the declaration of academic integrity.
5. Suspected breaches of this policy will be investigated through the Academic Misconduct Procedure.

Definitions

6. Academic integrity is defined as a commitment to good study practices and shared values which ensures that work is a true expression of a student’s understanding and ideas, giving credit to others where their work contributes to the student’s work.
7. Academic misconduct is defined as any attempt by a student to gain an unfair advantage in assessment.
8. Assessment briefs are written instructions and supporting information that explain to students the requirements for a particular assessment. Assessment briefs will specify any restrictions on the use of assistance required for the student to demonstrate achievement of associated learning outcomes. Assessment briefs will also specify the required referencing style.
9. Assistance is defined for the purposes of this policy as support with work prior to submission for assessment.
   1. Peer assistance is defined for the purposes of this policy as the provision of feedback from other students on work prior to submission for assessment.
   2. Informal assistance is defined for the purposes of this policy as the provision of feedback from friends and family on work prior to submission for assessment.
   3. Technologies are defined for the purposes of this policy as digital tools, including generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and translation aids, that are paid, unpaid or provided by the University.
   4. Paid services are defined for the purposes of this policy as an external person and/or company paid for by the student.
10. Proofreading is defined for the purposes of this policy as the systematic checking and identification of errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar and sentence construction, formatting and layout in the text.

Principles

11. Students will be responsible for the academic integrity of the work submitted for assessment, and the work must be an accurate reflection of a student’s own learning, understanding and skills.
12. Students will be responsible for the process of drafting and refining the work submitted for assessment, including generating content, revising, editing and proofreading. Students may be asked to demonstrate authorship to confirm the authenticity of their work.
13. Students will be permitted to use assistance to prepare work for assessment. Students will be aware of the limitations of support and are expected to engage critically with the outputs of assistance. Restrictions on the use of assistance, appropriate for the assessment, will be specified within the assessment brief.
14. Students will reference all external sources of ideas, information, data, or words used in their work, using the appropriate referencing style and acknowledge use of assistance.
15. Students are expected to develop good study practices and academic writing skills, accessing support and resources available from the University.

Acceptable Use of Assistance

16. Students are permitted to use peer assistance to prepare work for assessment. Peers may provide advice regarding the content, logic and clarity of the work but will not directly write, edit or amend the work.
17. Students are permitted to use informal assistance to prepare work for assessment. Reviewers may provide advice to improve the work from a general audience perspective but will not directly write, edit or amend the work.
18. Students are permitted to use technologies to prepare work for assessment if restrictions are not specified within the assessment brief. Technologies may be used in a supportive capacity but will not replace a student’s own learning, understanding and skills. Students should be aware that the accuracy, reliability and security of technologies cannot be guaranteed.
19. Students may use peer assistance, informal assistance and technologies for support with proofreading.
20. Students are not permitted to use paid services to prepare work for assessment.
21. Disabled students may be able to access paid services and assistive technologies if recommended by Disability Services.

Support and Resources

22. The University has support and resources available for students to access, for example:
    1. The academic integrity tutorials and tests explain how to avoid plagiarism and introduce good study practices to students.
    2. The mandatory AI course and trainings support students with developing their skills in using GenAI, including understanding both the opportunities and the ethical challenges of the technology and providing guidance on how students can use the technology responsibly and confidently.
    3. The Turnitin tutorial explains how Turnitin is used in the assessment process, and why students should not use AI detector or plagiarism detector websites.
    4. Educators will support the development of good study practices and academic writing skills, referring students to support and resources provided by the University where appropriate.
    5. The Learning Development Team supports students with academic and digital literacies development.
    6. The Leeds University Union Advice Team provides advice and support to students.
    7. Disability Strategy Tutors within Disability Services support eligible students to identify and develop academic strategies.
    8. The Language Centre provides guidance on academic literacies, including academic writing.
    9. The Lifelong Learning Centre supports part-time and mature students with academic skills.

This policy was approved by Senate on 8 July 2026 for implementation from the academic year of 2026/27. This is version 1.0 of the policy which is owned by the Quality Assurance and Enhancement Team. Please contact [email protected] for any matters related to this policy. Guidance for staff about this policy is available on the staff intranet at Academic Integrity and Assistance.