Malpractice and maladministration Policy

Introduction

PRIMO Performance Coaching is committed to providing excellent services through their learning environments and by eliminating any suspected malpractice and maladministration in the management of our organisation and in the delivery of qualifications. [Insert name of centre] aims to promote accountability and to encourage the openness to disclose any allegations of malpractice and maladministration in the workplace.

The Heads of Centre Kevin Watson and George Wishart are responsible for ensuring that this policy is published, implemented and accessible to all personnel, learners and any relevant third parties. The Head of Centre will also ensure that all personnel have read and understood this policy and that any amendments to the policy are communicated to relevant parties.

Learners should be made aware of this policy at the start of their course/programme and the policy should be easily accessible (website, intranet, booklets).

Objectives

The key objective of this policy is to mitigate and/or manage any adverse effects that could arise from malpractice/maladministration.

Examples of malpractice or maladministration may include:

• A learner committing plagiarism by copying and passing off the whole or part(s) of another person’s work, with or without the originator’s permission and without appropriately acknowledging the source. This includes learners using artificial intelligence (AI) to generate work and passing it off as their own. To be proactive around the use of AI Oarsome Sport and Fitness/PRIMO Performance Coaching will highlight the benefits of AI to candidates e.g., providing references on a topic that candidates then read to generate their own response to an assessment. By being proactive as a company AI should be used as a tool to support learning, not as a tool to assist plagiarism.
• Failing to comply with the assessor’s/invigilator’s instructions and/or 1st4sport Qualification’s regulations in relation to the assessment
• Misusing assessment material
• Impersonating others by pretending to be someone else, in order to produce the work for another, or arranging for another to take one’s place in an assessment
• Misusing the access arrangements via reasonable adjustments or special considerations with the aim of influencing the outcome of the assessment
• Failing to comply with qualification, assessment and 1st4sport Qualification conditions and regulations
• Behaving in such a way as to undermine the integrity of the assessment
• Fabricating and/or altering results and/or evidence, documents and fraudulent claiming of certificates.

Definitions

Malpractice is defined as any deliberate activity, neglect, default or other practice that is unethical or unlawful, which breaches regulations and which compromises the integrity of our organisational statuses, financial stability, reputation, the reputation of our stakeholders and the qualifications and related assessments we are approved to deliver.

Maladministration is any activity which is not deliberate, but which neglects, defaults on regulation, conditions placed upon us by awarding organisations or compromises the integrity of our organisational statuses, financial stability, reputation, the reputation of our stakeholders and the qualifications and related assessments we are approved to deliver. This includes accidental non-compliance with any centre policy, procedure or guidance.

Malpractice/Maladministration Allegations Reporting Procedure

Any allegations of malpractice or maladministration should be reported and investigated by following the procedure outlined below. All confirmed allegations of Malpractice or Maladministration must be reported to 1st4sport Qualifications, by emailing imanagement@1st4sportqualifications.com.

1. Allegations of malpractice/maladministration should be reported to the Designated Malpractice/Maladministration Officer by completing the Malpractice/Maladministration Allegation Report Form (email info@primoperformancecoaching.co.uk for this). The designated malpractice/maladministration officer should acknowledge receipt of the allegation within 5 working days.
2. The Designated Malpractice/Maladministration Officer will inform the 1st4sport Qualifications Compliance and Risk Team and will then evaluate the evidence and investigate as required. The designated malpractice/maladministration officer should provide updates every 25 working days
3. The Designated Malpractice/Maladministration Officer will communicate the outcomes to all relevant stakeholders including the 1st4sport Qualifications Compliance and Risk Team
4. Where malpractice/maladministration is confirmed the 1st4sport Qualifications Compliance and Risk Team may need to investigate further, following the 1st4sport Qualifications Position Statement – Malpractice and Maladministration. 

In the event that malpractice or maladministration is identified the Designated Malpractice/Maladministration Officer should inform the 1st4sport Qualifications Compliance and Risk Team who will then investigate following the 1st4sport Qualifications Position Statement – Malpractice and Maladministration.

Outcomes and Penalties

Withholding information or failing to report promptly any suspected cases of malpractice or maladministration by centre personnel may result in the imposition of sanctions on. This may lead to withdrawal of centre statuses.

Personnel who commit malpractice/maladministration, which is confirmed after investigation, may be subject to penalties, including:

• Exclusion from the delivery of the qualification (either at the centre or across all centres)
• Exclusion from the assessment of the qualification (either at the centre or across all centres)
• Exclusion from the internal verification/moderation of the qualification (either at the centre or across all centres)
• Exclusion from the financial/quality management/administration of the qualification (either at the centre or across all centres)
• Temporary suspension
• Work only under supervision
• Undertake specific training.

Learners should be made aware of the penalties for/consequences of breaching regulations, which may include one or more of the following:

• Written warning
• Disqualification from entering one or more (re)assessments
• Disqualification from the whole qualification.

Learners must understand that where the allegations are proven, certificates may be invalidated and those already issued may be withdrawn.