PROCEDURE TO DETERMINE FITNESS TO STUDY

Grace 1 of 15 July 2015

Introduction

1. This procedure sets out the formal steps which will be taken by the University when there is concern that a student’s behaviour or health is seriously disrupting the welfare or academic progress of the student, or of others in the academic community, or has the potential to do so. It applies to all matriculated students.

2. The procedure should not be initiated until all avenues of local support have been explored and, in the case of disabled students, all reasonable adjustments40 have been determined and put in place, or declined (in whole or part) by the student.

3. Any action taken under this procedure will be limited to that necessary and proportionate to protect the best interests of the student, and other members of the University.

Circumstances under which this procedure may be implemented

4. A student’s fitness to study may be brought into question as a result of a wide range of circumstances. These include, but are not restricted to, the following:

1. (a)serious concerns about the student’s behaviour or health emerge which have not been resolved through College channels, and which indicate that there is a need to address the student’s fitness to study;
2. (b)behaviour that would otherwise be dealt with as a disciplinary matter, but might be the result of an underlying physical or mental condition which has not been resolved through informal support;
3. (c)the student’s academic performance or persistent behaviour is considered to be unacceptable and this is thought to be the result of an underlying problem which may mean he or she is not fit to study;
4. (d)serious concerns arise about the student’s fitness to sit examinations or other assessment.

Procedure for determining fitness to study

5. If staff within a student’s College or in any University institution have concerns regarding a student’s fitness to study they should normally first discuss them with the student’s Senior Tutor. The Senior Tutor is expected to try to resolve the matter under the College’s pastoral responsibilities and applicable processes and to ensure that an appropriate record of the handling of the matter within the College is made and retained.

6. If processes within a student’s College have not been successful in resolving satisfactorily concerns about the student’s fitness to study, for example, because of the severity of the problem and/or the student’s lack of engagement with efforts to respond to it, or exceptionally where it is not considered appropriate for the College’s processes to be pursued first, the case may be referred to a Fitness to Study Panel. Procedures will be initiated by the Registrary following a written referral setting out the grounds for concern about the student’s fitness to study:

1. (a)from the student’s Head of Faculty or Department,41 or Senior Tutor;
2. (b)from the University Advocate; or
3. (c)from the Council’s Standing Committee on Applications, Board of Graduate Studies, or Board of Examinations.

The Registrary may designate a deputy to act in her or his place in connection with this procedure, in which event any reference to the Registrary in this procedure shall be deemed to be a reference to such a deputy.

7. A Fitness to Study Panel shall comprise:

1. (a)a member of the Regent House who shall act as Chair;
2. (b)a Senior Tutor from a College other than that of the student concerned; and
3. (c)a medically qualified person.

8. Members of the Panel shall be appointed by the Registrary within 21 days of the receipt of a written referral under this procedure (or, in the case of a Panel being appointed to consider an application to resume study, within 21 days of the receipt of the application) from standing panels appointed by the University Council. No member of the Panel shall have any potential conflict of interest or previous involvement in the case. The Registrary shall also appoint a Secretary to the Panel.

9. In cases where a student’s condition or conduct gives rise to a need for immediate action, the student may be excluded from the University’s facilities and premises, or her or his access to such facilities and premises may be made subject to specified conditions, for periods of up to 21 days. The Registrary, in consultation with the student’s Senior Tutor and the Head of the student’s Faculty or Department, is empowered to make a determination under this provision in the first instance, with subsequent renewals and/or variations of the arrangements being determined by the Chair of the Panel appointed to consider the student’s case. Prior to determining whether arrangements should be renewed and/or varied, the Chair shall invite the student to make written representations and shall take into account any representations submitted by the student. The Chair shall have the discretion to revoke any exclusion under this Regulation.

10. The Panel will give preliminary consideration to any written referral made under this procedure to determine whether a prima facie case has been made to warrant further consideration under this procedure. If the Panel considers that there is no prima facie case it may decline to consider the case further, or may refer it for consideration under disciplinary or other procedures as it deems appropriate.

11. If any person has been or is liable to be prosecuted for an offence under the criminal law in respect of any conduct set out in a written referral under this procedure as giving cause for concern about a student’s fitness to study, or where such conduct warrants referral to an external agency, the Chair of a Fitness to Study Panel may stay all or part of the proceedings under this procedure for such period or periods as he or she may think fit.

12. The Chair will set a date for a formal meeting of the Fitness to Study Panel to hear the case, which date may be changed by the Chair if the circumstances require it.

13. The Secretary of the Panel shall give the student at least 14 days’ notice of the date of the meeting of the Fitness to Study Panel. The student will also be informed of the time, venue, and purpose of the hearing, and will be provided with any documents to be considered at the meeting. He or she will be invited to provide any documentation which he or she wishes the Panel to consider. The Secretary of the Panel will ensure that all parties have access to the same documents.

14. If the student is unable to attend the meeting, or declines to do so, the Panel may agree to proceed in the student’s absence.

15. The student may be accompanied and/or represented (including in her or his absence) at the meeting by a member of the Cambridge University Students Union or Graduate Union, a fellow student, her or his College Tutor or Senior Tutor, or other person approved by the Chair. A support worker may also accompany a disabled student. The student should notify the Secretary of the Panel at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting if he or she intends to attend the meeting and if he or she is to be accompanied and/or represented, and, if so, by whom. Where a student attends the meeting but is represented, the student may still be required to answer questions at the Chair’s discretion.

16. The purpose of the meeting will be to consider the evidence available and to reach an appropriate decision, action plan, or other outcome. The student’s Senior Tutor and Head of Faculty or Department (as appropriate) will be requested to provide relevant written evidence to the Panel, and may be requested to attend at the Chair’s discretion. The Panel may request other specialist opinion, including medical reports or reports from other specialist advisers, and may also request to see documents and records resulting from consideration of the student’s case by the student’s College under its procedures. The Panel may ask the student to attend a consultation with an expert but the Panel may proceed to consider the student’s fitness to study notwithstanding a refusal or failure by the student to attend a consultation as requested. Subject to the express provisions of this procedure, the Chair shall otherwise have the power to regulate the arrangements for the provision of documentation and other evidence, as well as the conduct of the meeting.

17. The Panel shall make such decisions in respect of a student’s fitness to study as it considers necessary and proportionate. These decisions may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following:

1. (a)to suspend the student temporarily from the University and to determine the minimum period after which the University will consider an application to resume study, and what conditions, if any, must be met before an application to resume study may be made;
2. (b)to deprive the student of University membership and exclude her or him permanently from the University;
3. (c)to provide that the student’s access to University facilities and premises shall be subject to specified conditions;
4. (d)to refer the case for consideration under the University’s disciplinary procedures;
5. (e)in the case of a medical or veterinary student, to refer the case for consideration under the University’s Fitness to Practise procedures;
6. (f)to agree that no further action be taken by the University; and/or
7. (g)to make such recommendations, including to the student’s College, and/or direct such actions, in respect of the student, as the Panel thinks fit.

For the purposes of candidature for an examination or competition, any terms during which a student is temporarily suspended by the Panel will be disregarded in reckoning her or his standing.

Where a Panel decides that a student’s access to University facilities and premises shall be subject to specified conditions, the Panel shall stipulate arrangements for monitoring the student’s compliance with those conditions and for dealing with any alleged breach of those conditions on the part of the student.

18. The Fitness to Study Panel may make a decision by a simple majority.

19. The student, the Senior Tutor of her or his College, and the Head of her or his Faculty or Department shall be notified in writing of the decision of the Panel, with reasons, within 14 days of the meeting of the Panel.

Return to study

20. A student who has been temporarily suspended from the University under this procedure may make an application addressed to the Registrary for permission to resume study after such period and subject to meeting such conditions as may have been determined under Regulation 17(a) above. The application to return will be considered at the discretion of the Registrary either by the same Panel who made the decision temporarily to suspend the student or by a differently constituted Panel whose members have been appointed in accordance with Regulations 7 and 8 above. The application shall be heard at a meeting of the Panel, the arrangements for which shall be managed in accordance with Regulations 12 to 16 above, save that, if, having reviewed the student’s application and any documentation submitted with it, the Panel agrees that the student may be permitted to resume study either unconditionally or subject to specified conditions to which the student consents in writing, the Panel may proceed without a meeting.

21. The Panel shall make such decisions in respect of a student’s fitness to return to study as it considers necessary and proportionate. These decisions may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following:

1. (a)to permit the student to resume study, subject (if the Panel considers it appropriate) to specified conditions, including in the case of a disabled student defining reasonable adjustments, as appropriate, to support the student in her or his study and examination;
2. (b)to refuse the application to resume study and to determine the minimum period after which the University will consider a further application to resume study, and what conditions, if any, must be met before such an application to resume study may be made;
3. (c)in the case of a medical or veterinary student, to refer the case for consideration under the University’s Fitness to Practise procedures;
4. (d)to deprive the student of University membership and exclude her or him permanently from the University; and/or
5. (e)to make such recommendations in respect of the student, including to the student’s College, as the Panel thinks fit.

Where a Panel has allowed a student to resume her or his studies, the Panel may, at the request of the student, allow a term of residence, put the student in standing for the purposes of examination, or agree such other academic arrangement as the Panel may think fit.

Where a Panel decides that a student’s resumption of studies shall be subject to specified conditions, the Panel shall stipulate arrangements for monitoring the student’s compliance with those conditions and for dealing with any alleged breach of those conditions on the part of the student.

Review of decision of the Fitness to Study Panel

22. A student may seek the review of a decision in relation to that student made by a Fitness to Study Panel.

23. A request for review shall be made in writing and sent to the Registrary within 21 days of written notification of the Panel’s decision (unless, in exceptional circumstances, the Registrary permits a longer period). The request for review shall specify the grounds for review which may be only one or more of the following:

1. (i)that there was material procedural irregularity in the consideration of the student’s case;
2. (ii)that there was bias or prejudice on the part of the Panel;
3. (iii)that the decision reached was perverse in that it was one which no reasonable Panel could have reached on the available evidence; and/or
4. (iv)that fresh material evidence is available, which was not available and/or presented for good reason at the time of the original meeting.

The request for review of a Fitness to Study outcome should be accompanied by supporting documentation.

24. The Registrary will appoint a reviewer chosen from a panel of reviewers appointed by the Council. Exceptionally, a panel of three reviewers may be appointed. If so, references below to the reviewer shall be construed accordingly.

25. The reviewer will consider the request for review, the documentation available to the Panel, and (where appropriate) the procedure of the Panel.

26. The reviewer, at her or his discretion, may hold a hearing and regulate arrangements for the conduct of the hearing.

27. The reviewer will issue an adjudication in writing as soon as possible, which shall normally be within one month of the receipt of the request for review or (if a hearing is held) within 14 days of the hearing. The reviewer shall have power to confirm, quash, or amend the decision of a Panel or refer it back to the same Panel or to a different constituted Panel (whose members shall be appointed in accordance with Regulations 7 and 8 above).

28. The reviewer’s adjudication is the final point of decision within the University.

29. A reviewer may summarily dismiss a request for review which seems to her or him to be vexatious or frivolous.