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Original poster

DS has been an idiot - plagiarism. What is the likely outcome?

60 replies

fumps · 28/11/2013 20:40

DS's coursework for an A'level standard qualification has been sent back to the school because he plagiarised work from another student in one of the modules.

He has 'fessed up to copying from a memory stick given to him by the other pupil (who is also in trouble for handing over his work), and his school has to submit a report to the examining board.

It was an incredibly stupid thing to do, and looking at the exam board website, he risks a range of penalties which go as far as not letting him sit any more exams.

He's predicted AAB in the 3 other subjects at A2 and in his defence was suffering a range of legitimate pressures at the time including his own long-standing disability, recovering from another short-term but serious illness and bereavement - he looked for a shortcut to get the coursework done rather than talk to his teachers or even us, his parents, about relieving the pressure.

I hope the school will reflect that in their report - they know he's been depressed and is having treatment - but does anyone here (especially anyone working for an examining body) have idea what the likely penalty might be in reality?

The plagiarised work represents a section of about a sixth of the overall qualification. My hope is that he will be awarded 0 for that section and be allowed to re-do it, but that might be over-optimistic.

The only positive is that he has learned this lesson now, not at university or A2 (if he can now get that far).

OP posts:
joanofarchitrave · 29/11/2013 21:10

With any luck he has worked out that trying a 'shortcut' to relieve his stress has just made his stress and depression much worse. It's not encouraging that his reaction to difficult times was to cheat, but he isn't the first and won't be the last.

I have to say, for HIM to go and talk to people to find out what the effects might be, would be some evidence that he was taking responsibility for this.

NorthernLurker · 29/11/2013 20:55

I'm sorry for this difficult situation OP and I hope your son recovers from his depression quickly but you're doing nobody any favours saying this doesn't reflect well on the school. It isn't their job to save your son from himself. He cheated. He shouldn't have. This is really between him and the board and you shouldn't blame the school at all.
It's good he's learning this now. If you get caught for this at university they generally chuck you off the course. Hopefully he will never make this mistake again. Can he do anything to support the person who lent him the work? Did he ask them to do so? If so he should fess that up too. May relieve the pressure on them a bit.

Original poster
fumps · 29/11/2013 20:47

If he doesn't get the qualification at all, it's not the end of the world - he should still have 3 other good A'levels as long as they don't impose the ultimate sanction of refusing him the chance to sit all other exams with that board.

Any idea how long the board will take to decide?

It's his fault - he knows that, although the school should also have checked the coursework, so it doesn't reflect well on them. They're allocated different tutor mentors who work with them for this qualification and it doesn't sound like there's a system to cross-check.

He's a lot more rational and resigned to it today - a hard lesson to learn, but it needs to be kept in perspective.

OP posts:
sassytheFIRST · 29/11/2013 20:12

crazymum - it WILL have been checked, in detail; read and marked. However, can you remember every piece of text, every bit of data etc that you saw a year ago, so much so that you would recognise it if you saw it again? doubtful.

OP - this is v serious. We had a student caught plagarising at GCSE least year (by the exam board); she scored zero for her coursework and ended up with an E (B/C grade student) as it all rested on her exam performance minus the deducted percentage. Sorry I can't be more positive.

Vivacia · 29/11/2013 20:06

Coursework is supposed to be checked by the teachers before it is sent to the exam board so I would be asking wondering why the school hadn't noticed beforehand.

Just fantastic.

Original poster
fumps · 29/11/2013 10:24

Thanks both. I wonder how quickly the exam board will respond ? He needs to know the outcome before submitting his Ucas form.

OP posts:
crazymum53 · 29/11/2013 09:56

Coursework is supposed to be checked by the teachers before it is sent to the exam board so I would be asking wondering why the school hadn't noticed beforehand.
Being barred from exams is usually the sanction for cheating in exams so he should still be able to take these in the Summer.
His coursework grade will either be set to zero or he will only receive credit for the parts of his work that are actually his!

Mogz · 28/11/2013 23:24

Hopefully If he can see where he went wrong and, with help from you/school/therapist, put a plan in place to get back on track with his schooling then he has a really good chance of it not holding him back too much health wise. I always found that having a solid plan in place for something that was bothering me made it easier to deal with, my therapist whilst I was at school was excellent at helping me come up with some rock solid plans for coping.

Original poster
fumps · 28/11/2013 22:16

Thanks. It won't be the end of the world if he is barred from that qualification, although a pity as most of the work was all his own and of a high standard.

My main concern is his depression - he is responding to treatment but this episode has come at a bad time and I don't want him to sink further when he seemed to be recovering.

OP posts:
Mogz · 28/11/2013 21:21

My only experience with this comes from a girl in my a level English class when we were at college. I'm unsure of the complete circumstances but know she copied a lot of an essay from a source on the Internet for coursework, was found out, given an automatic fail for that module and was subsequently disqualified from taking any more of the exams towards that a level.
As far as I know it did not affect her taking any of her other exams in other subjects.

I hope for your son's sake that he has learnt his lesson, and if he needs to make up any exam shortfalls he can do so during resits in the new year. I also hope he is making progress against his depression, best of luck to him.