Purpose & Objectives

Providence English Private School (PEPS) is committed to promoting academic honesty and integrity in everything students do, from daily classwork to formal board examinations. This policy is directed towards all students and sets out what academic integrity means at PEPS, what counts as academic misconduct, and how the school responds when it occurs.

The objectives of this policy are to:

• Help students understand what academic integrity means and why it matters, both for their learning and their future;
• Set clear, consistent expectations for honest work across classwork, homework, coursework, and examinations;
• Ensure a fair, transparent, and consistent process for identifying, investigating, and responding to suspected misconduct;
• Protect the validity and credibility of the qualifications and assessments PEPS awards and administers;
• Support students in developing the skills to work and reference honestly, rather than relying solely on sanctions.

Scope

This policy applies to all students at PEPS, across all subjects and year groups, and covers all forms of assessed work: classwork, homework, coursework, internal assessments and tests, and internal and external/board examinations. Responsibility for implementing this policy rests with the school's Administration and Teachers, working together to uphold consistent standards across every classroom and assessment.

Legal & Regulatory Framework

This policy is written in accordance with the guidance and requirements of the Sharjah Private Education Authority (SPEA) and the UAE Ministry of Education (MOE), and reflects the malpractice and examination integrity regulations of Cambridge International, Pearson Edexcel, and Oxford AQA, which govern the conduct of PEPS's external board examinations.

Definitions

• Plagiarism: presenting another person's words, ideas, data, or work as one's own, without proper acknowledgement.
• Collusion: working with another person on an assignment intended to be completed individually, without permission, or allowing one's own work to be copied by another student.
• Fabrication: inventing or falsifying data, sources, or results.
• Contract cheating: having another person or service (including a parent, tutor, or online service) complete work on a student's behalf.
• Exam malpractice: any action that breaches the rules of an internal or external examination, including unauthorised materials, communication during an exam, or impersonation.
• Unauthorised use of AI: using an artificial intelligence tool to generate content submitted as a student's own work, where this has not been explicitly permitted by the teacher for that task.

Guiding Principles

• Academic integrity is the foundation of genuine learning; work that is not a student's own does not help them grow.
• Expectations are consistent across subjects, year groups, and forms of assessment, and are made clear to students and parents.
• The response to misconduct is proportionate, considering the student's age, intent, and history, and is applied consistently by Administration and Teachers.
• Prevention through teaching good academic habits — referencing, time management, and understanding what independent work means — is as important as enforcement.
• Students who are unsure whether something is permitted are encouraged to ask their teacher beforehand, rather than guess.

Academic Integrity Expectations for Students

All students are expected to:

• Submit only their own work for classwork, homework, coursework, and assessments, unless collaboration has been explicitly permitted;
• Acknowledge and reference the sources, ideas, and words of others accurately;
• Never copy from another student, allow their own work to be copied, or share answers during an assessment;
• Never use unauthorised materials, devices, or assistance during a test or examination;
• Use AI tools only where and how a teacher has explicitly permitted, and always disclose such use where required (see Section 8);
• Ask their teacher if they are ever unsure whether something is permitted, before submitting the work.

Coursework, Assignments & Homework

Coursework and take-home assignments are expected to represent a student's own independent effort and understanding. Where research is used, sources must be properly cited (see Section 12). Teachers make clear, at the point of setting a task, whether collaboration, parental help, or the use of specific tools or resources is permitted for that particular piece of work.

Use of AI Tools & Technology

Artificial intelligence tools can be a valuable part of modern learning, but their use must be transparent and teacher-sanctioned. For any given task:

• Students may use AI tools only where a teacher has explicitly stated this is permitted for that task;
• Where AI use is permitted, students must disclose how it was used (for example, for brainstorming, checking grammar, or explaining a concept) as instructed by the teacher;
• Submitting AI-generated content as a student's own original work, where this has not been permitted, is treated as a form of academic misconduct equivalent to contract cheating or plagiarism;
• This guidance is applied alongside the school's Digital Citizenship Policy and BYOD Policy, which govern the safe and appropriate use of technology more broadly.

Internal Assessments & Classroom Tests

During internal tests and classroom assessments, students must work independently unless told otherwise, follow all instructions given by the invigilating teacher, and refrain from accessing unauthorised notes, devices, or assistance. Any suspected misconduct during an internal assessment is addressed under Sections 14–16 of this policy.

External & Board Examinations

External and board examinations (Cambridge International, Pearson Edexcel, and Oxford AQA) are conducted in strict accordance with the relevant examination board's regulations, under the oversight of the Vice Principal (Examinations Officer), as set out in the Board Examinations Policies. Any suspected malpractice during a board examination is treated with the utmost seriousness, is reported to the relevant examination board in line with its own malpractice procedures, and may result in the loss of marks, disqualification from the paper or subject, or further sanction imposed directly by the examination board, in addition to any internal school sanction.

Group Work: Collaboration vs Collusion

PEPS values genuine collaborative learning, and many tasks are designed for group work. The key distinction is whether collaboration has been authorised by the teacher for that specific task: authorised group work is collaboration; working together on a task intended to be completed individually, without permission, is collusion and is treated as academic misconduct. Teachers make this distinction clear when setting any task involving more than one student.

Citing Sources & Avoiding Plagiarism

Students are taught age-appropriate referencing and citation skills so that they can use the ideas and words of others honestly and confidently. This includes:

• Using quotation marks and a citation for any directly quoted text;
• Paraphrasing in the student's own words and still citing the original source;
• Listing all sources used in a bibliography or reference list, in the format taught for the relevant subject or qualification;
• Understanding that copying and pasting text from the internet or a book without acknowledgement is plagiarism, even if only a portion of the work is copied.

Roles & Responsibilities

Administration

The Academic Head and Vice Principal (Examinations Officer) hold overall responsibility for the consistent implementation of this policy, oversee the investigation of serious or disputed cases, and ensure examination integrity requirements are met for all internal and external assessments.

Teachers

Teachers set clear expectations for each task, teach referencing and academic honesty skills as part of their subject, remain vigilant for signs of misconduct, and are the first point of contact for identifying and reporting a suspected concern.

Students

Are expected to uphold the standards set out in this policy and to ask for clarification whenever they are unsure what is permitted.

Parents

Are asked to support their child's independent effort at home, to avoid completing or heavily editing work on their child's behalf, and to engage constructively where a concern is raised.

Identifying & Reporting Suspected Misconduct

Any member of staff who suspects academic misconduct — whether through similarity in submitted work, a mismatch between a student's known ability and the standard of work submitted, or a witnessed incident during an assessment — reports it promptly to the relevant Head of Department or the Academic Head, using the form at Appendix B.

Investigation Process

Suspected misconduct is investigated fairly and without assumption of guilt. This typically involves:

• Speaking with the student(s) involved to understand what happened;
• Reviewing the work in question, and any comparison work, source material, or evidence available;
• Informing parents, proportionate to the seriousness of the concern;
• Reaching a conclusion and recording the outcome and any action taken.

Where the concern relates to an external board examination, the school follows the specific investigation and reporting procedure required by the relevant examination board, in addition to its own internal process.

Sanctions & Consequences

Where misconduct is confirmed, the school's response is proportionate to the severity, the student's age, and whether it is a first or repeated occurrence, and may include: a requirement to redo the work, a reduced or zero mark for the piece of work, a formal warning recorded on the student's file, parental meeting, or referral under the Behaviour & Discipline Policy for more serious or repeated cases.

Confirmed malpractice in an external board examination is reported to the relevant examination board and may additionally result in consequences determined by that board, which are outside the school's control. Illustrative examples are provided in Appendix A.

Prevention & Support

PEPS places significant emphasis on preventing academic misconduct through teaching, not just enforcing consequences after the fact. This includes embedding referencing and independent study skills across the curriculum, discussing academic integrity explicitly at the start of coursework and examination periods, and providing support for students who are struggling with time management or the demands of independent work, before this becomes a temptation to cut corners.

Appeals

A student or parent who disagrees with a finding or sanction under this policy may request a review by the Academic Head, and, where the matter remains unresolved, may raise it formally under the school's Complaints Policy. Appeals relating to an external board examination outcome follow the specific appeals process of the relevant examination board.

Monitoring & Policy Review

This policy is monitored by the Academic Head and Vice Principal (Examinations Officer) and reviewed periodically to ensure it remains aligned with SPEA, MOE, and examination board requirements, and reflects developments such as the growing use of AI tools in education.

Examples of Academic Misconduct & Typical Consequences

This appendix is illustrative and not exhaustive. Every situation is assessed on its own facts by the relevant teacher, Head of Department, and, where necessary, the Academic Head.

Academic Integrity Incident Reporting Form

To be completed by the member of staff identifying or receiving a report, and passed to the Head of Department / Academic Head.