Requesting an investigation

The Code of Student Conduct provides information about behaviour by students that the University may regard as ‘misconduct’. This includes sexual misconduct, harassment, bullying, discrimination, or offensive, violent or threatening behaviour, including behaviour on social media. Further information can be found in section 13 of the Code. The Code also sets out the process the University will follow in investigating and taking disciplinary action in relation to allegations of student misconduct.

If student misconduct is investigated under the Code, a Conduct Investigator is appointed. This person is normally a member of staff in Academic Services who has received training in conducting conduct investigations. This person will investigate the alleged misconduct, and come to a conclusion about whether the alleged misconduct took place, and whether it constitutes a breach of the Code.

If the Conduct Investigator finds that the student has breached the Code of Student Conduct, depending on the nature or gravity of a case, they will refer the case to a Student Discipline Officer or to the Student Discipline Committee.

If the case is referred to a Student Discipline Officer, the Student Discipline Officer will make a decision about whether to impose a penalty and, if so, what that penalty should be.

The Student Discipline Committee comes to its own decision about whether or not the allegation of misconduct should be upheld. If it is upheld, the Student Discipline Committee will make a decision about whether to impose a penalty and, if so, what that penalty should be. The Student Discipline Committee can impose a wider range of penalties than a Student Discipline Officer, including permanent exclusion from the University.

Before any decision is made about penalties, the student who is being investigated will have an opportunity to tell the Student Discipline Officer or Student Discipline Committee about any relevant mitigating or extenuating circumstances.

If either the Conduct Investigator or the Student Discipline Committee find that the allegation should not be upheld, they will dismiss the case and no further action will be taken.

How long does the conduct process take?

Student conduct investigations can take some time. You should expect an investigation to take up to 8 weeks from the point at which the investigation formally starts. If a case is referred to a Student Discipline Committee, it typically may then take another 4 weeks before the case is completed, so 12 weeks in total.

Cases can take longer than 12 weeks to complete, particularly if there is a lot of evidence to consider or a large number of witnesses to contact.

Please see the sections below for more detailed information on the conduct process.

• The University is committed to dealing with student disciplinary issues in a proportionate and transparent way, and with sensitivity and objectivity.
• All parties will be treated fairly, consistently and with respect.
• You will be given information about the conduct process at the beginning, and will be given an opportunity to confirm that you want to take part in an investigation.
• You will be signposted to appropriate support within the University throughout the process.
• If urgent and necessary, and based on a risk assessment, precautionary action may be taken to reduce any risks to you during the process (see section ‘What if I don’t feel safe during the conduct process?’ below for more information).
• You will be kept informed of the status of your case.
• You will have the right to be accompanied by a supporter from the University community at any interviews or meetings during the process, including any hearing of the Student Discipline Committee. With the agreement of the Committee Convener, you can be accompanied by a specialist provider of health and wellbeing support who is not a member of the University community. The Committee secretary will provide you with information about this in advance of any Committee hearing.
• You will have the right to see the notes of any conduct investigation interview with you, and to comment on whether or not the notes are an accurate record in your view.
• As far as possible, you will not be asked to repeat the details of your complaint more than once within the investigation. If it is necessary to interview you more than once, the interviewer will focus on specific areas where more information is sought, and will try to avoid asking you to repeat the full details of your complaint.
• In almost all cases, you will be told whether or not your complaint has been upheld. If your complaint is not upheld, you will be provided with reasons for this as far as reasonably possible, but the information that can be shared with you is likely to be limited. If your complaint is upheld, you also may, in certain circumstances, be given some information about any penalties that are imposed on the person who has been investigated. The University may only provide information to you if it (i) has taken into account and balanced the interests of you, the person who has been investigated, and any witnesses; and (ii) has complied with relevant legislation.

Information you share during the process will be treated as confidential as far as possible.

Information may be shared with staff involved in the student conduct process, for example Student Discipline Officers, or the Student Discipline Committee.

In order to carry out a fair and full investigation, the Conduct Investigator is likely to need to share information you provide about what has happened with the person who is being investigated. They may also need to share some information with witnesses, in order to gather evidence from witnesses.

All parties in the investigation will be asked to keep information they receive during an investigation confidential, unless they need to share information for the purposes of seeking advice and support.

If the Conduct team have serious concerns about your safety or wellbeing, they may contact your School Student Advisor, Student Support Team, or Graduate School, or to the Equally Safe Team if your report involves gender based violence, to ask them to check in with you.

University Student support model

The Equally Safe Team website and contact information

Please also see the section below on ‘What if I am reporting misconduct that may be a crime?’

The Students’ Association Advice Place can support you throughout the conduct process. They are independent of the University and have professional caseworkers who are experienced in supporting students involved in the conduct process.

The Advice Place website and contact information

If you have experienced gender-based violence, the Equally Safe Team can support you throughout the conduct process.

The Equally Safe Team website and contact information

The Student Conduct Team in Academic Services can provide you with information about the conduct process, but they cannot provide individual advice or support in relation to your case.

There are several options. Students are encouraged to tell us what happened and request an investigation by completing a complaint form and sending it to complaints@ed.ac.uk.

The University Complaint Handling Procedure and complaint form

If you have difficulty completing a complaint form, the Support Services below, or your School Student Support Team or Graduate School, can help you in requesting an investigation. They can support you in completing a complaint form or writing a statement, and they can contact the Student Conduct team in Academic Services on your behalf.

The Student Conduct Team can provide you with information about the conduct process, but they cannot help you to decide whether this is the right process for you, or provide individual advice or support in relation to your case.

The Advice Place can support you in requesting an investigation and advise you on the conduct process.

The Advice Place website and contact information

If you have experienced gender-based violence, the Equally Safe Team can support you in requesting an investigation.

The Equally Safe Team website and contact information

If you experience an issue in University accommodation, you can contact the Residence Life team. If the issue cannot be resolved locally, and following consultation with you, they may refer the issue forward for investigation under the Code.

Residence Life website and contact information

If you have experienced unacceptable behaviour in relation to an Edinburgh University Students’ Association society, office-holder or event, you can make a complaint to the Students’ Association. If the issue cannot be resolved locally, and following consultation with you, they may refer the issue forward for investigation under the Code.

Information about the Students’ Association’s complaints process

If you have experienced unacceptable behaviour in relation to an Edinburgh University Sports Union sports club or event, you can report this to the Sports Union. If the issue cannot be resolved locally, and following consultation with you, they may refer the issue forward for investigation under the Code.

Edinburgh University Sports Union Wellbeing and Reporting website

If you have experienced unacceptable behaviour in relation to facilities of the University Centre for Sport and Exercise, you can report this to the Centre for Sport and Exercise. If the issue cannot be resolved locally, and following consultation with you, they may refer the issue forward for investigation under the Code.

Centre for Sport and Exercise code of conduct

This will depend on the specific circumstances, but in general it is unlikely that you will be able to remain anonymous. The key principle is that the person who is being investigated requires enough information about the complaint against them to enable them to respond to the complaint. Often this means that they will need to know who has made the complaint against them.

You can discuss this with the Student Conduct team before making a decision about whether or not you want to request an investigation.

You can submit a complaint as part of a group, but how any investigation will be handled will depend on the specific circumstances of the complaint. If a complaint is submitted on behalf of a group, you should provide evidence that all of the members of the group have consented to having their information shared (for example by providing emails from them that confirm their consent).

You can discuss this with the Student Conduct team before making a decision about whether or not you want to request an investigation.

Yes, but how this will be handled will depend on the specific circumstances of the complaint.

You can discuss this with the Student Conduct team before making a decision about whether or not you want to request an investigation.

Allegations of misconduct that could constitute a crime can be investigated under the Code of Student Conduct. However, a University conduct process is an internal discipline process and is not the same as the criminal justice process. Therefore, no University conduct process can lead to a decision about whether or not a crime has been committed, and the University does not have the same powers of investigation as the police – for example, the University cannot require a person to hand over a mobile phone or laptop for examination.

There are support services who can help you decide whether you want to make a report to the police. You can find information about this here, in the section ‘Can I get help in making a report to the police, or help to decide if I want to make a report to the police?’ on the 'Advice and support' webpage:

Further information on advice and support available

If your report raises serious concerns about the safety or wellbeing of other people in the University community, it is possible that the University may have to make a report to the police. Such reporting to the police would be extremely rare and exceptional, and the decision to make a report would be made by the Deputy Secretary, Students. You would be consulted wherever possible before a decision is taken, and you will always be informed before a report to the police is made, except under exceptional and urgent circumstances.

If the issue you’re reporting becomes the subject of a criminal investigation, Police Scotland may ask the University to share information that it holds about the issue. Information will only be shared if there is a legally valid request and if compliant with data protection legislation.

The University won’t typically investigate at the same time as an ongoing police investigation. This is to avoid any conflict with the criminal investigation, and means that the University will usually wait until the police investigation is concluded before carrying out its own investigation.

If the University are likely to investigate after the police investigation has concluded, a precautionary suspension may still be put in place to reduce risks to you while the police investigation is ongoing. For further information on precautionary suspensions, please see the section below on ‘What if I don’t feel safe during an investigation?’

If a student is convicted of an offence that is directly relevant to issue that you have reported, the University can use the conviction as evidence in a University investigation. If the criminal process does not end in a conviction, it may still be possible for the University to take action under the Code of Student Conduct.

It is important to be aware that allegations of misconduct that could constitute a crime can be investigated under the Code of Student Conduct. However, a University conduct process is an internal discipline process and is not the same as the criminal justice process. Therefore, no University conduct process can lead to a decision about whether or not a crime has been committed.

Most requests do lead to investigations, but all requests for investigations are screened to check that it is appropriate to start an investigation under the Code. The University will start an investigation where:

The allegation is one which, if proven, could be regarded as a potential breach of the Code, and;

The information provided suggests that it is realistic that enough evidence will be available to determine whether or not the misconduct has occurred.

If the allegation cannot be investigated under the Code, you will be informed of this and you will be given reasons for the decision.

Sometimes you will be asked for more information about what has happened, before a screening decision can be made. You can provide this information in writing, or at a meeting with a member of the Student Conduct team.

Information that is likely to be required in order to make a screening decision includes the name of the person who would be investigated, and a reasonable level of detail about what the unacceptable behaviour was, and when (date and if possible time) and where it happened. If you are requesting an investigation into behaviour that happened over a period of time, please provide as much information as you can about specific incidents including dates and times.

The Student Conduct team and the Conduct Investigator cannot give you advice about what evidence you might submit.

If an investigation will go ahead following screening, the Student Conduct team will normally do a risk assessment to consider risks to you and to other students involved. If it is considered urgent and necessary, the University has the power to take immediate action such as prohibiting the student who is under investigation from contacting you, or restricting their access to parts or all of the University campus, and enforcing this by restricting their card swipe access. This is called a precautionary suspension.

However, the University cannot prevent students from being in public spaces.

Precautionary suspensions can be introduced, or updated, at any time during the conduct process. You can tell the Student Conduct team, or the Conduct Investigator, if you have concerns about your safety or wellbeing at any point.

You will be given as much information as reasonably possible about any precautionary suspension imposed on the student you have reported.

If you become aware that the other student is not obeying the precautionary suspension, please inform the Conduct Investigator as soon as possible.

Precautionary suspensions are not permanent, and will come to an end when the conduct process ends or if circumstances change during an investigation. You will be informed if a precautionary suspension you have been told about is lifted or changed.

You will be contacted by a Conduct Investigator. This person is normally a member of staff in Academic Services whose has received training in conducting conduct investigations.

The Conduct Investigator is independent in the process – they are not representing you or the student who is being investigated.

On occasion, Conduct Investigators who are external to the University may be appointed. The conduct process is the same whether the Conduct Investigator is a member of University staff or external to the University.

Interviews

The Conduct Investigator may invite you for an interview, to find out more about what has happened from your point of view. You have the right to ask a supporter from the University to accompany you at any interview, for example an Advice Place caseworker and member of the Equally Safe Team. You can also choose to provide information to the Conduct Investigator in writing.

The Conduct Investigator will try to avoid asking you to repeat the details of your complaint more than once. If it is necessary to ask you for further information, or to interview you again, the Conduct Investigator will tell you about the specific issues they want to discuss further, to try to avoid you having to repeat your story.

The Conduct Investigator will normally also interview the person that you have complained about, and any relevant witnesses.

In order to carry out a fair and full investigation, the Conduct Investigator is likely to need to share information you provide about what has happened with the person who is being investigated. They may also need to share some information with witnesses, in order to gather evidence from witnesses.

The Conduct Investigator may also share information with you that has been provided by the person being investigated, or by witnesses. The Conduct Investigator will do this if they judge it is important for you to have an opportunity to comment on this evidence.

Gathering evidence

The Conduct Investigator will ask you for any evidence that you think is relevant, and the names of any witnesses that you think may have relevant information.

Evidence that you might be able to provide includes email, text or social media messages, or medical evidence. 

It is not recommended that you try to gather statements or evidence from potential witnesses – the Conduct Investigator will do this. 

The Conduct Investigator does not have the same powers as the police to compel anyone to give them access to their email, social media or other digital data, and does not have the power to compel organisations to give access to CCTV in private or commercial premises. 

Coming to a decision

The Conduct Investigator has to come to an impartial decision, based on the evidence available, about whether the alleged misconduct occurred. They will make this decision based on the ‘balance of probabilities’ – this means they must make a judgement, based on the available evidence, whether the alleged misconduct is more or less likely to have occurred. In addition, they must decide whether the misconduct constitutes a breach of the Code of Student Conduct.

If the Conduct Investigator finds that there has been a breach of the Code of Student Conduct, they will refer the case to a Student Discipline Officer, or the Student Discipline Committee.

Conduct Investigation report

The Conduct Investigator will write a report of their investigation and their conclusions. This report will be shared with the student who is being investigated.

This report will not be shared with you, but you will be given as much information about the outcome of the investigation as is reasonably possible.

The reason the report is not shared is because this is considered to be primarily the confidential data of the person who has been investigated. It may also contain information that is confidential to witnesses. The person who is being investigated receives the report because they have a right to see any evidence that has been used to come to a decision about whether or not they have breached the Code of Student Conduct.

During the investigation, if the Conduct Investigator believes that they need to give you an opportunity to comment on any of the evidence in the case, including evidence from the person being investigated, they will share that evidence with you.

The Student Discipline Officer will receive a copy of the Conduct Investigation report. The Student Discipline Officer’s role is to decide what, if any, penalty should be imposed on the student who has breached the Code of Student Conduct. The Student Discipline Officer also has the option to refer the case to the Student Discipline Committee, if they judge that this would be more appropriate due to the nature or gravity of the case.

Student Discipline Officers are experienced staff in the University, and a list of current Student Discipline Officers  is below. The Student Discipline Officer will be someone who has not previously been involved in your case.

The Conduct Investigator, or a Student Discipline Officer, may decide to refer a case to the Student Discipline Committee. The decision to refer a case to the Student Discipline Committee is based on the nature and gravity of the case.

The Student Discipline Committee is made up of staff and students of the University. A full list of the Committee members can be found here: Student Discipline Committee

At a Committee hearing for a specific case, the hearing panel will be made up of 5 or 6 members of the Committee only.

All Committee members are required to treat information related to student conduct cases as strictly confidential. Prior to any Committee hearing, Committee members are asked to confirm that there is no conflict of interest in them hearing the case.

If your case is referred to the Student Discipline Committee, you will be contacted by the Committee secretary. They will give you detailed information about the next steps.

You can choose whether or not to attend a hearing to provide information to the Committee. If you decide to attend a hearing, you always have the right to be accompanied by a supporter from the University community.

If you choose to attend a hearing, you will not be able to attend the whole hearing, only the parts where you may make a statement and respond to any questions.

You will normally be asked questions by members of the Student Discipline Committee. You may also be asked questions by the person who is being investigated, via the Committee Convener, but please see the important information below.

If your case involves an allegation of sexual misconduct, you will be asked whether you want to be in the same room as the person who is being investigated during the hearing. If you do not want this, the person who is being investigated may be required to leave the room while you are present, or arrangements may be made for you to participate virtually. The person who is being investigated must be given an opportunity to comment on evidence you have provided, but the Committee Convener will not normally allow the person who is being investigated, or their representatives, to question you directly. The Convener must make this decision on a case-by-case basis, and you will be given information about the arrangements for you to take part in the hearing in advance.

The Student Discipline Committee will review all of the available evidence, including the conduct investigation report and any evidence presented during the hearing. They will come to their own decision about whether the allegation of misconduct should be upheld, and whether there has been a breach of the Code of Student Conduct. This means that the Student Discipline Committee have the power to dismiss the case at this stage, if they find that the available evidence does not support upholding the allegation. Like the Conduct Investigator, they will make this decision on the ‘balance of probabilities’: whether not something is more or less likely, based on the available evidence.

If the Student Discipline Committee upholds the allegation, they will make a decision on what penalty(s), if any, to impose.

In almost all cases, you will be told whether or not your complaint has been upheld. If your complaint is upheld, you also may, in certain circumstances, be given some information about any penalties that are imposed on the person who has been investigated. The University may only provide this information to you if it (i) has taken into account and balanced the interests of you, the person who has been investigated, and any witnesses; and (ii) has complied with relevant legislation.

Appeals

You cannot appeal the decisions of the Conduct Investigator, Student Discipline Officer or Student Discipline Committee under the Student Appeal Regulations.

The person who has been found to have breached the Code of Student Conduct does have a right to appeal this decision, or the decision to impose a penalty. However, they can only appeal on limited grounds. These are set out in the Student Appeal Regulations:

‘22. For conduct appeals, there are two grounds of appeal:

Ground A: Substantial information directly relevant to the investigation of a student discipline case which for good reason was not available to the Student Discipline Officer or Student Discipline Committee when their decision was taken.

Ground B: Alleged irregular procedure or improper conduct of an investigation and disciplinary action. This includes conduct of a meeting of the Student Discipline Committee.’

This means that a person cannot appeal simply because they disagree with the outcome of the conduct process.

Complaints

 If you are dissatisfied with the way the Code of Student Conduct procedure has been followed, you can make a complaint about this to the University.

Information about how to make a complaint

All of the support services below are available to you during and after the conduct process, regardless of the outcome of the process.

The Student Counselling Service can provide support through short-term counselling and referral to other services.

The Student Counselling Service

The Advice Place is independent of the University, and can offer ongoing advice and guidance to all students involved in the conduct process.

The Advice Place website and contact information

The Equally Safe Team can offer ongoing safety planning and support for those who have experienced gender-based violence.

The Equally Safe Team website and contact information

If you are living in University accommodation, the Residence Life team can offer ongoing practical and wellbeing support.

Residence Life website and contact information

The University Listening Service is run by the University Chaplaincy and is available to all students 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The Listening Service  

For more information on wellbeing services, including external services, visit the Student Health and Wellbeing website.

Health and wellbeing website