Expelled from a postgraduate course

playd0h

..

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1

amineamine2

14

Original post by playd0h

I graduated last summer, received a first class BSc and 3 medals since I was first in my class and being an exceptionally good student. I started a postgraduate course at the same uni. 2 months in I get arrested for storing alleged ingredients used in the manufacture of a class A drug in my student locker. The police searched my house etc did not find anything illegal and released me without pressing charges. I was told I'm being suspended pending the outcome of the police investigation.

However, they decided to charge me for breaking the fire safety rules eventually getting expelled which is ok with me.

What I'd like to know is whether other universities can look at my record for details of the misconduct. Or is that at the discretion of the person who writes me a reference?

What?! Is that a valid excuse to expel someone? Have you not considered legal action against the university?

Reply 2

Jespy

Nope, we've been warned about this by our uni, any misconduct that results in a suspension or expulsion will be visible to universities.

At least that's what they've told me!

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Reply 3

playd0h

OP

...

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 4

Darth Stewie

15

Pretty sure another university will only know what other people tell them and there aren't any records i know of that are shared which keep track of expulsions.

Reply 5

playd0h

OP

...

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 6

jimheru

The question really is, did you try and make the alleged drugs?

Just didn't get caught...?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 7

playd0h

OP

At that point in time and space I had not attempted anything.

Reply 8

SillyEddy

18

Original post by playd0h

Thats what my prof suggested but I'm broke so can't afford any legal representation.

I guess I should give up on trying to get on another course.

Tried speaking to the students' union? Usually they can help provide support for things like that and can help act on your behalf.

Original post by playd0h

What I'd like to know is whether other universities can look at my record for details of the misconduct. Or is that at the discretion of the person who writes me a reference?

There's no central or mandatory access to records etc. It would require someone from Uni B to request information from Uni A and Uni A to hand it over. In many cases no requests are ever made because of the DPA etc. However, asking for references is slightly different, if someone at Uni A is asked for a reference, they have a legal obligation to honesty in the context of giving a reference. In other words, if the reference writer thinks your disciplinary record is a material fact the next university should know, then they are legally obliged to pass on the facts. In most cases, a Referee would include disciplinary issues, especially in an employment context, but you already have an offer from a Referee who does not think it is relevant.

I suggest when asking for references, you ask very clearly about whether the Referee would mention the incident, and if they say yes, withdraw your request for a reference.

If you or a Referee is asked directly about any disciplinary incidents or reasons for leaving then you have to offer some version of the truth, or you potentially open a whole bigger can of worms.

In part you are at the mercy of the way the reference is asked for. Some reference requests are just 'We have offered John the job of X subject to references. Please could you confirm his suitability for the job?' which leaves the Referee open to be vague or miss out things. However, sometimes they are much more specific, and include things like 'Please mention any disciplinary issues, and comment on X's timekeeping, reliability and honesty'. If that's the case and your Referee doesn't mention or deny then a can of worms opens again.

Reply 10

evantej

18

Original post by playd0h

I graduated last summer, received a first class BSc and 3 medals since I was first in my class and being an exceptionally good student. I started a postgraduate course at the same uni. 2 months in I get arrested for storing alleged ingredients used in the manufacture of a class A drug in my student locker. The police searched my house etc did not find anything illegal and released me without pressing charges. I was told I'm being suspended pending the outcome of the police investigation.

However, they decided to charge me for breaking the fire safety rules eventually getting expelled which is ok with me.

What I'd like to know is whether other universities can look at my record for details of the misconduct. Or is that at the discretion of the person who writes me a reference?

Your expulsion is an internal matter so information about it will not leave the university. Having said that, threeportdrift is right to point out that you put yourself in an awkward position when it comes to references as there is a moral obligation on the part of your supervisor to disclose information. It is imperative that you get them on side.

I would personally fight the expulsion or, at the very least, try and get your money back. Yes, the university will have different rules to the police, but their basis for expulsion seems relatively trivial given the original grounds for suspension. The outcome of the police investigation found no evidence so that should be good enough for the university. As others have suggested, I would seek advice from your student union.

Reply 11

Klix88

17

Original post by playd0h

At that point in time and space I had not attempted anything.

An interesting turn of phrase. Were you planning to, or did you have the Class A drug ingredients for an innocent reason?

Unless you have a very plausible explanation other than "They can't prove I was going to", I wouldn't bother taking it any further. The Student Union is unlikely to be inclined to fight your corner without a much stronger indication of your innocence. It's not like the police found you innocent - they just failed to turn up enough evidence to prosecute you. It's not the same thing.

If you were actually planning to make Class A drugs (which I notice you haven't denied) then you're no particular loss to higher education.

Reply 12

jimheru

Original post by Klix88

An interesting turn of phrase. Were you planning to, or did you have the Class A drug ingredients for an innocent reason?

Unless you have a very plausible explanation other than "They can't prove I was going to", I wouldn't bother taking it any further. The Student Union is unlikely to be inclined to fight your corner without a much stronger indication of your innocence. It's not like the police found you innocent - they just failed to turn up enough evidence to prosecute you. It's not the same thing.

If you were actually planning to make Class A drugs (which I notice you haven't denied) then you're no particular loss to higher education.

Snap

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 13

evantej

18

Original post by Klix88

An interesting turn of phrase. Were you planning to, or did you have the Class A drug ingredients for an innocent reason?

Unless you have a very plausible explanation other than "They can't prove I was going to", I wouldn't bother taking it any further. The Student Union is unlikely to be inclined to fight your corner without a much stronger indication of your innocence. It's not like the police found you innocent - they just failed to turn up enough evidence to prosecute you. It's not the same thing.

If you were actually planning to make Class A drugs (which I notice you haven't denied) then you're no particular loss to higher education.

It is not the police's job to find people innocent so your advice is irrelevant, as is your moral condemnation. Choosing not to deny something does not make him guilty; he had nothing to answer for because the police did not chargehim with anything. The only people acting immorally here are the university themselves.

Reply 14

Klix88

17

Opening and searching a student's locker is taken very seriously - not just by the university, but by the Student Union. If the Student Union isn't already involved, then they've decided to stay out of it. There's a reason for that somewhere in the situation. The uni must have had very good reason to search in the first place. I wonder how they knew to search his locker?

Unless there's a decent reason to have the ingredients for a Class A drug, which the OP hasn't provided to us, the uni or the police, then we all have to draw our own conclusions. You choose to believe that he's a sweet innocent, which is lovely. I'm a sad auld cynic and choose to believe that he's just been saved the kicking of his life, which would have been dished out when the existing drug dealing community found out that a newbie is trespassing on their market share.

Reply 15

playd0h

OP

Yes I had the ingredients for completely different reasons. In fact it wasn't even the right set of ingredients to make drugs but they didn't care. I am extremely sorry for what I did but I don't think this would change anything.

Anyway I talked to my two referees and they said they would have to mention the expulsion (even tho they'd probably say it was very unfair). On the other side they told me I've been their best student to date and would write me excellent academic references. I don't know how this would combine with the fact that I've been expelled tho.

Reply 16

playd0h

OP

BTW they found the items in my locker by accident. Someone issued two keys to the same locker by mistake and the person who found them thought it was for making a bomb lol.

Reply 17

SuperSam_Fantastiche

16

Original post by playd0h

BTW they found the items in my locker by accident. Someone issued two keys to the same locker by mistake and the person who found them thought it was for making a bomb lol.