Accused

In my first year of University, I had committed two plagiarism offences within the space of weeks, back to back assignments, the reason for the plagiarism was, I foolishly colluded with a friend and we completed the work for both assignments on the same day (I told him not to copy but it seems like he did) we were both subject to a meeting with the committee, for the first offence they did let me off as I admitted to collusion with the other student (we had our meetings on the same day with a gap of one hour between each other)The second time of the offence I was quite shocked because it was around 55% similarity compared to the first offence that had over 70% similarity, they did give me the usual talk and told me that since it was my second offence I'd be awarded a mark of Zero however I had to also resubmit an edited version and would be marked the resubmitted version would be be capped at a mark of 40 (I'm surprised they didn't fail me for the module) However I was told as a third offence in the first year, I would most likely be given a mark of 0 for the module as well as possibly being removed from the course altogether.

They did however show me possible outcomes if I had committed the offence in the 2nd and 3rd years, the committee would show little remorse and I would possibly have to pay a fine as well as removal from the course (not for the first offence but for the 2nd or 3rd, in the 3rd year of study) the first offence in the 3rd year wouldn't be too harsh in my opinion, however I would advise that you DO NOT LIE, especially since they have evidence of your plagiarism, it would make no sense, they could even fail you from the course if you do lie, so yeah, be truthful, tell them what had happened (if you were stressed at the time, if you had an illness, bring evidence of these mitigating circumstances and show them this)

Good luck and stay strong!

Many thanks for sharing your story, very appreciated !

May I ask in which uni were you in ?
When accused of plagiarism, did your professor DIRECTLY submit your paper to the plagiarism committee ? or did you have the chance to talk to him/her first ?

No problem at all, this was at the University of Huddersfield, when I was accused of Plagiarism I was given no chance to speak with the professor regarding the errors I made and therefore he/she submitted the paper directly to the Committee for review, I do wish I had the chance to speak with him/her first, however I was not given that leniency sadly.

Soon I will have the chance to speak to the professor, however I am not sure if he has already submitted the paper to the committee, because he said that the paper was with the external marker now. Do you know if the professor can submit the paper just after he has marked it, or he has to wait for both second and external markers ?

When you met the committee, did you just admit it ? did you also apologies or said anything else ?

From my knowledge, the professor compares the work you submitted directly to the student you have plagiarized from. They then add comments as to why he/she thinks this is plagiarized content along with a copy of the other students work for comparison to the committee. However if it has been given to the external marker, it's most likely that marker has provided the paper for review to the committee with the same evidence and an explanation as to why. However in your case they may have to wait for both markers to review it, though I do think the External marker has enough jurisdiction in this case.

I apologized for doing what I did and stressed that I would not operate with such foolishness in the future as it would reflect on my grades directly, make sure your apology is sincere and that you're serious because they will be reading out the penalties and will also ask if you accept that you plagiarized or if you deny it, they'll perform an investigation (I doubt they would need to since they have the evidence for everything)

All right, thanks for your time man, very appreciated ! I hope it goes well, I m literally shi**ing my pants