If the ACO believes the work is your own, the case will go no further and there will be no offence. For very small usage of AI, you may be given a warning without an offence.
If you are found to have committed an AI offence, they will decide whether it is a minor or major offence and the penalty will depend on whether you have a previous offence.
First offence (not including research degree thesis or published work):
Minor offence: You will need to submit an acceptable version. The final mark will be capped at the pass mark and cannot exceed the original mark, if given before the investigation.
Major offence: The issue of a written warning for academic misconduct plus a mark of zero for the assessment unit. If you have an assessment attempt remaining, you can take the resit and the module will be capped.
Second offence (not including research degree thesis or published work):
Minor offence: The issue of a written warning for academic misconduct plus a mark of zero for the assessment unit. If you have an assessment attempt remaining, you can take the resit and the module will be capped.
Major offence: The issue of a written warning for academic misconduct plus a mark of zero for the module. This means that all the assessment components for the module will be set to zero and if reassessment is allowed the student will have to take reassessment of all the module components again. For modules of 30 credits or more, where allocating a mark of zero for all assessment components would be disproportionate or it is not feasible to redo some of the assessment components (e.g. practicals), the Academic Conduct Officer will ask the Student Conduct Manager to consult with one of the Chairs of the Academic Misconduct Committee to decide on an appropriate penalty
Third offence, or if AI is suspected in your research degree thesis or published work:
You will be referred to the Academic Misconduct Committee. If the committee found you had used AI, the standard penalty is termination of studies with a bar on any future enrolment with the University, unless you have very strong Exceptional Circumstances.
Contract cheating
If the ACO believes that instead of using AI you may have committed the offence of contract cheating, where you got another person to write your work for you, you will be referred to the Academic Misconduct Committee. The standard penalty for contract cheating is withdrawal, unless you have very strong Exceptional Circumstances.