Here are some of our most Frequently Asked Questions about Fitness to Practice.  If you can’t see your question answered – or would like more specific advice on your personal situation – please don’t hesitate to contact us at the Advice service at UWTSD Students’ Union.  We’re independent of the University, and won’t discuss your case with them without your permission.

I’ve been told that on my programme I have to be ‘Fit to Practise’. What does this mean?

Most professional bodies make fitness to practise a requirement for registration to practise. The actual requirements for fitness to practise will vary from body to body. Higher education providers that run courses leading to professional qualifications must have in place procedures that ensure any concerns about a student’s fitness to practise are dealt with fairly, promptly and proportionately.
Fitness to practise is the ability to meet professional standards; it is about character, professional competence and health. The purpose of a Fitness to Practise process should not be to punish for wrongdoing. It is to ensure your safety and the safety of those around you, including members of the public, and to safeguard public confidence in the profession. The process should be supportive even when the outcome is that you can't continue with your studies.

What circumstances could lead to fitness to practise concerns?

• Unprofessional conduct – this could include bullying and harassment offences, repeated inappropriate behaviour or attitude, conviction of a criminal offence, academic misconduct, falsification of records, dishonesty, breaking confidentiality, failure to self-reflect.
• Health – this could include a physical and/or mental health issues that compromise your ability to comply with the professional requirements. Failure to seek help or engage with appropriate services in relation to health issues.

What should I say in my statement to the Fitness to Practise Panel?

What to include in your statement will depend on your individual circumstances and whether you are admitting or denying the allegations. As a general guide, it can be helpful to consider the following points:

1. Reflection. If your actions may have breached the rules and/or fallen short of the required standards, it is important to reflect on that. Explain your understanding of why fitness to practise is important and exactly how your conduct or health may be cause for concern. Have you potentially undermined public confidence in the profession? Have you posted something that if shared would bring the profession into disrepute? Why is it important for others to have confidence in you and the profession? If you can demonstrate that you fully understand the issue, you can show that you are taking the matter seriously and doing everything to make sure it does not happen again.
2. Apology. If you have breached rules, even if unintentionally, it is important to show remorse. Everyone makes mistakes, but being sorry shows the right attitude moving forward and can provide reassurance that this will not happen again.
3. Intent. Did you intend to breach the rules or cause concern? If you did intend your actions, it is best not to address this in your statement. If you had no intention, what happened?
4. Context. If there is some context to what happened that may help to explain your actions, be sure to include it but be careful with your tone. Do not try to excuse any breaches, but say that you would like to explain what was happening at the time to give some context to the allegations.
5. Mitigation. Are there any mitigating factors that, like context, may help to explain what happened or make it less serious? If, for example, you had reached out for help, or you had reported yourself for the concern at issue.
6. Extenuating Circumstances. Explain if anything was impacting you that may have affected your judgment/thinking. You need to be honest but careful with how you say what you say here. If something was happening that meant your judgment was impaired, that can itself be an issue if you did not show the appropriate insight at the time. If, for example, you were suffering with insomnia and made a mistake on the ward, you will need to address why you attended placement that day when you were not fit to do so.
7. Conclusion. Finish with an explanation of what you have done/are going to do to prevent this from happening again and how you feel about your course and profession. A final reiterated apology and demonstration of commitment to the profession can help to end your statement in the right tone.

I’m on a PGCE programme and I’ve been told I’m on ‘Cause for Concern’ – does this mean I’m going to face a Fitness to Practise investigation?

By the end of the programme, it is hoped that you will be on track to meet all professional standards in order to achieve QTS. In order to support those who may not reach this status by the end of the programme, you may be placed on ‘Cause for Concern’. This will usually be managed informally on the programme with closer intervention from the programme team. If there are concerns that cannot be adequately addressed, it could lead to a Fitness to Practise investigation, but in most cases it won’t need to progress to this stage.

What will the investigation look at?

Where the alleged breach of professional conduct is major, or where there are multiple, repeated or continued minor breaches of professional conduct, the University will proceed to a formal stage investigation.

The University will appoint a Case Officer to gather all information necessary to establish the facts in relation to Fitness to Practise concerns. You should read through the information that has been sent to you in conjunction with the Fitness to Practise Policy so that you understand what the allegation is and why it has been made. The Case Officer might ask to meet you to talk through the allegation – you can bring someone to this meeting (which could be an SU Adviser); contact us to discuss this further.

Depending on the details of your case, the University might also impose ‘precautionary measures’ (e.g. suspending your access to IT facilities or to part of campus). If you disagree with these ‘precautionary measures’, you have up to 10 days to challenge these by applying for a Review of Outcome. We can also advise on this.

You will be given the opportunity to respond to evidence, and to present any mitigating circumstances or factors that you believe should be considered in relation to the alleged concern.

The entire investigation is normally concluded within 40 days of the alleged breach. It is possible the investigation may conclude that there is no case to answer, in which case the allegation will be dropped. Alternatively, the case may be referred to a Formal Panel; this should be communicated to you within seven days of the completion of the investigation.

I’ve been asked to stop attending placement with immediate effect – is this allowed?

Yes, the University can exclude you from an immediate element of a module or placement following an alleged breach of professional conduct. The University has a duty of care for the safety of its students, staff and those whom you may have contact with on placement. The University and placement provider must be satisfied that it is safe and appropriate for you to return. It’s important to comply with the conditions of the investigation, even if you disagree with them – breaching these conditions (e.g. trying to go back to placement) will count against you.

What will happen at Panel and how should I prepare?

In the investigation, the Case Officer will try to determine what exactly happened, and whether there was actually a breach of professional standards on ‘balance of probabilities’. If the Case Officer isn’t able to determine this, the Panel will also want to decide on this. If it’s been established that the breach of professional standards happened, then they’ll want to know about your reflection on it.

University is a learning environment, but the Panel will want to know that you understand why the breach is being taken seriously and that you are committed to ensuring it will not happen again.

In relation to the process of the Panel, the Case Officer will present the case, and the Panel will ask them questions. Next, you’ll have an opportunity to put your case and give your statement. The Panel will also have questions for you.

If personal circumstances have impacted on your studies / decision making abilities at the time, you should gather supporting evidence to present to the Panel. Remember that you need to consider that as a professional, recognizing how personal circumstances may impact on your performance is important.

The Advice Service can support you with preparing a statement and talk you through questions that the may be raised. You can request to be accompanied by a friend or member of SU staff for support, but this person wouldn’t usually speak at Panel.

If you have a legitimate reason that means you will be unable to attend on the proposed date, you should notify the University as a matter of priority to request the Hearing be rearranged to another date. Bear in mind that the University reserves the right to proceed with any investigative meeting, in your absence, so long as you been properly notified of the date and time of the hearing.

You’ll usually be informed of the outcome verbally the same day and receive the outcome in writing within a week.

Will I still graduate on time?

Delays to placements or other University-related activities may occur as a result of a case being referred to Fitness to Practise Procedures. It is possible that you may be required to repeat a placement, and as such this could result in your graduation being delayed. If you are claiming Student Finance, we would strongly encourage you to check your student finance position with the Money Support team. If you are an international student, you should check financial implications with International Registry, as well as visa implications.

I’m unhappy with the outcome of the formal stage. Can I request a review?

You can request a review, but bear in mind that you will need to meet one or more of the following grounds:

• 18.2.1. “irregularities in the conduct of the Fitness to Practise procedure, which are of such a nature as to cause reasonable doubt whether the same decision would have been reached had they not occurred” – You can apply for a Review of Outcome if the procedure followed by the investigating Case Officer was incorrect, and this might have resulted in them reaching the wrong decision.
• 18.2.2. “the existence of new material evidence which the student was unable, for compelling reasons, to provide earlier in the process” – You can apply for a Review of Outcome if there is new evidence that you can provide towards your case. However, to ask for a Review of Outcome on these 'grounds', you have to show that there's a good reason why you couldn't have provided this evidence in the first place.
• 18.2.3. “that evidence is available to show that the outcome reached at an earlier stage was unreasonable. In this context, unreasonable shall be taken to mean that the outcome was not a possible conclusion which a similar hearing or process of consideration might have reached” – You can apply for a Review of Outcome if the Case Officer's decision is unreasonable, given the facts of your case.

To request a Review of Outcome, you’ll need to complete the SC11 Review of Outcome Form (which you can find here) and send it to the Academic Office – aocases@uwtsd.ac.uk.

A request for review of the outcome must be received on the required form not later than 14 days after the notification of the outcome.

There is one more option if your Review of Outcome is also rejected, or if you can't meet the 'grounds' for Review of Outcome but still believe that you've been treated unfairly. This is to submit a Complaint to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, which is a national body that can investigate English and Welsh universities. You have up to 12 months to do this from your case closing at UWTSD. To do this, you'll need to request a 'Completion of Procedures' letter from the University, and follow the instructions here. Again, the Students' Union can help you with this part of the process, so please contact us for further support and guidance.