You can report inappropriate behaviour of students using the Reporting Misconduct Form. A member of OSCCA will be in contact with you within five working days to discuss the next steps.
Before making a report, it may be useful to know that:
- You will never be disadvantaged for raising a genuine complaint.
- You will be able to bring a supporter with you to any meetings.
- You will be informed of the outcome of your complaint and any resulting actions that have a direct impact on you.
- OSCCA does not use non-disclosure agreements for any cases relating to students or staff and you will therefore not be prevented from speaking about the incident/s you have reported. However, when any investigation is ongoing, we ask everyone involved not to discuss the matter with others, except from those who are providing support. This enables the investigator to gather accounts from individuals about what they remember about an event, rather than what they’ve told others or what others have told them.
You can find FAQs here.
Support for Students
There are a number of places where you can receive independent support and advice regarding University procedures and support for your wellbeing. Further information and links can be found here.
Informal action
The Informal Complaint Procedure for Student Misconduct can be used as a mechanism to limit interaction between you and the student(s) you have made a report about. Depending on the complexity and specifics of the case, this can take between one and two months.
No investigation will be conducted under this Procedure; this means that there will be no findings or decisions about whether the behaviour you have reported has taken place, and no formal record will be made on CamSIS or any other student record.
Possible outcomes include a conduct agreement which can: prevent the student/s from contacting or approaching you, prevent them from discussing you with their peers, or can require them to attending behaviour aware training or workshops. The student that you have reported has to agree to the outcome, any agreement will be facilitated by the University, you have no contact with the other student(s).
Formal action
The Student Disciplinary Procedure enables the University to consider whether a student or formally registered student has breached the University’s Rules of Behaviour, and impose proportionate sanctions where findings are made. Depending on the complexity and specifics of the case, this can take between three and six months.
A formal investigation of the behaviour will be conducted to determine whether or not, on the balance of probabilities, it has taken place and breaches the Rules of Behaviour. For a behaviour to meet the balance of probabilities standard of proof, it must be considered as more likely to be true than not true.
Where the University's Rules of Behaviour have been breached, sanctions can be imposed including no contact with specified people, restrictions on use of buildings, facilities or services, or for very serious matters, temporary or permanent exclusion.
An summary of the informal and formal reporting processes are available in a student flowchart.
Anonymous reporting
You can report inappropriate behaviour of students anonymously here. The University cannot take direct action as a result of anonymous reporting but will collate information you have provided and use it to help monitor the prevalence of incidents and understand the impact of initiatives run by the collegiate University and Students’ Union.
If you believe that a criminal offence has been committed then you can report the matter to the police. If the incident has taken place in Cambridge then you can find out more information from the Cambridge Constabulary. If you report a matter to the police, you can still report a matter to the University or College. The University can limit any interaction between you and the student(s) you have reported whilst any criminal investigation is ongoing, otherwise the University is likely to wait until the conclusion of any criminal proceedings before taking further action. Unless the University considers there to be an immediate and significant threat to you or other members of the community, it will never inform the police about a matter you have reported without your explicit consent.
The procedure for complaining about a student or fellow to a College is likely to be published on the relevant College website. You can seek advice from your Tutor or Senior Tutor, or from the Tutorial Office about how to make a complaint, or where the Senior Tutor is involved, the Master of the College.
With your consent, the University and College(s) may work together to decide how best to investigate a matter. Where the report relates to a student engaging in sexual misconduct you will normally be directed to use the University's procedures. For advice about which procedure to use, speak to your Tutor, the Harassment and Violence Support Service (HVSS) or OSCCA at OSCCA@admin.cam.ac.uk.