Hi, I’m looking for general advice on a university misconduct situation in the UK.
A student applied for a university hardship fund but used a third party to help complete the application due to time pressure and personal circumstances (family illness, financial stress, heavy workload).
The third party was introduced through someone trusted and claimed to help with applications. The student provided documents and allowed them to assist with submission, believing it was just administrative help.
It has now come to light that the documents submitted may have been altered or edited before submission. The student says they did not knowingly authorise any changes and did not intend to mislead the university, but they accept it was a serious mistake to allow someone else to handle the application and not check it.
There is evidence of communication with the third party (messages/payment), and the underlying financial hardship was real.
The university has opened a gross misconduct investigation and the course is pharmacy (so Fitness to Practise is also involved).
Questions:
In UK universities, how are cases like this usually treated?
How much weight is given to lack of intent vs responsibility for what was submitted?
How serious is this likely to be in a professional course like pharmacy?
Is suspension/expulsion common in cases like this, or are warnings/conditions more typical?
Not asking for legal advice, just general insight or experiences from people familiar with UK uni processes.