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Rejection from Uni to study due to convictions...advice needed


Rejection from Uni to study due to convictions...advice needed

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BT
BT
Supreme Being
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FC - I'm not disagreeing with you at all - far from it, but there is a big difference between getting educated & joining a club. I really struggle to think how the political parties can even talk about rehabilitation when you have someone being rejected from studying to improve their job prospects (which as any expert knows is a great way to stop re-offending whatever the offence). The only thing I'd suggest you look into, is if you are looking at a career in HR, what sort of CRB checks do they do for roles in the industry? Plenty of companies do the enhanced check even though the role has nothing to to with children/vulnerable adults or any of the other reasons a full check might be needed. So are you being rejected simply because of your conviction or is it because of the specific course?

If your offence was pretty much the lowest possible, your conviction should be spent relatively quickly so may have to accept that you're going to have to put it on hold another year until you're not requested to declare.

FC - why on earth would you need to declare any convictions when joining an adults club?
BT
BT
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I was going to say that a group who aren't prepared to at least discuss with you & accept you're moving on, are no great loss, but of course, that's a pretty naive statement given that probably most groups would take that attitude if they knew.
Going forwards, can you let them have a slightly different spelling of your name perhaps? It's a shame as support is given to many people who have committed offences - drink drivers are up there in terms of the damage to lives they can do, but society seems to support recovering alcoholics, drug addicts etc & even some violent offenders.
RemorseA
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Its unfair ....the dean of students need to give people the opportunity to move on
To err is human , to forgive is divine
DeterminedToSucceed
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RM - although of course you shouldn't pre-empt the outcome, I read that as really positive. Are they obligated to meet with you as part of their own policies? - if not, I'm doubly reassured. Be confident (but contrite)! Best of luck.
Bachman
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My advice for anyone wanting to go into higher education with convictions is to go down the open University route. I started my degree in custody and I am now undertaking my penultimate module for a BA in Business and Environment Management. The OU recognises that a small percentage of leaners will be people with convictions, They don't exclude people because of this and the only restrictions would be if your offence somehow made you a risk to the course you are undertaken (violent offender/sexual offender wanting to study social care).
RunningMan
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*UPDATE #4*
A new development: today I received an email from the Dean of the University Faculty. He is conducting the risk assessment along with an external staff member ('Mrs X') who is on the Senior Management Team of a local HE College. I was unaware my personal details and all correspondence had been passed on to this third party outside the University. I was also unaware of a meeting that took place between 'Mrs X', the Dean and my PPU Officer as part of this risk assessment. This is a positive development, however, as the PPU Officer is very supportive of my application and even agreed to act as a referee.

The Dean has now invited me to come in for a meeting. He writes, "Mrs [X] and I believe that we should offer you the opportunity to meet with us in order for us to finalise the assessment." I am not sure if this is good news or not. They do seem to be taking the process seriously, following their own written procedures and looking at the facts and evidence surrounding my case. An opportunity to meet with them and for them to see the 'real' me is a huge step in the right direction. I know it is not a guarantee of being offered a place but at least they are approaching this with an open mind. To be honest, though, I do not relish the thought of this meeting - is it going to be akin to a police interview/interrogation? - and wondered if anyone has been through a similar 'risk assessment meeting' and could offer some insight.

Whatever the outcome, it is a positive move on their part. I will let you all know how it goes.

RM
RunningMan
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Hello. I applied to a University to study an HR Course. I have unspent criminal convictions which I declared on my application. Last week I received a short email from them saying that because my offence was 'serious', I was barred. Without going into detail here, my offence was an entry level sexual offence (as defined by the Sentencing Guidelines used by Magistrates). I do not minimise my choices and I recognise that those choices have consequences. Yet, I am defined as being a 'low risk' by Probation, I have the full support of my PPU Officer (he was willing to act as a referee), when the Uni rang him he was able to give a positive report, I have been removed from the DBS Barred Lists as they too do not regard me as a risk and I have been working hard to move forward after some catastrophic mistakes. This is a part time, post grad course so it will be with 18+ students only and I will not be in Halls of Residence.

I have checked online and found some useful guidance from Supporting Professionalism in Admissions (thanks to Unlock for the link) as well as the Uni's own Admissions' Policy. It looks like there might be a possible appeal but is it worth it? I would be interested to hear any advice/feedback from other members, especially if you have had the same experience and succeeded in your appeal.
RunningMan
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*UPDATE #2*
A very quick message to let you all know that I sent in my appeal to the University's Vice-Chancellor today. I will keep you all posted and many thanks to those who have left feedback. Thanks also to Deb S from the Unlock Team for the helpful advice and for proof reading the appeal before I sent it.

It's out of my hands now so watch this space and I'll let you know what happens as soon as I do!
RunningMan
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*UPDATE #3*
Today I received a brief letter from the Vice Chancellor which states, "I have asked the University's Secretary and Registrar to reconsider your case after carrying out a full risk assessment." This is a step in the right direction and I should have a final decision from them in January 2016.

Happy Christmas to you all.

RM
RunningMan
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*UPDATE #1*
Following people's helpful feedback on this Forum and my own feeling that it was the right thing to do, I appealed the decision to bar me from the University's HR Course. After several weeks of delay as well as a couple of phone calls to University Staff from me, I received an email from their Dean of Students today which stated,

"The decision reached [to bar from me from the Course] took into account the University Code of Conduct and Sanctions and Penalties ... for existing students, although at this time you were not enrolled at the University. The penalty for such an offence would have been immediate and permanent exclusion from the University, the time of the offence and conviction were also taken into account. I have investigated your request for a review and ... I have to consider the student community as a whole. The offence that you have committed is so serious that the University policies and regulations stipulate that expulsion is the penalty for our current students."

I do have an option to appeal to a senior Staff member which I plan to do. Any more helpful advice or thoughts most welcome!
GO


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