Declaration of expulsions and criminal convictions
The University of Surrey is a diverse and inclusive community of staff and students. On this page you will find further information regarding the declaration of Expulsions and Criminal Conviction(s) by applicants and students. Any capitalised terms used are defined at the bottom of this page.
Further information can also be found in the Procedure for Expulsions and Criminal Convictions (PDF).
Applicants
If you have previously been Expelled from an Educational Institution or have a Criminal Conviction(s) you will only be asked to declare this at the point of application when applying to certain programmes which we consider to be Regulated Courses. We will require information for both Spent and Unspent convictions for these programmes. Programmes that have placements based within the National Health Service (NHS) will require a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
The majority of programmes at the University are considered Non-Regulated Courses. We will only ask applicants to declare Expulsions or Relevant Criminal Convictions(s) once an offer has been received and upon acceptance of this place.
For both Regulated Courses and Non-Regulated Courses, applicants should not declare convictions, cautions, warnings or reprimands which are deemed 'protected' under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013). A conviction or caution can become ‘protected’ as a result of a filtering process. Guidance and criteria on the filtering of convictions and cautions can be found on the Disclosure and Barring Service website.
As part of the registration stage of admittance, you will be asked to confirm whether you have been Expelled by an Educational Institution and your Criminal Conviction status.
The University encourages and welcomes early disclosure of Expulsions and any Relevant Criminal Conviction(s) at any stage of the application process. Enquiries should be directed to headofadmissions@surrey.ac.uk.
Students
Once registered, all students are required to disclose Expulsions and any new Relevant Criminal Conviction(s) on an ongoing basis and as soon as an Expulsion or Relevant Criminal Conviction(s) is confirmed. Students should disclose any new Expulsions or Relevant Criminal Conviction(s) in writing by contacting the Office of Student Complaints, Appeals and Regulation (OSCAR) and are advised to seek advice before doing so.
Students will also be required to make an annual disclosure at re-registration.
Key definitions
Criminal Conviction(s)
Any conviction, caution (including youth caution, verbal or written caution, conditional or unconditional caution), conditional discharge, youth rehabilitation order, warning, reprimand, bind over order, community order, community protection notice (CPN), restraining order, sexual offences prevention order, penalty notices for disorder (PND), anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) or violent offender order (VOO), or similar in the UK or any other jurisdiction.
Non-Regulated Courses
Any programme of study (including undergraduate, postgraduate and research programmes) which is not a Regulated Course.
Regulated Courses
Any programme of study (including undergraduate, postgraduate and research programmes) relating to and/or involving:
- Teaching
- Social work
- Work with children and/or vulnerable adults
- Some health care (including but not limited to all health science programmes) and veterinary programmes where these are subject to professional or regulatory oversight.
Regulated courses are those subject to the requirements of a regulated or professional body. Students studying these courses are subject to the Regulations for Fitness to Practise.
Relevant Criminal Conviction(s)
For both Non-Regulated Courses and Regulated Courses, the individual should not declare convictions, cautions, warnings or reprimands which are deemed “protected” under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013). A conviction or caution can become “protected” as a result of a filtering process. Guidance and criteria on the filtering of convictions and cautions can be found on the Disclosure and Barring Service website. Any such “protected” convictions or cautions shall not be deemed Relevant Criminal Conviction(s) for the purposes of this policy.
Non-Regulated Courses: any Criminal Conviction(s) for any offence concerning one or more of the following:
- Offences against the person or another offence concerning any kind of violence including (but not limited to) threatening behaviour, offences concerning the intention to harm or offences which resulted in actual bodily harm
- Sexual offences, including those listed in the Sexual Offences Act 2003
- The unlawful supply of controlled drugs or substances where the criminal conviction(s) concerns commercial drug dealing or trafficking (drug offences only involving possession are not relevant criminal conviction(s))
- Offences involving firearms
- Offences involving arson
- Offences involving terrorism
- Offences involving slavery or people trafficking.
A conviction that is Spent is not a “Relevant Criminal Conviction(s)” in the context of Non-Regulated Courses.
Regulated Courses: any Criminal Conviction(s), whether Spent or Unspent.
Spent
Any Criminal Conviction(s) that has become spent after a rehabilitation period as provided for under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Please note that Criminal Conviction(s) in respect of whether there is or was a custodial sentence of more than four years can never become Spent.
Un-spent
Any criminal conviction(s) that has not yet become Spent.
Expulsion / Expelled
Being required to leave an Educational Institution that provides secondary, further, or higher education because of a finding of misconduct. The institution can be based anywhere and is not restricted to those within the United Kingdom.
Educational Institution
An institution that provides secondary, further, or higher education as its main purpose, such as a school, college, university or training centre.