Malpractice led to errors in college student awards

Fifty engineering students at North East Scotland College (NESCol) will have to retake part of their coursework after an audit found malpractice in the awarding of qualifications.

The audit was carried out following an issue with result verification and some coursework completed by students at its Aberdeen Altens Campus during the 2023/24 academic session.

The college said: "Errors in relation to the award of qualifications and certifications made to 50 students have been identified and reported by NESCol to the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA)."

Forty of the students affected are still studying at the college - 10 have since left.

The college said it had "stringent internal resulting and verification standards, which are subject to rigorous external scrutiny".

It added: "In this instance malpractice in relation to key elements of the management of these processes has been identified among a limited number of staff.

"A full internal investigation has been carried out and processes are being followed, in accordance with NESCol policies."

The college said it was supporting students on a one-to-one-basis to ensure recovery plans were put in place and "remedial work" could be carried out to satisfy the requirements for qualifications "at the earliest opportunity".

It said it was liaising with the SQA as well as affected students, and apologised for the disruption and impact experienced.

"NESCol is committed to rectifying these errors and supporting each individual to ensure they are not disadvantaged," it added.

It said a full internal investigation would be carried out and "it would not be appropriate to comment further on individual staffing matters".

A spokesperson for the SQA said: "The college has submitted the findings of its investigation, and SQA will review these in line with our existing malpractice procedures."