The HCPC does not make prescriptive standards relating to the processes an education provider must have in place to meet the SETs
Instead you will have developed your own procedures for handling misconduct which happens while a student is on a programme. These procedures are often separate from those which may look at concerns about academic performance. SET 3.16 states:
SET 3.16 There must be thorough and effective processes in place for ensuring the ongoing suitability of learners’ conduct, character and health.
When looking at misconduct, you may want to refer to the Standards of conduct, performance and ethics. You may also want to look at our Guidance on conduct and ethics for students, which explains how students are expected to mee the Standards of conduct, performance and ethics whilst learning. In addition, the Office of the Independent Adjudicator has produced comprehensive guidance around running student FTP processes.
Any decision you make about a student’s misconduct will not necessarily affect whether that person could join the Register once they complete their programme. The student would still need to go through our health and character process and provide any relevant information (including disclosing any misconduct while on their programme).
As an education provider, your role is to prepare students to meet their standards of proficiency when graduating. Where you have serious concerns about a student’s conduct or performance on your programme (and therefore their ability to meet the HCPC’s standards) we would expect you to remove such a students from that programme before they complete it.
If you remove a student from your programme because of misconduct, you should tell us. If we believe the misconduct is serious enough, we can keep the information and look at it if the person ever applies to us for registration in the future.
The standard and guidance apply to all areas of a programme which function to manage learner suitability, and within this it touches on formal processes to deal with concerns. The guidance is brief and signposts to other relevant documents, including the H&C guidance and the guidance on student conduct and ethics.