Procedure for UCAS applications flagged by the Similarity Detection Service

Introduction

All personal statements in UCAS applications are passed through the similarity detection software, Copycatch. This compares each personal statement against a library of personal statements previously submitted to UCAS, and a library of sample statements collected from websites and other sources. After it has been processed, each new personal statement is added to the library. Any personal statements showing a potential level of similarity of 30% or greater are reviewed by members of the UCAS Verification Team. Universities are notified where there are reasonable grounds to suspect plagiarism, and the percentage of similar sentences are given, along with information regarding the source of the similar sections.

The 天堂视频 Approach

We understand that, in some cases, Year 13 students may not be fully aware of the seriousness of plagiarism, and how important it is that their personal statement should be 100% their own work. We recognise prospective students are likely to compare statements with their peers, or receive help and advice from parents, schools and colleges, or may even look at templates of strong previous examples to help support their work. This may inadvertently lead to statements being picked up by the Similarity Detection Service. However, plagiarism is a serious matter within Higher Education, and we therefore wish to impress this seriousness upon all prospective students. We therefore adopt the following procedure.

Procedure

We are notified by UCAS that an application has been highlighted by the UCAS Similarity Detection Service. An applicant is also contacted by UCAS and made aware of the similarities.
We send an email to the applicant highlighting the seriousness of plagiarism in an academic context and, if the similarity is over 45%, we ask the applicant to submit a new Personal Statement to us.
The new Personal Statement is attached to the applicant's electronic application. Admissions Selectors will then take the revised Personal Statement into consideration as part of their review of the application.
If we are subsequently able to make an offer of a place, this decision will be processed in the typical way via UCAS.
If an applicant declines the opportunity to submit a revised Personal Statement, or does not reply to our original, or reminder emails, then the application will be made unsuccessful via UCAS.

 

For further information about similarity in personal statements please see the .

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Updated 1st November 2024