University College Plymouth St Mark & St John

When completing your application (UCAS, GTTR or direct to the University College) you will be asked to indicate if you have a relevant criminal conviction that is not spent.

A relevant criminal conviction is a conviction for offences:

• Against the person (whether of a violent or sexual nature)
• Involving unlawfully supplying controlled drugs or substances (where the conviction concerns commercial drug dealing or trafficking)

Convictions that are spent (as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974) are not considered to be relevant and you should not reveal them.  If you have a relevant, unspent criminal conviction, you must indicate this. Please click here for our Policy on the Recruitment of Ex-Offenders.

However, some courses (click here for the inclusive list) are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and different rules apply with regard to criminal convictions.  For these courses:

• The University College will require you to apply for a criminal record check (details of how to apply will be sent to you)
• The information revealed by the criminal record check will include unspent and spent convictions, cautions (including verbal cautions), reprimands, final warnings and bind-over orders, irrespective of when these occurred.  This means that if you have a criminal conviction as listed, spent or unspent, this information will be made known to the University College as part of the criminal record check 
• If the criminal record check reveals that you have had a conviction, caution, reprimand, final warning or bind-over, the University College will need to assess your fitness to practice in the profession/course you are applying for
• If you are convicted of a relevant criminal offence after you have applied for or started the course, you must inform the University College

In all cases where you have indicated on an application that you have an unspent conviction or the information has been revealed on a criminal record check, the University College reserves the right to request additional information from you in order to establish the details of your situation and to access your suitability to study on your chosen course.

All information provided or revealed will be treated as strictly confidential and disclosed only to authorised personnel involved in the assessment process.  In the case of a decision not to admit you to the course, all correspondence will be destroyed 7 years after the date of the decision.  In all cases, the Compliance Officer will keep a confidential file note for seven years.  This will record the decision made about your admissions and that it was made in accordance with the University College’s Compliance Policy.