Contact our specialist education law solicitors today to see how we can help you. Speak to one of our team on 01633 240743 or click Contact us to send us an email and one of our lawyers will call you back at a time to suit you.

Watkins & Gunn’s university solicitors are committed to advise, assist and represent students who are up against allegations from their university. Our fitness to practise solicitors are dedicated to assisting students on professional courses who are facing serious allegations that may jeopardise your future career prospects and landing your dream job.

If you are enrolled on a professional course, the term ‘fitness to practise’ relates to a student’s ability to meet the required professional standards. A professional body may require certain skills, knowledge and character to ensure that a student is in fact fit to practise in that profession. Universities will have professional obligations to ensure that students meet these requirements and also to ensure that students do not breach the professional standards.

There are a number of ways in which a student may be found in breach of a university’s code of conduct or regulations. A breach of these codes or regulations can result in disciplinary action and the sanctions will depend on the respective disciplinary procedures.

However, if a student is undertaking a professional qualification (e.g. Medicine, Law, Dentistry), they may also be accused of acting in a way that is contrary to the applicable professional codes – in other words, whether this conduct deems you ‘fit to practise’. If you are facing allegations of a breach of the professional standards, you may be subject to a detailed investigations which could result in being unable to practise in your dream job.

Unlike a standard non-academic misconduct case, if a student is in breach of the professional codes, it can result in you being excluded from the course and deemed unfit to practise.

Our university solicitors therefore appreciate that any responses or appeals need to be robust to ensure that you can get back on track with your studies to obtain your dream job.

If you are found to be unfit to practise, then there will usually be a right to appeal or request a review this decision. The grounds of appeal or review will be determined by the university’s own internal rules, so it is important to seek advice from one of our higher education law solicitors to advise you whether there are potential grounds to challenge the outcome.

University law and higher education law can be complex and these proceedings may result in you being unable to practise in your dream profession. Our dedicated education law team can help you in providing impartial advice, robust responses and attend hearings where permitted.

Please contact us on 01633 240743 or by e-mail [email protected] to discuss how our university law solicitors can help you.

We offer an initial free consultation during which we will explain (a) how we can help and (b) provide an estimate of costs.