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Student Handbook

This document outlines the best practices and guidelines for students at Pupilfirst School. Please read and understand the following to benefit from an enriching learning experience.

Best Practices

Submit your original work, do not copy the work of others

Pupilfirst School's courses often use assignments as a learning tool, challenging you to grasp complex concepts through practical, real-world-like exercises. It's tempting to bypass these challenges by using other students' work.

Plagiarism is the act of using or copying someone else's work and presenting it as your own. At Pupilfirst, we emphasize the importance of submitting original work and enforce a strict, multi-layer review mechanism, including AI-based plagiarism detection, applicable across all courses (methods and tools may vary).

Examples of Actions Considered Plagiarism:

  • Submitting someone else's work as your own.
  • Altering another person's work and attempting to submit it as original.
  • Collaborating on individual assignments and submitting identical or near-identical work.
  • Using solutions from the web for your submissions.

Submissions flagged by our AI-enabled plagiarism detection tool undergo further review by coaches, teaching assistants, or school administrators to confirm plagiarism.

Consequences of Confirmed Plagiarism

If plagiarism is confirmed, the submission will be rejected, requiring resubmission for course progression. The incident will be recorded in the student's standing log (explained below) at Pupilfirst School. Students with a Disreputed standing will not receive a course completion certificate.

Note: If you believe your flagged submission is original, you may challenge the decision by completing a grievance form. The Grievance Redressal Team will review your case within 24–48 hours, and if you do not hear from us, you can email support@pupilfirst.org.

Maintain consistency in your learning and follow instructions carefully

All assignments include detailed instructions from industry-expert coaches. Follow these instructions closely, clarify doubts, and ensure your work is original before submission.

You are limited to submitting a maximum of two assignments at any given time. Additional submissions can be made only after the review queue for their existing submissions (max 2) has been cleared.

For example, if you currently have two submissions awaiting review, you must wait for these to be assessed before submitting any new assignments. So, we encourage regular learning activities for a smooth learning journey.

Community Engagement on Pupilfirst School Discord Server

Clarify your doubts and ask questions freely

If you encounter difficulties with course material or assignments, don't hesitate to ask questions in the Pupilfirst School Discord community. Industry experts and teaching assistants are available to assist.

Engage and contribute to a vibrant peer learning environment

Pupilfirst advocates a student-centered approach that promotes peer learning. Engage in knowledge sharing and assist others with course concepts. However, sharing your solutions or work with others is prohibited to maintain learning integrity.

Community Rules and Standards

To foster a positive and productive community experience, please:

  • Communicate Respectfully: Treat members courteously. Avoid offensive language and discriminatory remarks.
  • Offer Constructive Criticism: Focus feedback on coursework and ideas, not individuals.
  • Collaborate: Share insights and engage in discussions for collective learning.
  • Maintain a Plagiarism-Free Zone: Stay true to your learning journey.
  • Embrace Inclusivity and Diversity: Value different backgrounds and perspectives.
  • Assist Others: Positively contribute, especially to those new to the field.
  • Adhere to Platform Guidelines: Respect guidelines of platforms like GitHub and GitLab.

Important Note: Failure to meet academic or behavioral standards as per the Pupilfirst School's Code of Conduct affects your standing within the school.

Understanding Student Standing

Student standing at Pupilfirst School is based on adherence to the Code of Conduct. Each student starts with a Neutral standing, which changes based on academic and behavioral performance.

Violations lead to negative standing, while positive engagement and performance can elevate standing.

Illustration of possible standings at Pupilfirst School

How Standing Works

Students begin with a Neutral standing. The first two instances of plagiarism or academic violations result in a Warned standing. Further violations downgrade to Disreputed. Continued violations may lead to course access revocation.

Students can challenge the plagiarism decision by using the grievance form, and Challenges to plagiarism decisions are reviewed by the Pupilfirst team. If a re-evaluation clears the student, their standing is restored; otherwise, it may further impact their standing. Therefore, students, please challenge judiciously.

Behavioral standard violations follow a similar progression.

Note:

  1. Standing applies for all the courses offered by Pupilfirst, and it remains the same for a student across the course

  2. Fellowship track students have different standing rules, which will be communicated to you before cohort starts.

Viewing Your Standing

You can view your standing at anytime on your Pupilfirst LMS Dashboard. Standing log entries include event descriptions and reasons for changes can be accessed any time. If any entries are added to your student standing log, you will receive notification via email.

Standing affects eligibility for certificates

Students with a Disreputed standing are ineligible for course completion certificates, and will not be considered for placement or internship support facilitated by Pupilfirst.

Your standing is reported to your parent institution

Standing information is included in final reports to institutes/universities and it may impact decisions related to issuance of academic credits.

Subscription Management

Since our courses are offered on a subscription basis, you may have reasons to pause, resume, or cancel your subscription. The following information will help you set up and modify your subscription.

Starting your subscription

Once you subscribe and complete the payment, your access starts immediately, lasting for 30 days, and your subscription will be auto-renewed for the next 30-day cycle. For instance, if you subscribe on March 5th, 2024, your access continues until April 3rd, 2024, with the renewal on April 4th, 2024.

Cancelling your Subscription

You can cancel your subscription at any time through the Manage Subscription page by selecting Cancel Subscription. Your access will continue until the end of your current 30-day cycle. For example, if you cancel on March 5th, 2024, you will have access until April 3rd, 2024, and your account will transition to inactive status on April 4th, 2024.

Please note that if you cancel your subscription by directly canceling the auto-pay or e-mandate through your bank or UPI interface, your access to courses will be immediately revoked. Similarly, pausing your auto-pay or e-mandate will result in a temporary loss of access to courses until it is resumed.

To avoid unintentional loss of course access, we advise managing these settings only through the Manage Subscription page.

Additionally, any modifications to your e-mandate through your bank or UPI interface that result in the cancellation of payment or subscription will not qualify for a refund from Pupilfirst.

Restarting your Subscription

After cancelling, you can reactivate your subscription within a year to resume where you left off. Reactivate by visiting Manage Subscription and clicking on Restart. Your new access cycle starts immediately upon payment.

Updating Payment Method

You can change your payment method anytime when your subscription is active. Go to Manage Subscription, select Manage on Razorpay, and then Update Payment Method. You'll be charged a mandate setup fee of Rs. 5, which will be refunded once the mandate is confirmed.

You can also watch the below demo video on how to manage your subscription:

Doubts?

For queries, reach out to us over the Pupilfirst School Discord server or email support@pupilfirst.org.

Updates

This document was last updated on May 27, 2024.