Witness Statements

Living in University accommodation can be an exciting part of your university experience, but it can also bring its challenges. Everyone living in residences is expected to follow some key rules and regulations.

• The Student Code of Conduct

• Terms and Conditions of the Residence Contract

• The Regulations relating to the Discipline of Students (see section XXII)

• The policy on Political Expression and Campaigning in Residences

The expectations in these documents lay out what good and bad behaviour looks like, to ensure a better university experience for everyone.

Sometimes these rules are broken. This kind of poor behaviour is called misconduct. 

If you want to read more about these documents, and what is considered misconduct, we have several other articles about misconduct and the Conduct process.

If someone’s behaviour has affected you, you may decide to report it. A witness statement is one way to make a formal report about someone’s behaviour and how it has affected you.

A witness statement is a formal document that is written to provide evidence for the disciplinary process. It is a written account of what happened, structured and signed off formally, and submitted to an investigator. 

All witness statements follow a set format, and must include the following information:

• Your name.

• Details of any alleged misconduct that you have personally experienced or witnessed (not including any incidents which you haven't experienced or witnessed yourself, first-hand).

• The date(s), time(s) and location(s) of where the alleged misconduct took place.

• Name and other details (if available) of those involved, including witnesses.

It can also include:

• Attachments and explanations of any supporting evidence, for example, photographs of damage caused during an incident.

Finally, it includes a disclaimer in which you formally state: that the information contained in the statement is true to the best of your knowledge; and that you understand and consent to its use in the disciplinary process.

Statements are accepted via Google Forms. If you need to write a statement, the link will be shared with you by a Student Support Manager, or by a member of the ACS Student Conduct Team. 

If you would like to report an incident using a Witness Statement please reach out to residentsupport@sheffield.ac.uk, who will talk you through the process and put in place any necessary support.

After you’ve submitted a witness statement, you'll also be invited to complete a optional Personal Impact Statement. This is completely voluntary and gives you the opportunity to explain in your own words how the incident or situation you have reported to us has affected you. This is different from a Witness Statement, which just describes factually what happened at the time. It also differs in that a Personal Impact Statement will not be used as evidence as part of the disciplinary process, and will not be shared with the reported party.

Witness statements are just one kind of evidence that the ACS Student Conduct Team uses to investigate when someone claims that rules have been broken. 

Often, students will witness an incident of misconduct, for example, vandalism of a campus sign, or someone setting off a fire alarm maliciously. If it’s possible that you saw an incident happen, you might be considered as a possible witness. If so, you could be contacted by the Conduct Team and asked to consider writing a witness statement. It’s your choice whether you want to do this, and there’s no obligation to do so. You might feel you didn’t see much and don't have anything to add, or you might just not want to get involved.

Other times, you could be the one choosing to report an incident yourself. The Conduct Team will look into the case, and check for any other evidence, like Security reports, or maintenance callouts. If there is no other evidence of what happened, but you would still like it to be investigated further, the Conduct Team will need some evidence. To provide this, you might be invited to write a witness statement to formalise your account of what happened and allow the investigation to proceed. Again, this is your choice; you don’t ever have to write a witness statement if you don’t want to.

It’s important to note that a witness statement is not anonymous. In situation where a witness statement can be used in evidence to progress the case to a disciplinary meeting, a copy of your statement will be shared with the student(s) named in your account as being responsible for alleged misconduct.  In these circumstances, the person who is suspected of being involved in misconduct has the right to know what evidence is held against them. This includes what claims have been made, and by whom.

There are however alternative options to a disciplinary meeting. These include an investigatory meeting, which may be used to ask preliminary questions to establish whether any disciplinary action is needed. Informal concern meetings are another option, with a focus on moving forward to find a resolution. In those situations, the witness statement will not be shared directly, and only a brief summary will be provided to the reported party or parties.

When a witness statement is received by the Conduct Team, it will be added to any other evidence, so everything can be reviewed together. In cases where the evidence is not strong enough to allow the investigation to move on to the next stage, the student(s) involved may be referred to an investigatory meeting, to give them an opportunity to give their own version of events. Following this meeting, a decision will be made about whether or not a full disciplinary meeting is necessary. If it is, the formal letter sent to the student must include all the evidence that is being considered, including any relevant witness statements.

Where a disciplinary meeting is not considered necessary, alternative resolution processes will be considered, or no further action will be taken. However, the statement will remain on file and, it might still be used at a later date, if the issue continued, or gets worse. 

If your witness statement couldn't be used to progress a formal disciplinary investigation, you’d usually be informed of the reasons why it can’t be used. If you still want some action to be taken, you'll be given support to explore other options available to you.

It’s worth noting that a witness statement is inherently subjective. It’s your own account of what happened, and like anyone's memory of an incident, it may have gaps and inconsistencies. Whether or not you’re aware of this, there may be information missing, or misunderstandings contained in it. If a full disciplinary investigation takes place, anyone named in statement as having broken rules will be given the chance to respond to your statement. Any final judgement about whether or not misconduct took place will be made on the balance of probability. This means, all things considered, whether it is more likely than not that the events described happened in the way you’ve described them; and whether this itself counts as misconduct. 

Here’s a quick summary of the pros and cons of witness statements:

✓ -  They're a way to formally report someone’s actions so an investigation can be considered.

✓ - They're a way to provide evidence for events that have already happened, and so can't be evidenced any other way.

✓ -  They can provide an idea of how an issue developed over time, and the cumulative effect of this.

X - They’re not anonymous if a full investigation is carried out, so they may create or worsen tensions between the people involved in an issue.

X - They’re a subjective account of your experience, so they can be challenged in someone else's own account.

X - They’re not always strong enough evidence for formal action to be taken.

There are other ways to report an issue that don’t require you to write a statement. For any urgent issue, you can call Security Services on +44 114 222 4444. For any non-emergency reports or queries, you can call on +44 114 222 4085. Any call to Security can be made anonymously.

Contacting Security generates a formal report which the Conduct team will receive. These reports can be anonymous. Each report will be considered and logged. They can be used to progress a formal disciplinary investigation, without the need for a student to waive their anonymity by writing a witness statement themselves. If you don't want the person you're reporting to know you were the one to make the report, calling Security at the time is often the best option.

For incidents involving bullying, harassment or discrimination of any kind, you can also disclose anonymously using Report and Support. This will allow your incident to be logged, and ensure you are contacted with follow up support to help you decide whether you want to report it formally.

You can find more information about these options in our article on Reporting Misconduct.