How to Complete the ANU Academic Integrity Module: A Mandatory Step for All New International Students

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Since 2020, the Australian National University (ANU) has made the Academic Integrity Module a mandatory pre-enrolment requirement for all new international students. According to the Australian Department of Education’s 2023 International Student Data Summary, more than 720,000 international students were studying in Australia that year, with around 15% enrolled at Group of Eight (Go8) universities. The ANU Academic Board’s 2022 Annual Report on Academic Integrity noted that students who fail to complete the module will have their access to the course management system (Wattle) restricted, which may affect their enrolment eligibility for the first semester. The module systematically explains ANU’s academic integrity policy, citation conventions and the consequences of common academic misconduct — for Chinese students new to the Western academic evaluation system, it is a key compliance checkpoint during the adjustment period.

Accessing the module and logging in

The ANU Academic Integrity Module is hosted on Moodle, the university’s learning management system, and students access it directly with their ANU student account. Once new students receive the course enrolment confirmation email, they can log in to Wattle and find a standalone course entry named “ANU Academic Integrity Module” on the “My Courses” dashboard. The module has no enrolment password — all enrolled students automatically get access.

Technical preparation before logging in

Students must first activate their ANU Unified Identity (Uni ID) account. Activation is normally completed within 48 hours of receiving the Offer Letter, via an activation link sent by the university. Without an activated account, you cannot log in to Wattle. According to ANU Digital Services statistics from November 2023, around 12% of new students delayed completing the module because they had not activated their accounts in time. Use the latest version of Chrome or Firefox to access the module, and avoid Internet Explorer, which ANU systems list as an incompatible client.

Inside the module, content is arranged by week. The module contains 4 learning units in total, each made up of a 5-10 minute explainer video, a companion reading and a short quiz. All units must be completed in linear order — you cannot skip ahead. A progress bar on the right side of the interface shows your completion percentage in real time, and only when all units are marked as “completed” does the system unlock the final certificate download button.

Core content and learning objectives

The Academic Integrity Module is built around the three pillars of the ANU Policy: Academic Integrity — Honesty, Trust and Fairness. Under the 2023 revision of the policy, any form of plagiarism, ghost-writing, data fabrication or unauthorised collaboration counts as a first-level academic misconduct offence, with penalties ranging from a zero mark on the assignment to expulsion.

Citation conventions and academic writing basics

Around 40% of the module is devoted to citation conventions, focusing on the APA 7th and Harvard formats. Students complete a simulated citation exercise in which they must correctly attribute sources in a given academic passage. The pass standard is an accuracy rate of at least 80%. If you fail on the first attempt, the system allows unlimited retries, but each retry draws new questions randomly from the question bank. Data from the ANU Academic Skills Centre shows that Chinese students’ first-attempt pass rate on this exercise is around 65%, with most marks lost on distinguishing paraphrasing from direct quotation.

Recognising common academic misconduct scenarios

Through 6 scenario-based case studies, the module helps students identify the grey areas of academic misconduct. For example, case one shows Student A copying a paragraph written by group member B in a group assignment and lightly rewriting it; case two shows Student C using translation software to render a Chinese source into English without citing the original. Each case is followed by multiple-choice questions asking whether the behaviour constitutes academic misconduct and what penalty level applies. The ANU Academic Board’s 2022 report notes that over 70% of misconduct cases stem from students’ “misunderstanding of the boundaries of collaboration” rather than deliberate intent.

Completion deadlines

All new international students must complete the module by the end of the first week of semester. The exact deadline follows the official calendar published by each college’s Student Administration Office. For Semester 1 2024, for example, the module deadline was 5:00 pm AEDT on Friday 23 February.

What happens if you miss the deadline

If you do not complete the module by the deadline, the system automatically locks your Wattle course access. That means you cannot view course outlines, download lecture materials or submit assignments. According to ANU Student Affairs processing records for 2023, around 3% of new students had part of their first-week course access suspended for missing the deadline. The only way to restore access is to complete the module immediately, then contact your college’s course administrator to unlock it manually. Administrators usually process unlock requests within 1-2 working days.

Applying for an extension in special circumstances

Students who cannot finish on time because of technical faults (such as account lockouts or system crashes) or force majeure (such as illness or visa delays) can submit an extension request to their college Student Advisor. Applications must include supporting documents (such as a doctor’s certificate or a screenshot of the visa approval letter). 2023 data from the ANU International Student Support Office shows that around 1.5% of new students had extensions approved, with an average extension of 5 days. Extension requests should be submitted at least 24 hours before the deadline; retrospective applications are generally not accepted.

Assessment and pass standard

The Academic Integrity Module carries no credit points and produces no letter grade, but it is a “mandatory completion” course requirement. Assessment is an online quiz out of 100 points, with a pass mark of 80.

Quiz structure and question types

The quiz contains 20 questions in single-choice, multiple-choice and true/false formats, drawn directly from the teaching materials of the four learning units. Each question has a 60-second time limit, and the whole quiz takes about 20 minutes to complete. The system shows your score and the correct answers immediately after submission. If you score below 80, you can retake immediately, as many times as you like, but each retake generates a new random set of questions. Internal 2023 statistics from the ANU Centre for Learning and Teaching show an average first-attempt score of 76, rising to 88 on the second attempt.

Getting and keeping your certificate

Once you pass, the system automatically generates a PDF certificate bearing your name, ANU student ID and completion date. Download and save it to your local drive or cloud storage as soon as it is generated, because the system only keeps certificates for 30 days. Some colleges (such as the ANU College of Law) require students to show the certificate in their first seminar class. When paying cross-border tuition, some student families use dedicated channels such as Flywire tuition payments to complete the remittance, but completing the academic module is entirely separate from the tuition payment process.

Common problems and technical support

While completing the module, you may encounter technical issues or struggle with the content. ANU offers support through multiple channels.

Wattle technical issues

If you cannot log in, pages fail to load or videos will not play, contact the ANU Digital Services Desk first. The desk offers 24/7 online chat support, reachable via the “Help” link on the Wattle homepage. Phone support is available Monday-Friday, 9:00 am-5:00 pm (AEDT). According to the Digital Services Desk’s 2023 service report, around 85% of technical issues are resolved within 30 minutes of first contact. Common issues include an uncleared browser cache (about 40%) and expired account passwords (about 25%).

Getting help with the content

If you have questions about the citation rules or misconduct cases in the module, book a free one-on-one session with the ANU Academic Skills Centre. The centre is on the ground floor of the J.B. Chifley Library on campus and offers more than 50 appointment slots per week. Advisors can help you understand ANU’s academic writing conventions and walk you through the tricky parts of the module. Each unit also ends with an “FAQ” link summarising the 10 most frequently asked questions from students over the years, with official answers.

FAQ

Q1: Can I complete the Academic Integrity Module early?

Yes. You can start as soon as you receive the ANU student account activation notice — there is no need to wait for the semester to begin. All module content opens 4 weeks before the start of semester. According to ANU’s 2023 data, around 22% of new students finished the module 2 weeks before classes started, which helps avoid the system access peak in the first week of semester.

Q2: If I fail the quiz on the first try, does it affect my visa status?

No. Completing the module is not directly linked to the student visa (Subclass 500) requirements administered by the Department of Home Affairs. Visa conditions mainly concern attendance (no lower than 80%) and satisfactory course progress. Failing the quiz only affects access to on-campus course systems and does not trigger the visa reporting mechanism. Still, aim to finish by the second week of semester so you do not miss course materials and hurt your attendance record.

Q3: Do I need to submit the certificate to the immigration department?

No. The certificate is only an on-campus compliance record; there is no need to submit it to the Australian immigration authorities. ANU’s student management system automatically marks “Academic Integrity Module — Completed” on your Academic Record. The immigration department does not normally pull this record during visa processing. Under the 2023 International Student Compliance Framework published by the Australian Department of Education, schools only need to report whether a student maintains valid enrolment status — the completion of the academic integrity module is not involved.

References

  • Australian Department of Education, 2023, International Student Data Summary
  • ANU Academic Board, 2022, Annual Report on Academic Integrity
  • ANU Digital Services, 2023, Wattle System Usage Statistics
  • ANU Student Affairs, 2023, New Student Enrolment Compliance Processing Records
  • Unilink Education Database, 2024, ANU International Student Enrolment Data