Code of Conduct

This code applies to every learner, mentor, instructor, guest speaker and member of staff, in every space we run.

• Live sessions, workshops and office hours.
• One-to-one mentorship and career coaching calls.
• Cohort chat channels, forums and study groups.
• Code reviews, pull request comments and shared repositories.
• Online and in-person events, including demo days and alumni meetups.
• Direct messages between members of the community that begin in an Upkora space.

It also applies to conduct outside these spaces where that conduct has a direct and serious effect on someone’s safety or ability to take part in the programme.

• Assume everyone is here in good faith and is at a different point in their learning.
• Give feedback on the work, not the person, and be specific enough that it is useful.
• Let people finish. Do not talk over someone in a live session or a group call.
• Ask questions openly. Someone else in the cohort has the same one and has not said it.
• Respect that people join from different countries, time zones, careers and levels of prior experience.
• Keep what other learners share about their circumstances, salary or job search inside the cohort.
• Show up for commitments you make to a mentor, a study partner or a project team, or tell them early if you cannot.

• Harassment, intimidation or bullying, in any space, in any format.
• Discriminatory comments or treatment based on race, colour, national origin, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, pregnancy, marital status, veteran status or any other protected characteristic.
• Sexual harassment, including unwelcome sexual attention, sexual comments about someone’s appearance, and sharing sexual imagery.
• Continuing personal contact after being asked to stop.
• Publishing someone’s private information, including their address, employer, immigration status or personal contact details, without their permission.
• Threats of violence, encouraging self-harm, or advocating harm against any person or group.
• Sustained disruption of a session, deliberate derailing, or repeatedly ignoring instructor direction.
• Retaliating against someone for making a report or taking part in an investigation.

The test is impact, not intent. "It was a joke" does not change how a comment landed on the person it was aimed at.

Certificates from Upkora are only worth something if they mean the person earned them. That depends on everyone submitting their own work.

• Do not submit work produced by someone else, whether a classmate, a contractor or a previous cohort, as your own.
• Attribute code, tutorials and documentation you borrow from. Using a public solution and saying so is fine. Using it silently is not.
• Where an assignment states how AI assistance may be used, follow it and disclose what you used. AI is a tool we teach with, not a substitute for understanding your own submission.
• Do not share assessment questions, answers or solutions with learners who have not yet completed them.
• Do not share your account, your access link or downloaded course materials with anyone outside the programme.
• Do not misrepresent your attendance, your progress or your certification status to an employer.

If you are struggling with a deadline, tell your instructor. An extension is always available. A plagiarism finding is not something we can undo.

Mentors and hiring partners volunteer their time. Treat introductions as professional relationships: prepare for calls, arrive on time, follow up on what you agreed and be honest about your experience level.

Do not use a mentorship or partner introduction to sell a product, recruit for another programme, or ask for a referral you have not earned.

You can report a concern by emailing the conduct address on this page. Reports can come from the person affected or from someone who witnessed it. You do not need to be certain that something breached this code to report it.

Tell us what happened, where, when, who was involved and whether anyone else saw it. Screenshots help but are not required. If you would prefer to report anonymously, say so and we will investigate without naming you, though that sometimes limits what we can do.

Reports are read by a small team and shared only with people who need to act on them. We will not tell the person you reported who made the report unless you agree, or unless we are legally required to.

If you are in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services first.

1. 01We acknowledge your report within 3 business days.
2. 02We review what happened, speak to the people involved and look at any records from the space where it occurred.
3. 03Where there is an ongoing safety risk, we may take an immediate interim step such as separating people or pausing access while we review.
4. 04We reach a decision, apply an outcome, and tell you what action was taken as far as privacy allows.
5. 05We check in with the person who reported it afterwards to make sure the behaviour has stopped.

We match the response to the severity and to whether it has happened before. Most first reports end at the first or second step.

1. 01A private conversation and a request to change specific behaviour.
2. 02A formal written warning recorded against the account.
3. 03Removal from a session, a channel or a project team.
4. 04Suspension of access for a defined period.
5. 05Permanent removal from the programme, with no refund of tuition paid.
6. 06A permanent ban from all Upkora spaces, including alumni spaces and events.

Where conduct may be criminal, we may report it to law enforcement and will cooperate with any resulting investigation.

Retaliating against someone for making a good-faith report, or for taking part in a review, is itself a violation of this code and is treated seriously on its own.

Making a report that you know to be false is also a violation. Being mistaken is not. We distinguish between the two.

If a decision affects your enrolment you may appeal it in writing within 45 days. Appeals are reviewed by someone who was not involved in the original decision. Tell us what you believe was wrong about the finding or the outcome, and include anything we did not see the first time.

We respond to appeals within 21 days. An appeal decision is final.