As with all education providers in New Zealand, Careerforce does not allow copying or plagiarism. Copying answers from the learning material does not demonstrate knowledge or understanding and is not valid or authentic evidence.

Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else’s work as your own. In assessments this is seen as answers that have been copied in part, or in full, from the learning material. For assessment to be authentic the trainees must show their own knowledge and skills. While Careerforce assessments are open book, trainees are not allowed to copy information from the learning material as their answers.

To avoid plagiarism, trainees must provide examples from their own work practice. When trainees provide an example of their practice, assessors can see them applying what they have learned. This can be an acceptable demonstration of knowledge.

If the assessment asks for a definition, assessors may accept a direct quote if this is referenced. An appropriate reference allows the assessor (or anyone else) to find exactly where that information came from.

When marking and assessing, assessors should always use the assessor guide. The assessor guides typically use the same wording as the learning material. As part of good practice, assessors should also be familiar with the learning material. If the trainee has copied an answer it should be easily detected when using the assessor guide.

Assessors must not mark plagiarised work as correct. Seek more information from the trainee. This can be by having a conversation and noting down the key points of the discussion on the assessment. The assessor and trainee should both sign the notes to confirm that the notes are a correct record of a face-to-face discussion. Where an assessor holds a discussion by phone, just the assessor’s signature and date are sufficient.