Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022

26 Meaning of “relevant service” and other key expressions

(1) This section applies for the purposes of this Chapter.

(2) “Relevant service” means a service of completing all or part of an assignment on behalf of a student where the assignment completed in that way could not reasonably be considered to have been completed personally by the student.

(3) References to completing all or part of an assignment on behalf of a student include references to providing material to the student in connection with the assignment where—

(a) the student could use the material in completing the assignment or part, and

(b) the material—

(i) is prepared in connection with the assignment, or

(ii) has not been published generally.

(4) For this purpose—

(a) where, in connection with an assignment, a student seeks the provision of a relevant service, any material provided as a result is to be regarded as provided in connection with the assignment;

(b) material is published generally if it—

(i) is available generally without payment, or

(ii) is included in a publication that contains other educational or training material and is available generally (such as a text book or study guide).

(5) A person who provides, or arranges the provision of, a relevant service does so “in commercial circumstances” if—

(a) the person is acting in the course of business, or

(b) in the case of a person who provides a relevant service, its provision was arranged by another person acting in the course of business,

whether the person’s own business or that of the person’s employer.

(6) “Student” means—

(a) a person who is undertaking a relevant course at a post-16 institution or sixth form in England, or

(b) any other person over compulsory school age who has been entered to take an examination relating to a regulated qualification at a place in England.

(7) A “relevant assignment”, in relation to a student, is an assignment (which may have been chosen by the student) which the student is required to complete personally—

(a) as part of the relevant course which the student is undertaking, or

(b) in order to obtain the qualification to which the course leads or for which the student has been entered.

(8) In relation to an assignment that is a relevant assignment—

(a) “personally” includes with any assistance permitted as part of the requirement (whether or not the assignment, if completed with that assistance, would otherwise be considered to be completed personally), and

(b) that assistance is “permitted assistance”.

(9) Section 30 sets out the meanings of other terms used in this Chapter (including in this section).