Copyright and examinations

The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 states that copyright is not infringed by anything done for the purposes of an examination by way of setting the questions, communicating the questions to the candidates or answering the questions, provided that the questions are accompanied by a sufficient acknowledgement. Although an acknowledgement should be included, if it is impossible, e.g. candidates are required to identify the source as part of the question, then it may be omitted. 

The only exception to this permission relates to copying printed music for performance by a candidate, although it is believed that this is rarely, if ever, an issue at Staffordshire University. 

It is usually accepted that this permission also extends to assessed work which contributes to the student’s final mark. 

It is therefore possible to copy, show, perform or play, any amount of anything for examination purposes without first seeking permission from the rights holder(s). You may make as many copies as you need. Remember to include sufficient acknowledgement. 

If the assessed work includes the creation of a web page, this must not be made available to anyone but the assessor(s). If the page is made available to any sort of wider audience, e.g. other students in the class, then unless their comments form part of the assessment mark, this would not be covered by the legal permission and express written permission should first be obtained from the rights holder(s) 

If, following the examination, you wish to use the questions again in another context, e.g. as past papers on the web, this would not be covered by the permission. It is recommended that in this situation, you should remove the copyright material and instead direct students to its source.