Academic integrity means being honest and fair in your learning and assessment. Your qualification tells employers — and the people you will care for — that you have the skills and knowledge it describes. That only holds if every assessment shows what you can do.
What counts as a breach
- Plagiarism — presenting someone else’s words, ideas or work as your own without acknowledging them, including copying from websites, textbooks or another student.
- Collusion — working with others on an assessment that is meant to be completed on your own, or letting someone copy your work.
- Contract cheating — paying or asking someone else to complete an assessment for you, or using a service that supplies answers.
- Undisclosed use of AI tools — submitting content generated by an AI tool as your own work, unless your trainer has said a tool may be used and you acknowledge how you used it.
- Falsifying records — inventing or altering placement logbooks, signatures, observations or supervisor reports.
- Impersonation — having someone else sit an assessment or attend a session in your place.
Falsifying placement records is treated especially seriously. Those records confirm you can provide safe care, and a false record can put clients at risk.
How to stay on the right side of the line
- Start assessments early, so you are not tempted to cut corners at the last minute.
- Take notes in your own words, and record where each idea came from as you go.
- Acknowledge every source you use — see Referencing.
- Keep your drafts. They show how your work developed.
- If you are unsure whether something is allowed, ask your trainer before you submit.
If there is a concern about your work
We will talk to you about it first and give you the chance to explain. Concerns are handled under our Assessment & Reasonable Adjustment Policy on Our Policies, and the outcome depends on what happened — often it means resubmitting the work. If you disagree with a decision, you can appeal it through Complaints & Appeals.
Struggling with an assessment is not a reason to take a shortcut — it is a reason to ask for help. Talk to your trainer, or see Language, Literacy & Numeracy support.