SynchA Synch Academy certificate means something because it's earned fairly. This policy explains how exams work, what a certificate shows, the rules everyone taking an exam must follow, and what happens when they're broken.
It applies to every course exam, pathway capstone and simulation in the Synch Academy, including content published by partner communities under the Community Programs Terms. It adds to the SynchAcademy Terms.
1. How exams work
- Pass marks. Each exam shows its pass mark before you start. Most course exams need 70%, and pathway capstones need 75%, but an exam can set its own.
- Attempts and waiting times. An exam may limit how many times you can take it, and how long you must wait between attempts. Both are shown on the exam.
- Marking. Multiple-choice and similar questions are marked automatically. Written answers are graded by our Examiners, so results for those can take a little longer.
- Simulations are realistic practice conversations played by a Training Instructor, and graded against a published rubric.
- Pathways group courses into stages. Each stage unlocks when you finish the one before, and a pathway ends with a capstone exam.
2. Certificates
- Pass an exam, and you get a certificate with its own reference and a public verification page, so anyone can check it's real.
- Certificates are issued by the Synch Academy, not by Discord or on Discord's behalf.
- Certificates for content published by a partner community also show that community's mark (see the Community Programs Terms).
- Most certificates don't expire. Some may be valid only for a set time; if so, the expiry date is shown on the certificate and its verification page.
- A revoked certificate stays on its verification page, clearly marked as revoked.
3. Academic integrity: the rules
When you take an exam, capstone or simulation, you agree that:
1. Your answers are your own work. 2. You won't use AI tools (for example ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot) to write or improve your answers. 3. You won't share questions or answers, or use questions or answers someone else has shared. 4. Nobody else takes the exam for you, and you don't take one for anyone else. 5. You won't try to get around time limits, attempt limits or waiting times, including by using another account. 6. You won't exploit bugs to change your results. If you find one, please report it.
4. If the rules are broken
Depending on how serious it is, we may:
- Void the attempt, so it doesn't count.
- Revoke certificates earned by breaking the rules, or any certificate we can no longer trust.
- Ban you from the Synch Academy, for a period or permanently.
Serious cases, such as impersonation or selling answers, may also lead to action in our Discord servers under our Community Rules.
5. When a certificate can be revoked
A certificate can be revoked if:
- It was earned by breaking the academic integrity rules.
- It was issued because of a mistake, for example a grading or system error.
- The content it was issued for is found to be seriously wrong or misleading. For partner content, the ETB reviews certificates case by case.
- The holder has been removed from the Academy for serious misconduct.
6. Disputes, reviews and the final say
- Think a written answer was graded wrongly? Ask for a review in a ticket in our Discord server (discord.gg/NvbG77QZSP). A different Examiner will look at it again.
- Think a certificate was revoked unfairly, or disagree with a decision under this policy? Raise it in a ticket, and the Education & Training Board (ETB) will review it.
- The ETB has the final say on all matters about exams, grades and certificates.
7. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. Every version is kept in this page's history.