These terms apply when you use EqasOnline Academy at academy.eqasonline.com (the "Academy"). The Academy includes the course modules, the exam, the credential, the verify pages and your account.
The Academy is run by legal entity (to be confirmed), registered address (to be confirmed) ("EqasOnline", "we", "us"). Contact us at contact email (to be confirmed).
By creating an account or using the Academy, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Academy. You do not need an account to use a verify page.
1. What the Academy is
The Academy offers free course modules on proficiency testing (PT), a free online exam, and a free credential called EqasOnline Certified Proficiency Testing Professional.
The credential is not an accreditation. It is not a certification of persons under ISO/IEC 17024. It is not connected to, or endorsed by, any accreditation body. It is not a licence to practise. It does not show that any laboratory is competent.
The course is general education about PT. It is not advice about your laboratory, your scheme or your accreditation. Decisions about your laboratory remain yours.
2. Price
The course, the exam and the credential are free. We will not charge you for anything covered by these terms. If we ever offer a paid service, it will have its own terms and we will ask you to agree to them first.
3. Your account
- You must be 18 or over.
- You may hold one account only.
- You sign in with a one-time code we email to you. Keep access to your email account secure. Do not share codes.
- Keep your profile accurate. The name in your profile appears on your credential.
- Tell us at contact email (to be confirmed) if you think someone else has used your account.
4. The exam and the credential
The Candidate handbook and the Candidate agreement set the rules for the exam and the credential. They are part of these terms. They cover eligibility, the exam format, conduct, what we log, accommodations, retakes, results, appeals, validity, recertification and revocation.
If these terms and the handbook disagree about the exam or the credential, the handbook applies.
5. How you may describe the credential
While your credential is active, you may say that you hold it and share its verify link or digital badge.
You must:
- use the full name of the credential,
- stop presenting it as current once it expires, is revoked or is withdrawn,
- give the verify link or ID when someone asks to check it.
You must not:
- describe it as an accreditation, an ISO/IEC 17024 certification, or a licence,
- suggest it comes from, or is endorsed by, an accreditation body,
- suggest it shows that a laboratory is competent or accredited,
- alter a certificate, badge or verify page, or make one that looks like ours.
6. Acceptable use
When you use the Academy, you must not:
- break the law or these terms,
- copy, share, sell or publish exam questions or answers,
- try to see questions or answers by any means other than sitting the exam,
- use bots, scrapers or other automated tools to access the Academy, except the public verify pages at a reasonable rate,
- interfere with the Academy's security or operation, or test it for weaknesses without our written permission,
- impersonate someone else or use a false name.
7. Content and intellectual property
We, or the people who license material to us, own the course modules, the exam questions, the animations, the text and the design of the Academy.
You may view the course modules for your own learning. You may share links to them. You may not copy, republish or sell them without our written permission.
Exam questions are confidential. You may not copy or disclose them in any form.
Your credential's verify page and digital badge are yours to share under section 5.
The course refers to international standards. It describes them in its own words. It does not reproduce them. To use a standard, get a copy from its publisher.
8. Availability and changes
We aim to keep the Academy available, but we do not promise that it will always be available or free of errors. We may change, pause or close any part of the Academy.
If we stop offering the credential, we will tell holders by email. We will keep verify pages working for the rest of each credential's validity period, unless the law or a revocation requires otherwise.
9. Suspending or closing accounts
We may suspend or close your account if you seriously or repeatedly break these terms. Where the issue concerns the exam or a credential, we follow the process in the Candidate handbook, including your right to respond and to appeal.
You can close your account at any time. The handbook explains what happens to your credential when you do.
10. Our responsibility to you
We provide the Academy free of charge and "as is".
We do not promise that passing the exam will lead to any job, role, accreditation outcome or other benefit. Employers and other organisations decide for themselves what weight to give the credential.
[[TBC: limitation of liability clause, to be drafted by counsel for the governing law chosen below. It must not exclude liability that the law does not allow us to exclude.]]
Nothing in these terms limits any rights you have under consumer protection or other laws that cannot be excluded by contract.
11. Privacy
The Privacy policy explains how we use your personal data. The Cookie policy explains the cookie we use.
12. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms. We publish each version with its date. If a change materially affects you, we email you before it takes effect. If you keep using the Academy after the change takes effect, the new terms apply. If you do not agree, you can close your account.
13. Governing law and disputes
[[TBC: governing law and courts, to be set by counsel.]]
Before you start any formal dispute, please contact us at contact email (to be confirmed) so we can try to resolve it. For decisions about the exam or a credential, use the appeal process in the handbook first.
14. Contact
legal entity (to be confirmed) registered address (to be confirmed) contact email (to be confirmed)