Legal

Terms & Conditions

Last updated: 19 March 2026

1. Introduction

Welcome to Study Buddy (“the Service”, “we”, “us”, or “our”). Study Buddy is an AI-powered online study platform designed to help New Zealand students prepare for NCEA (National Certificate of Educational Achievement) examinations at Levels 1, 2, and 3.

These Terms & Conditions (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of the Study Buddy website, applications, and all related services. By creating an account, accessing, or using the Service in any way, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree with any part of these Terms, you must not use the Service.

2. Acceptance of Terms

By registering for an account or using any part of the Service, you confirm that:

  • You have read and understood these Terms in full.
  • You agree to comply with and be legally bound by these Terms.
  • If you are under 18 years of age, you have obtained consent from a parent or legal guardian who has reviewed and agreed to these Terms on your behalf.
  • You meet the eligibility requirements set out in these Terms.

3. Description of Service

Study Buddy provides the following features to assist students with NCEA exam preparation:

  • Exam Practice: Access to past NCEA exam questions across a range of subjects and achievement standards, presented in an interactive format.
  • AI Tutor: An artificial intelligence-powered tutor that can answer questions, explain concepts, generate quizzes, and create exam-style questions based on course material.
  • AI Study Notes: Upload and organise study notes by topic, with AI-powered chat for generating summaries, explanations, quizzes, and exam practice based on your own notes.
  • Automated Grading: AI-generated feedback and grading of student responses against NCEA achievement criteria (Not Achieved, Achieved, Merit, and Excellence).
  • Photo Upload: The ability to photograph and upload handwritten work (graphs, diagrams, written answers) for AI-based assessment.
  • Saved Items: Save quizzes and graded exam questions for later review and revision.

The Service is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue any feature of the Service at any time without prior notice.

4. No Guarantee of Academic Results

Study Buddy is a supplementary study tool only. It is not a substitute for classroom teaching, textbooks, teacher guidance, or your own consistent study effort.

By using the Service, you acknowledge and agree that:

  • No guarantee of passing: Study Buddy does not guarantee that you will pass any NCEA examination, achieve any particular grade level (Achieved, Merit, or Excellence), or obtain any specific number of credits. Academic success depends on many factors including your personal effort, attendance, understanding of the material, and performance under exam conditions.
  • You must still put in the work: The Service is designed to complement your study routine, not replace it. Regular attendance at school, active participation in class, independent reading, and consistent revision are essential for academic success. No tool, however sophisticated, can replace genuine learning and effort.
  • Not a replacement for professional teaching: Study Buddy is not a registered educational provider and does not replace the instruction, assessment, or pastoral care provided by your school, teachers, or tutors. Always consult your teachers for guidance specific to your courses and assessments.
  • AI limitations: The AI-generated content, grades, and feedback provided by the Service are approximations and should be used as a guide only. They may not perfectly reflect how NZQA markers would assess your work in an actual examination setting.
  • Past exams are not predictive: Practising with past exam questions does not guarantee that similar questions will appear in future examinations. Exam content and format may change at the discretion of NZQA.

5. User Accounts

5.1 Registration

To access certain features of the Service, you must create an account by providing accurate and complete information, including your full name and a valid email address. You may also register using a third-party authentication provider (e.g., Google).

5.2 Account Security

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account. You must immediately notify us if you become aware of any unauthorised use of your account. We are not liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to maintain account security.

5.3 Age Requirements

The Service is intended for secondary school students in New Zealand. If you are under 18 years of age, you must have the consent of a parent or legal guardian to use the Service. By registering on behalf of a minor, the parent or guardian agrees to be bound by these Terms.

5.4 One Account Per User

Each user may maintain only one account. Creating multiple accounts to circumvent usage limits, obtain additional free credits, or for any other purpose is strictly prohibited and may result in the termination of all associated accounts.

6. Acceptable Use

You agree to use the Service only for its intended purpose of educational study and exam preparation. You must not:

  • Use the Service to facilitate cheating, plagiarism, or academic dishonesty in any form, including submitting AI-generated answers as your own work in actual NCEA assessments.
  • Share your account credentials with any other person or allow others to access the Service through your account.
  • Attempt to reverse-engineer, decompile, or extract source code or AI model prompts from the Service.
  • Use automated tools, bots, or scripts to access the Service or extract content.
  • Upload content that is offensive, harmful, illegal, or infringes on the rights of others.
  • Use the Service to harass, abuse, or harm other users or any third party.
  • Attempt to circumvent any security measures, usage limits, or access controls.
  • Resell, redistribute, or commercially exploit any content or feature of the Service.
  • Interfere with or disrupt the operation of the Service or its underlying infrastructure.

7. AI-Generated Content Disclaimer

The Service uses artificial intelligence models provided by third-party providers (including but not limited to Anthropic, OpenAI, and Moonshot) to generate educational content, answer questions, assess student work, and provide feedback.

You acknowledge and agree that:

  • AI is not infallible: AI-generated responses may contain errors, inaccuracies, or omissions. Content should always be cross-referenced with official NCEA resources, textbooks, and your teachers' guidance.
  • Grading is indicative only: AI-generated grades and feedback are approximations intended for practice purposes. They do not represent official NZQA grades and should not be relied upon as an accurate prediction of your actual exam performance.
  • Content may vary: AI responses may differ between sessions even for identical inputs. The quality and accuracy of responses may vary depending on the subject, complexity of the question, and the AI model in use.
  • No professional advice: AI-generated content does not constitute professional educational, legal, medical, or financial advice of any kind.

8. Intellectual Property

8.1 NZQA Content

NCEA examination questions and related materials referenced within the Service are the intellectual property of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA). Such content is used within the Service for educational and study purposes. Study Buddy does not claim ownership of NZQA examination content.

8.2 Study Buddy Content

All other content, including but not limited to the website design, user interface, software code, branding, logos, and AI-generated study materials, are the property of Study Buddy and its operators. You may not reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works from any Study Buddy content without prior written permission.

8.3 User Content

You retain ownership of any content you upload to the Service, including study notes, photos, and written answers. By uploading content, you grant Study Buddy a limited, non-exclusive licence to process, store, and display your content solely for the purpose of providing the Service to you. We will not share your content with other users or third parties except as required to operate the Service (e.g., sending content to AI providers for processing).

9. Payments & Subscriptions

9.1 Free Tier

New users receive a limited free trial with a set number of AI credits. Once the free trial period or credits are exhausted, continued access to AI-powered features requires a paid subscription or credit purchase.

9.2 Paid Plans

Paid subscriptions are billed on a recurring monthly basis through our payment processor, Stripe. By subscribing, you authorise recurring charges to your chosen payment method. Subscription prices are displayed on our pricing page and may be updated from time to time with reasonable notice.

9.3 Credits

Certain plans include a monthly allocation of AI credits. Additional credits may be purchased separately. Credits are consumed when using AI-powered features such as the AI Tutor, quiz generation, and exam grading. Credit costs per interaction may vary depending on the AI model and feature used.

9.4 Refunds

Study Buddy is a digital product. When you use AI-powered features (tutoring, grading, quiz generation, etc.), each interaction consumes AI credits that incur immediate computational costs from our third-party AI providers. Because these costs are incurred at the moment of use and cannot be recovered, used AI credits cannot be refunded.

Unused credits remaining on your account are not refundable, as they form part of your subscription or credit package purchase.

If you believe there has been a billing error (e.g., you were charged incorrectly or did not receive credits you paid for), please contact us using the details in Section 15. We will investigate and, where a genuine error has occurred, issue an appropriate correction or refund in accordance with the New Zealand Consumer Guarantees Act 1993.

9.5 Cancellation

You may cancel your subscription at any time through your account settings or by contacting us. Upon cancellation, you will retain access to paid features until the end of your current billing period. No partial refunds are provided for unused portions of a billing period.

10. Privacy & Data

10.1 Data Collection

We collect and process the following types of data:

  • Account information: Your name, email address, and authentication details.
  • Usage data: Information about how you interact with the Service, including features used, pages visited, and study activity.
  • User content: Study notes, photos, and answers you upload or input into the Service.
  • Payment information: Payment details are processed securely by Stripe and are not stored on our servers.

10.2 Data Storage

Your data is stored securely using industry-standard cloud infrastructure providers. User authentication and profile data are managed through Supabase. Uploaded files are stored using Vercel Blob storage. We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data against unauthorised access, loss, or misuse.

10.3 AI Processing

When you use AI-powered features, your inputs (questions, notes, answers, and photos) are sent to third-party AI providers for processing. These providers process your data in accordance with their own privacy policies and data processing agreements. We do not use your data to train AI models.

10.4 Cookies

The Service uses essential cookies required for authentication and session management. We may also use analytics cookies to understand how the Service is used and to improve your experience. You can manage cookie preferences through your browser settings.

10.5 Data Retention

We retain your data for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the Service. If you delete your account, we will remove your personal data within a reasonable timeframe, except where retention is required by law.

11. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by New Zealand law:

  • Study Buddy, its operators, employees, and affiliates shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of or related to your use of the Service.
  • We are not liable for any academic outcomes, including but not limited to exam results, credit attainment, or university entrance qualification, that may or may not result from your use of the Service.
  • We are not liable for any errors, inaccuracies, or omissions in AI-generated content, grades, or feedback.
  • We are not liable for any loss of data, service interruptions, or technical issues beyond our reasonable control.
  • Our total aggregate liability to you for any claims arising from or related to the Service shall not exceed the total amount you have paid to us in the twelve (12) months preceding the claim.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot be excluded or limited under New Zealand law, including liability under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 where applicable.

12. Termination

12.1 By You

You may close your account at any time by contacting us. Upon closure, your access to the Service will be terminated and your data will be handled in accordance with Section 10.5.

12.2 By Us

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your account at any time if we reasonably believe that you have breached these Terms, engaged in fraudulent activity, or used the Service in a manner that could harm other users or the integrity of the Service. We will make reasonable efforts to notify you before or promptly after any such action.

12.3 Effect of Termination

Upon termination, your right to access the Service ceases immediately. Provisions of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination (including Sections 4, 7, 8, 11, and 14) shall continue to apply.

13. Changes to Terms

We reserve the right to update or modify these Terms at any time. When we make material changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify you by email or through the Service.

Your continued use of the Service after any changes to these Terms constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms. If you do not agree with any changes, you must stop using the Service and close your account.

14. Governing Law & Disputes

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of New Zealand. Any disputes arising out of or in connection with these Terms or the Service shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New Zealand.

Before initiating any formal legal proceedings, you agree to first attempt to resolve any dispute informally by contacting us directly. We will make reasonable efforts to resolve any issue promptly and in good faith.

15. Contact Information

If you have any questions, concerns, or feedback regarding these Terms or the Service, please contact us at:

  • Email: support@studybuddy.nz

We aim to respond to all enquiries within a reasonable timeframe.