- Award and distinction applications, and all associated images, evidence, information and fees, must be received by the Society by 2359 GMT on the specified date. The relevant dates are shown in the Distinctions Calendar.
- Fees received by the Society for award or distinction applications which remain otherwise incomplete at the closing date and time will not be refunded. However, if the relevant application is later completed it will be assessed without further charge at the next scheduled assessment.
- Applicants for the Certificate of Merit must be under the age of 18 years at the relevant date of assessment, and must provide evidence of the consent of a parent, guardian or responsible adult via the Certificate of Merit Consent Form.
- Applicants for Licentiateship, Associateshiop and Fellowship must be over the age of 18 years at the date of the relevant assessment.
- Applicants requesting an OPS Associateship exemption must submit to the Society scanned image(s) of the relevant associate-level certificate(s) or other supporting evidence.
- Assessments will be led by an experienced photographer qualified at Fellowship level - ie FBIPP, FRPS, FAPS or equivalent, supported by other suitably experienced photographers as required. The names and contact details of the assessors are not disclosed to applicants.
- No correspondence, either with applicants prior to assessments or regarding any comments or decisions made during assessments, will be entertained. The results of assessments will be sent to the relevant applicants by email within seven days of the completion of the assessment process.
- Unsuccessful candidates may appeal their result up to 14 days after notification of the result by the Society. The decision of the Society will be final. A charge is made by the Society for handling appeals.
- All reasonable care will be taken of submitted material, but the Society can not accept responsibility for damage or loss of material either in its care or in transit. Applicants are strongly advised to ensure that a duplicate copy of all submitted material is maintained.
- No submitted material is returned to applicants. Images sent to the Society via dedicated upload or email, may be retained for purposes such as the maintenance of standards, but will eventually be destroyed.
- The Society reserves the right to display on its website any images, image panels or sequences (or part panels or part sequences) submitted as part of successful award or distinction applications. Displayed images will normally be created by re-sampling the original submitted images to produce smaller images suitable for website use. No watermark is added. The copyright of any images (or panels, part panels, sequences or part sequences) displayed on the website remains with the author and will be acknowledged. The Society cannot be held responsible for copyright violations arising from images being copied from its website.
- The Society reserves the right to check evidence submitted as part of award or distinction applications, including exemption requests, with the relevant authorities or institutions. Applications including misleading or false evidence will be rejected and the relevant applicant may, at the discretion of the Society, be refused further opportunities to apply for awards or distinctions. Under such circumstances, distinction fees paid by applicants will not be refunded.
- The Society reserves the right to re-schedule, postpone or cancel, without prior notice, any scheduled award or distinction assessment. Where the number of applications received exceeds those that can be handled by available resources in a single assessment period, additional assessments may be scheduled. Exceptionally, the assessment of some panels may be delayed until the following scheduled assessment.
- The Society reserves the right to make changes to these Terms and Conditions at any time and without prior notice.
