WSET Professional Ethics & Standards 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A sommelier recommends a wine they personally profit from without informing the guest. This is an example of:
- Sound upselling practice
- An undisclosed conflict of interest (Correct answer)
- Standard commission structure
- Legal incentive-based selling
Correct answer: An undisclosed conflict of interest
Recommending products for personal gain without disclosure violates transparency and conflicts with the duty to act in the client's best interest.
Question 2: Under WSET's Code of Conduct, which behavior is explicitly prohibited?
- Using trade samples for personal study
- Submitting coursework completed by another person (Correct answer)
- Asking a tutor for clarification on exam content
- Reviewing past WSET practice papers
Correct answer: Submitting coursework completed by another person
Submitting work that is not your own constitutes academic fraud and is a direct violation of WSET's integrity policies.
Question 3: When advising a corporate client on a wine list, a WSET-certified professional should prioritize:
- Wines from their preferred importer
- The client's budget, guest profile, and business objectives (Correct answer)
- Only wines scoring 90+ in trade publications
- Exclusively organic and biodynamic options
Correct answer: The client's budget, guest profile, and business objectives
Professional advice must be tailored to the client's specific needs, not the advisor's personal preferences or commercial relationships.
Question 4: Which statement best reflects responsible alcohol service in a fine dining context?
- Maximize bottle sales by refilling glasses frequently without asking
- Monitor guest consumption and offer alternatives such as water proactively (Correct answer)
- Encourage guests to finish bottles to reduce waste
- Defer all alcohol decisions entirely to the guest
Correct answer: Monitor guest consumption and offer alternatives such as water proactively
Responsible service means actively monitoring consumption and promoting wellbeing, not purely maximizing sales.
Question 5: A wine educator discovers a factual error in course materials they created. The ethical course of action is to:
- Continue teaching the material to avoid disruption
- Correct the error and notify affected students promptly (Correct answer)
- Remove the topic from future sessions without explanation
- Attribute the error to the original source material
Correct answer: Correct the error and notify affected students promptly
Professional integrity requires acknowledging and correcting errors transparently, even when inconvenient.
Question 6: A WSET Approved Programme Provider (APP) is required to ensure that:
- All students purchase wines recommended by the school
- Assessment conditions meet WSET's standards for fairness and integrity (Correct answer)
- Students share tasting notes publicly after each session
- Educators hold at least two WSET qualifications above the level taught
Correct answer: Assessment conditions meet WSET's standards for fairness and integrity
APPs are contractually obligated to uphold WSET's assessment standards, including fair and consistent examination conditions.
Question 7: A spirits brand offers a WSET educator a luxury trip in exchange for featuring their product prominently in class. The educator should:
- Accept if the product is genuinely high quality
- Decline or fully disclose the offer to their employer and students (Correct answer)
- Accept but avoid mentioning the brand more than twice
- Accept as it is standard industry hospitality
Correct answer: Decline or fully disclose the offer to their employer and students
Accepting gifts that influence curriculum content creates a conflict of interest that must be declined or fully disclosed to maintain professional integrity.
WSET Professional Ethics & Standards 2
A sommelier recommends a wine they personally profit from without informing the guest.
This is an example of: