diff --git a/comment/classes/external.php b/comment/classes/external.php
index b76483d75b9..22995e7d12e 100644
--- a/comment/classes/external.php
+++ b/comment/classes/external.php
@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@ class core_comment_external extends external_api {
             'comments' => $comments,
             'count' => $commentobject->count(),
             'perpage' => (!empty($CFG->commentsperpage)) ? $CFG->commentsperpage : 15,
+            'canpost'  => $commentobject->can_post(),
             'warnings' => $warnings
         );
         return $results;
@@ -164,6 +165,7 @@ class core_comment_external extends external_api {
                 ),
                 'count' => new external_value(PARAM_INT,  'Total number of comments.', VALUE_OPTIONAL),
                 'perpage' => new external_value(PARAM_INT,  'Number of comments per page.', VALUE_OPTIONAL),
+                'canpost' => new external_value(PARAM_BOOL, 'Whether the user can post in this comment area.', VALUE_OPTIONAL),
                 'warnings' => new external_warnings()
             )
         );
diff --git a/comment/tests/externallib_test.php b/comment/tests/externallib_test.php
index e9eb0c2b98b..b34a553720b 100644
--- a/comment/tests/externallib_test.php
+++ b/comment/tests/externallib_test.php
@@ -125,6 +125,7 @@ class core_comment_externallib_testcase extends externallib_advanced_testcase {
         $this->assertCount(2, $result['comments']);
         $this->assertEquals(2, $result['count']);
         $this->assertEquals(15, $result['perpage']);
+        $this->assertTrue($result['canpost']);
 
         $this->assertEquals($user->id, $result['comments'][0]['userid']);
         $this->assertEquals($user->id, $result['comments'][1]['userid']);
diff --git a/comment/upgrade.txt b/comment/upgrade.txt
index 2510a99b488..551e77d8302 100644
--- a/comment/upgrade.txt
+++ b/comment/upgrade.txt
@@ -4,4 +4,4 @@ information provided here is intended especially for developers.
 === 3.8 ===
   * External function get_comments now returns the total count of comments and the number of comments per page.
     It also has a new parameter to indicate the sorting direction (defaulted to DESC).
-
+  * The Webservice core_comment_get_comments now indicates if the current user can post comments in the requested area.