Enquiries, complaints, appeals and feedback procedure

Introduction

An approved centre may submit enquiries or complaints to the ECITB awarding body to check on assessment decisions affecting candidates’ results and other decisions affecting centres and individual candidates.

An approved centre may appeal to the ECITB awarding body against:

• external verifier decisions
• remedial and/or improvement actions imposed on the centre
• suspension or withdrawal of centre approval
• refusal to grant centre approval

A candidate may appeal against:

• internal and/or external assessment and verification decisions.

Note: Wherever possible, complaints and/or objections to a decision will be discussed by the approved centre and the external verifier prior to submitting a formal appeal. Solutions will be sought to eliminate the need for a formal appeal. However, if a solution or agreement cannot be reached, the centre will be notified of its right to appeal at the conclusion of the discussions.

Enquiries and complaints procedure for approved centres

All enquiries or complaints should be submitted to the awarding body VQ administrator at ECITB Head Office by telephone, fax, e-mail or letter. The VQ administrator will respond to the enquiry or complaint within five working days, either to provide a direct answer or to acknowledge the enquiry and inform the enquirer of the action being taken. Where appropriate, the enquiry will be referred to the relevant external verifier for a response to be given to the approved centre. On occasions it may be necessary for the enquiry or complaint to be referred to the lead verifier or the Director of Regional Support for consideration and a response.

Appeals procedure for approved centres

An appeal must be made in writing (letter, fax or e-mail) by the approved centre to the awarding body VQ administrator within 14 working days of receiving notification of the action against which the appeal is made. The VQ administrator will acknowledge receipt of the appeal to the approved centre and will send a copy of the written appeal to the appropriate external verifier and lead verifier within two working days.

The lead verifier will investigate the circumstances of the appeal and make a decision within 28 working days of the appeal being received. The appeal investigation will focus on whether the awarding body:

• used procedures which were consistent with the relevant codes of practice
• applied procedures properly and fairly in arriving at judgements

The conclusions reached and reasons for the decision will be communicated in writing to the approved centre within a further five working days.

If the approved centre is not satisfied with the decision reached, a further appeal may be submitted within 14 working days of notification of the decision giving written reasons for the dissatisfaction. The further appeal will be submitted to an independent external verifier appointed by the awarding body within five working days. (n.b. the independent external verifier will not be, and will not have been, a member of the awarding body’s board or committees, or an employee or examiner at the awarding body, at any time during the past seven years.) The independent external verifier will investigate and report to the awarding body’s Director of Regional of Regional Support within 28 working days of the further appeal being received. The Director of Regional Support will make the final decision on the appeal. The final decision on the appeal will be communicated in writing to the approved centre within a further five working days. Copies of the decision will be sent to the relevant external verifier, lead verifier, Director of Regional support and the VQ administrator.

Note: The VQ administrator will retain copies of all appeal documents for three years on the approved centre’s file. If the appeal is successful, the awarding body will undertake an investigation to ensure that procedures are corrected for future judgements. Where the outcome of an appeal against an assessment decision is such as to bring into question the accuracy of results for other candidates in the same assessment, appropriate steps will be taken to protect the interests of all candidates and the integrity of the qualification.

Appeals procedure for candidates

Candidate induction must include information about the approved centre’s appeals procedure. The candidate must be aware that s/he can appeal against an assessment decision if s/he believes that the decision is unfair or unreasonable.

Wherever possible, candidates should discuss grievances regarding the assessment decision with the assessor before making a formal appeal. The assessor should be open minded and seek other assessor input if appropriate, discuss with the internal verifier and seek a solution which makes the appeal unnecessary. If this cannot be achieved, the candidate must be advised of their right of appeal.

Approved centres must have a candidate appeals procedure which must include as a minimum:

• appeals by the candidate must be in writing to the approved centre co-ordinator within 14 working days of being notified of an assessment decision
• the written appeal must be copied to the assessor who made the decision and the internal verifier responsible for the assessor
• the centre co-ordinator should identify another member of the VQ team to evaluate the evidence and give a judgement (an appeals adjudicator). The adjudicator should be a qualified assessor in the skill area being assessed, and be knowledgeable of the standard under appeal
• the centre co-ordinator should ensure that no barriers exist to an objective judgement of the appeal. If necessary, the centre should access an independent resource to achieve this
• the appeals adjudicator and, where appropriate, an independent adviser, will report back to the centre co-ordinator who will make the decision on the appeal
• the decision must be communicated to the candidate normally within 20 working days of the written appeal being received. The decision will be copied to the original assessor and the relevant internal verifier
• the approved centre must retain full details of the appeal for a period of not less than three years

The centre may seek guidance from the appropriate external verifier on any aspect of the appeal.

If the candidate is not satisfied with the decision reached, a further appeal may be submitted to the awarding body VQ administrator within 14 working days of notification of the decision giving written reasons for the dissatisfaction. The VQ administrator will acknowledge receipt of the appeal to the candidate and will send a copy of the written appeal to the approved centre, the appropriate external verifier and lead verifier within two working days.

The external verifier will investigate the circumstances of the appeal and report to the lead verifier within 28 working days of the appeal being received. The appeal investigation will focus on whether the approved centre:

• used procedures which were consistent with the relevant codes of practice
• applied procedures properly and fairly in arriving at judgements

The lead verifier will make the final decision on the appeal, which will be communicated in writing to the candidate and the approved centre within a further five working days. Copies of the decision will be sent to the relevant external verifier, lead verifier, Director of Regional Support and the VQ administrator.

Note: The approved centre and the awarding body’s VQ administrator will retain copies of all appeal documents for three years. If the appeal is successful at any stage, the approved centre will undertake an investigation to ensure that procedures are corrected for future judgements. Where the outcome of an appeal against an assessment decision is such as to bring into question the accuracy of results for other candidates in the same assessment, appropriate steps will be taken to protect the interests of all candidates and the integrity of the qualification.

Fees

In normal circumstances, enquiries from approved centres will be dealt with free of charge. Excessive enquiries may result in an administration charge being levied based on the amount of work involved.

The fees associated with the appeals procedure are detailed in Section 17.

Records of enquiries and appeals

The VQ administrator will maintain a record of the number and nature of enquiries and appeals received and the outcomes. An annual report will be prepared for monitoring and evaluating the enquiry service and appeals arrangements.

Feedback

The approved centres will receive a feedback questionnaire on an annual basis and will be required to complete and return to the awarding body. However, approved centres are encouraged to comment at any time to:

Head of Awarding Body Operations
ECITB
Blue Court
Kings Langley
Hertfordshire
WD4 8JP

Fax: 01923 400585