Appeals Policy
Introduction
Duty of the Centre
It is our responsibility as an Approved Centre to ensure that all learners are aware of the appeals process and all learners will have access to a responsive appeals process.
The Quality Assurance Co-ordinator will be independent to the decision at the focus of the appeal and as such, will remain impartial.
• Assessment of evidence against the specified Assessment Criteria is a process with assessors giving constructive feedback at the time of the assessments through assessment feedback.
• If the learner disagrees with an assessment, or proposed assessment plan, the learner will be expected to explain the basis of the disagreement to the assessor at the time of the feedback session. The assessor must be able to highlight clearly to the learner why the criterion has not been met, or the reasons for the proposed assessment plan. This type of ‘negotiation’ does not constitute a formal appeal.
• If, after such a feedback session, the disagreement has not been resolved, both the assessor and learner should request advice promptly from the Centre’s Quality Assurance Co-ordinator who will try to resolve the issue. If this is not possible, the Appeals Procedure shown below should be invoked.
• The consideration of appeals that are made will help the internal quality process and the Centre’s Quality Assurance Co-ordinator to monitor the assessment process and improve it, where appropriate.
• Records of all formal appeals will be recorded in the Appeals Log which will be available to any representative of the Awarding Body.
Formal Appeals Procedure
If, after the informal discussion with the Quality Assurance Co-ordinator, the learner wishes to make a formal appeal, the learner must request this in writing to the Quality Assurance Coordinator. This must be done within 10 working days of receiving the original assessment feedback and addressed to the Quality Assurance Co-ordinator. The Quality Assurance Co-ordinator will record this in the Appeals Log.
There is a cost to the learner for this formal appeal of £25.00.
Learners can appeal against the following;
• The assessment plan – the learner can appeal if they do not agree with the suggested methods, location, time and criteria
• The assessment – the learner has the right to appeal if they feel that the assessment differed from what was agreed on the assessment plan or they feel that they did not receive a fair assessment.
• The assessment decision – the learner can appeal if they feel the assessor’s judgment was unfair.
The Quality Assurance Co-ordinator on receipt of the formal appeal from the learner will:
• Try to seek a solution negotiated between the relevant assessor and learner
• If it is not possible to reach an agreement then a date will be set for an Appeals Panel to meet
The Appeals Panel will consist of a minimum of two qualified assessors not involved in the original decision. It will meet within 15 working days of the receipt of the appeal by the Quality Assurance Co-ordinator.
The Appeals Panel will ensure that full original details in writing are obtained from both the assessor originally involved and the learner.
The outcome of the appeal may be as follows;
• Confirmation of the original decision
• A re-assessment by an independent assessor
• A judgment that adequate evidence meeting the assessment criteria has been shown; An opportunity to re-submit for assessment within a revised agreed timescale.
The written decision of the Appeals Panel will be issued to the learner within five working days of meeting. This decision will be recorded in the Appeals Log.
The Appeals Log will be available to any representative of ProTrainings and/or a representative of the Awarding Body.
If the candidate is still not satisfied with the decision at this stage and this procedure has been exhausted, then the candidate can contact ProTrainings Europe.
The learner has the right to complain and appeal to the Awarding Organisation (TQUK) once they have invoked and exhausted ProTrainings Procedures.
SCA Scottish Qualifications complaints
If you are attending any course certified through SQA Accreditation you can make a formal complaint direct to SQA Accreditation at any time. Please provide them with as much information as possible about the course, instructor and the complaint that you wish to make. Please ensure that you include your full details and the details of the person on the course.