ASSESSMENT APPEALS PROCEDURE

INTRODUCTION  

 A student may wish to appeal against a result notified to them by a member of the centres tutoring staff. Without prejudice to the outcome of the appeal, a student may continue to attend classes and to make use of the facilities whilst their appeal is being heard.  A student should not be disadvantaged in any way or prevented from progressing to the next level of their programme while their appeal is being considered.  However, students, having completed their studies, which have grounds for an appeal and have submitted a request for a review of an assessment result by a Tutor or Managing Director, will be unable to receive their award until the matter has been fully resolved.  These regulations do not cover student complaints.  The complaints procedure can be found in policy folder in the centre.  

AIM OF THE PROCEDURE  

The aim of the regulations is to ensure there is a fair and consistent procedure available to students who have grounds for the appeal of an assessment decision, to request a review of that decision.   

GROUNDS FOR APPEAL  

  • Appeals against the decision of a tutor will normally only be considered on the following grounds: a. that a student’s performance was adversely affected by illness or other factors which they were unable or, with valid reason, unwilling to divulge, to their lesson prior to undertaking an assessment, or not made known to the Tutor or Managing Director when it made its decision about the student. The student’s appeal must be accompanied by documentary evidence acceptable to the Managing Director who considers the appeal in the first instance

  • that evidence is produced that there was material administrative error, or that the assessment process was not conducted in accordance with the programme regulations 

  • that evidence is produced that some other material irregularity has occurred.  

APPEALS PROCEDURE  

Stage 1 – Informal Procedure; A student who is dissatisfied with an assessment result must, in the first instance, discuss the matter with the appropriate staff at the Centre.  The relevant Tutor or Managing Director where the student is enrolled may be the likely choices for this initial discussion.  This should normally be done within ten working days of receiving the result of any assessment.  

This initial discussion will not alter the student’s right to follow the formal procedure (detailed below) but will represent an early opportunity for ambiguities to be resolved and circumstances considered prior to decisions being taken on the assessment.  [It should be 

noted that all assessment decisions on qualifications are subject to internal moderation and may be selected for external moderation.]  

Stage 2 – Formal Procedure; If the matter is not resolved through the informal procedure, a student who wishes to appeal should do so in writing setting out the reasons for the appeal and including documentary evidence, using the appeals proforma.  This should be sent to the appropriate senior manager (students will be provided with the name and contact details of this individual at induction) and must normally be done within 15 working days of having received notification of any assessment result.   

On receipt of the formal appeal, the senior manager will acknowledge the appeal immediately, and investigate the appeal normally within ten working days of receipt of the appeal.  The investigation could involve interviews with the Tutor, the internal moderator, the managing Director and the student.  Following the investigation, the decision of the Managing Director will be confirmed in writing to the student within five working days of the investigation being concluded, together with information on how the appeal has been investigated.  The result of the appeal will also be submitted to the relevant staff.  

Stage 3 – Appeals Panel; Should the Managing Director deem the grounds for appeal to be sufficient, they shall convene the appeals panel.  This panel should consist of members from academic teaching staff not involved in the case, the Managing Director, Training Manager and an External Quality Auditor. 

The student will be given written notice of the date and place of the hearing and their rights under this procedure at least ten working days prior to the hearing.  The student must acknowledge receipt of this notification in writing before the hearing will take place.  

 Members of the appeals panel must receive the following documentation at least five working days before the date of the hearing: a. the student’s appeal proforma, together with supporting documentary evidence b. the results of the initial investigation carried out by the managing Director, if appropriate c. the unit or programme assessment requirements e. the results of all the students taking the particular assessment.  

Evidence submitted on the day of the hearing will not normally be considered.   

The Managing Director will inform the student in writing of the outcome of the hearing no later than five working days after the hearing has taken place and will be responsible for ensuring that the action recommended by the panel is satisfactorily implemented.  

Stage 4 - If all stages of DAC Training Solutions procedure have been exhausted, the learner has the right to appeal to the relevant Governing body at the below address if they are not happy about the outcome.

 

Edexcel Pearson

190 High Holborn,

London

RIGHTS AND POSITION OF STUDENTS  

The student shall receive in advance of a hearing, all papers circulated to members of the appeals panel, except any documents deemed by the Managing Director to be confidential to the appeals panel.  

The appeals procedure shall be sent to the student with the notice of a hearing.  

The student and any other person(s) cited in the appeal, each accompanied if so desired by a friend, has the right to appear before and be heard by the appeals panel. Under this procedure the definition of ‘friend’ does not include members of the legal profession engaged to act in their professional capacity.  

While the appeal remains unresolved, the student shall have the right to proceed to the next part or stage of the programme, or to recommence the part or stage of the programme on which they were last enrolled as appropriate to the particular case.  A student should also not be disadvantaged in any way or prevented from progressing to the next level of their programme.   

However students, having completed their studies, who have grounds for an appeal and have submitted a request for a review of an assessment result by a Tutor or Managing Director will be unable to qualify until the matter has been fully resolved.    

Students’ privacy and confidentiality will be respected, wherever possible.  However, unless specifically stated otherwise, it will be assumed that students have given permission to disclose as necessary any information provided.  If students wish any matter to remain confidential, they must so state when lodging their formal appeal.  In such cases, it may not be possible to fully consider the appeal.  

RIGHTS OF LECTURERS AND PROGRAMME PROGRESSION BOARDS  

The Managing Director shall be invited, prior to the meeting, to submit to the appeals panel comments relevant to the case under discussion.  

 A tutor whose decision is being appealed against or involved in deciding about a student that has been appealed against, shall have the right to be represented at the hearing of an appeals panel. 

PROCEDURE AT A HEARING  

The procedure to be followed at a hearing shall be determined by the Managing Director in consultation with other members of the appeals panel at the commencement of the hearing.  According to the circumstances, the parties to the appeal may be seen separately (in whatever order is deemed appropriate) or together.  The appeals panel will normally ask the student, the relevant staff member(s) involved, and all witnesses to leave before considering the evidence and reaching a decision.    

Once the appeals panel has determined an outcome, the student, and any other relevant parties, should be provided with a ‘completion of procedures letter’.  The letter will include a clear written statement confirming that the internal procedures have reached completion, the outcome that has been reached, and the reasons behind the outcome.    

The letter should also advise the student of any relevant external procedures to which they may have recourse if they remain dissatisfied with the outcome or response to their appeal.  Further information, such as how and when any remedy will be implemented, might also be included.  

REPORTING PROCEDURE AND CONFIDENTIALITY OF HEARING  

The proceedings of appeals hearings shall be confidential to the parties involved.  A report of the decision shall be communicated to the Centre, together with any specific recommendations or observations that the appeals panel decides to make to its parent body.  

 A report of the hearing shall be made available to the members of the appeals panel, the student concerned, and to all relevant parties involved, including the Managing Director, if appropriate, who may in turn circulate it to the board if decisions taken about a student are subject to reconsideration.  The report shall be confidential to those persons to whom it is circulated.   

 If the report recommends annulment of the decision of a tutor, Manager Director must take appropriate action, including where necessary reconstituting the Managing Director, to receive new recommendations concerning the assessment of the student(s).  

The Centre will receive a report from the appeals panel and monitor and review the effectiveness of the appeals process regularly, enhancing the procedure in line with developments in good practice.  

 If the report recommends the appeal be dismissed, the student may have a further right of appeal through the appropriate awarding body appeals procedure.  

TIMESCALE OF ASSESSMENT APPEALS PROCEDURE 

Stage Timescale Appeals procedure Outcome 1 Within ten working days of receiving assessment result Informal procedure Student tries to resolve matter by informal discussion with appropriate staff.  Appeal still unresolved. Possible resolution   Within 15 working days of receiving an assessment result Formal procedure At this stage, the student must supply a form of appeal to the Managing Director with evidence where appropriate, who will immediately acknowledge receipt of appeal.   Within ten working days of receipt of an appeal wherever possible, a full investigation of the appeal will be conducted within 10 working days of receipt of an appeal.    

Five working days of conclusion of investigation 

The decision of the Managing Director will be confirmed in writing to the student within five working days of the investigation being concluded, together with information on how the appeal has been investigated

Possible resolution 

 If an appeal is made to the chair of Academic Council, the chair shall determine if the grounds for appeal are sufficient.  The decision of the Managing Director is final in this respect. 

Possible resolution 

 Ten working days prior to hearing 

Appeals Panel If the grounds for appeal are deemed sufficient. The student will be given written notice of the date and place of the hearing and their rights and must acknowledge receipt of the notification in writing before the hearing will take place.  

 Within five working days of the hearing 

The Managing Director will inform the student in writing of the outcome of the hearing no later than five working days after the hearing has taken place. 

 All records of an Appeal will be retained for a period of 5 years.