• Assessment Appeals Procedure

    Candidate Appeal

    Grounds for appeal

    A candidate may appeal against an assessment decision if he / she believe that the decision is unfair or unreasonable.

    Awareness of the Appeals Process

    All candidates must be informed of the centre's appeals process on commencement of their NVQ programme.

    Note: The candidate right to appeal is contained in all Candidate Books.

    Pre Appeal action

    Where practical the candidate should discuss his / her objection to the assessment decision with the assessor prior to making a formal appeal. The assessor should be open-minded to the points raised by the candidate, discuss the matter with his / her internal verifier and a solution sought which makes an appeal unnecessary. If this cannot be achieved the candidate must be advised of his / her right to appeal.

    The Appeals Process

    The candidate must make appeals in writing to the Centre co-coordinator within 14 days of the candidate being notified of the assessment decision against which the appeal is being made.

    The written appeal must be copied by the Centre coordinator to the assessor who made the decision and to the IV responsible for the assessor.

    The Centre coordinator must identify a member of his / her VQ programme team to evaluate the evidence and give a judgment (the "Appeals Adjudicator").

    This adjudicator must hold units D32 and D33 or A1, be technically competent in the skill area being assessed and be knowledgeable of the systems and procedures of the Awarding Body.

    The Centre coordinator must ensure that the organisational structure of the Centre is not a barrier to an objective judgment of the appeal. If necessary the Centre should access independent resource to achieve this.

    Conclusion

    The Appeals Adjudicator and where appropriate independent advisor will report back to the Centre coordinator who will make the final judgment on the appeal.

    The adjudicator's judgment must be communicated to the candidate by the Centre coordinator in writing within 21 days of the written appeal being received.

    This communication is to be copied to the assessor against whom the appeal was raised, his / her IV, and the appeal adjudicator.

    The Centre coordinator must retain full details of the appeal within the Centre file for a period not less than 5 years.

    If the appeal is successful the Centre coordinator must identify the specific failure in the centre's assessment regime and implement corrective actions.

    If the candidate is dissatisfied with the result of the appeal he / she may escalate the issue to the External Verifier at the Awarding Body, contact details of which will be supplied by the Centre coordinator upon request.

    Note:

    The Centre coordinator is at liberty to seek guidance from the EV on any aspect of the appeals process.

    A successful appeal is not a reversal of the original assessment outcome: to establish the candidate may need to be re-assessed. The timescales quoted in these procedures are normal maximums. In extreme cases the timescales may need to be longer.