Appeals PolicyApril 2024
Version 4.0Public

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 42

REVIEW ARRANGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... 43APPEAL FEES ................................................................................................................................ 44THE SCOPE OF THIS POLICY ....................................................................................................... 45GUIDANCE FOR OUR ACCREDITED ORGANISATIONS (AOS) .................................................. 56GUIDANCE FOR CANDIDATES ................................................................................................... 57

PROCESS FOR RAISING AN APPEAL .......................................................................................... 68INITIAL APPEAL AND INFORMAL ASSESSMENT ...................................................................... 69FORMAL APPEAL......................................................................................................................... 7

10

ACTIONS AND LESSONS LEARNED ........................................................................................... 711

CONTACT US ............................................................................................................................... 7© 2024 PeopleCert | All rights reserved
Process: Manage and Support Exams
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Document Revision History
VersionDate

4.0

03/04/2024

3.0

05/12/2022

2.0

10/03/2022

1.0

29/12/2021

Description of Change
2024 Rebranding•Updates regarding Appeal fees (Section3)•Updates regarding Process for raising an Appeal (Section 7)•Updates regarding Actions and lessons learned (Section10)•
Minor wording updates•
Updates to clarify appeals’ raising process (Section 7)•
Minor wording updates
Initial version of revised Appeals Policy© 2024 PeopleCert | All rights reserved
Process: Manage and Support Exams
ID No: ECS_PO_26 Appeals Policy ver4.0| 03/04/2024
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We have written this policy for our customers:•our accredited organisations (AOs) who deliver courses leading to a PeopleCert certification;•candidates who have enrolled on or taken a course and/or exam leading to a PeopleCertcertification;•candidates who plan to take, or have taken, an exam leading to a PeopleCert certification and who
have organised this exam independently.

This policy outlines the process to follow when you submit an appeal to us, and the process we follow
when responding to your appeal. Our staff also follow this policy so that we manage all appeals fairlyand consistently.

We review this policy annually and revise it when necessary to take account of your feedback. If you
would like to feedback your views, please contact us using the details provided at the end of this policy.

We charge a fee to cover our administrative and people costs to manage appeals, and we review yourappeal application as soon as we receive your appeal fee payment. The appeal fee for all PeopleCert
exams is £85.00. If we uphold your appeal, we refund the appeal fee in full.

This policy covers:
Appeals from our AOs and candidates about:•A decision PeopleCert has made to decline a request to make reasonable adjustments or allow
special consideration.

•A PeopleCert exam or a certification on the basis that we did not follow our published proceduresconsistently and fairly.

•

A PeopleCert decision to amend candidate results following a malpractice and/or maladministration
investigation

Appeal from our AOs about:•Your application to offer a course leading to PeopleCert certification.

•

The contents of a PeopleCert audit report.

•

A PeopleCert decision following an investigation into a complaint we have received about the AO.

•PeopleCert sanctions on an AO following an audit or an investigation into malpractice and/ormaladministration.

Appeals from candidates about:•A decision an AO took on a course leading to a PeopleCert certification.

•A decision PeopleCert took after investigating your complaint.

© 2024 PeopleCert | All rights reserved
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All AO staff who manage, deliver and quality assure courses leading to a PeopleCert certification andall candidates taking such courses must be aware of this policy and its contents.
In addition, as a PeopleCert accredited organisation, you must have documented procedures in yourAO to handle complaints against your decisions, appeals, and requests to you for refunds. You must
inform all your trainees and PeopleCert exam candidates of their right to make a complaint or an appeal
and advise your candidates and staff to retain their course evidence until they receive their exam result.
When you have considered a complaint or an appeal from a trainee, you must notify them in writing of
the investigation results and their right to object further to your decision by contacting us directly if they
consider that their case has not been satisfactorily resolved.
As part of your application to become a PeopleCert AO, we checked that you had documented
procedures in place for handling complaints and appeals. This is re-checked from time-to-time during
our monitoring activities.
If your candidate wishes to complain about their PeopleCert exam experience or their exam
marks/results, we will accept appeals from you on their behalf, if you wish to support them and if you
have their written consent. We will also accept appeals in such cases directly from candidates.
If you decide to appeal to us in your own right or on behalf of your candidate, you must first complete
our PeopleCert Appeals form.

If you wish to appeal a decision your training centre took, you must first have exhausted the centre’s
own appeals process and we will ask you for evidence that you have done this. We expect that mostcandidates will appeal directly to us about their centre only in exceptional circumstances.
If you took an exam delivered by PeopleCert and wish to appeal a decision PeopleCert took about yourexam experience or your exam marks/results, you do not need to appeal to, or through, a centre first.
In these instances, we will consider an appeal from you directly. If you have organised your PeopleCert
exam directly with us, we will follow exactly the same process as we do for candidates who organised
their exam with one of our AOs.
If you wish to ask your centre or another organisation to appeal on your behalf, we will also accept this,but only if you have given your centre or other organisation your written consent to do this for you, andwe will request evidence of this.
Please note before you decide to appeal that:•exam marks/results can go down as well as up after an investigation;•

we have an appeal timeline and process below.

If you have an urgent deadline, please let us know in your appeal application so that, where possible,
we can prioritise your appeal. You can contact us any time if you believe you have additional informationthat will help us with your appeal. Repeated contact without any additional information may delay us ingetting the appeal decision to you on time and it will not expedite the appeal timeframe. We ask thatyou refrain from persistent requests for updates during this time.
If you do decide to appeal to us directly, you must first complete our PeopleCert Appeal form following
the process below.

© 2024 PeopleCert | All rights reserved
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You have one (1) month from the date we notified you of your examination results or the decision thatyou have decided to appeal during which you can lodge your appeal application.
The PeopleCert Appeal form can be found with this Appeals Policy in PeopleCert’s Legal Documents
and Policies on the PeopleCert website. The completed form should be sent tocustomerservice@peoplecert.org. The appeal form requires the following information:•

The candidate name(s) and PeopleCert unique registration number(s) (URN).

•

The date(s) our AO or candidate received notification of any PeopleCert decision.

•

The title of the PeopleCert certification(s) affected, or nature of service(s) affected (as appropriate).

•

The full nature of the appeal in as much detail as possible.

Our AOs and their centres will often undertake their own investigation before an appeal comes to us.
Where this is the case, we also ask you to let us know on the Appeals form:•The contents and outcome of any investigation carried out by the AO.

We acknowledge receipt of appeal applications within 48 hours.
First, we undertake an initial, informal assessment of any appeal application to ensure the applicationis complete and to see if we can resolve any issues for you before it goes to a formal appeal.
In all instances, we will ensure the person carrying out this initial assessment will have no previous
involvement or personal interest in the decision being appealed or in the outcome of the appeal
assessment. If required, we will appoint external investigators/assessors to do this.
If we cannot resolve the issue for you immediately, we aim to complete this initial review of the potential
appeal within 20 business days and will respond to you on or before that date. In some cases, ourreview process may take longer, for example, if we need to visit a centre. In such instances, we willcontact you to inform you of our expected timescale.
Following the initial review of the potential appeal, we will write to you with details of our decision. Wewill either:•Amend our original decision considering the information in your appeal that has now been reviewed;
or•Confirm we stand by our original decision, giving you the reason(s) for this decision.

When you receive our decision, you must confirm, within 10 business days, whether you now accept
this decision or if you wish to proceed to our formal appeals process.

© 2024 PeopleCert | All rights reserved
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If you decide to proceed to a formal appeal, we will arrange for a review to be carried out by a memberof our Quality & Compliance team. We will ensure that the people assigned to undertake the review andto oversee and manage the review have the appropriate level of training and competence and that they
have had no previous involvement or personal interest in the decision or in the outcome of your appeal.
The Quality & Compliance team reviewer will assess all evidence gathered in the initial review stage
and seek to ascertain if we have applied all our procedures fairly, appropriately, and consistently inline with our policies.
The review process may involve:•A discussion with you and with PeopleCert personnel;•A request for further information from you or from PeopleCert personnel;•A centre visit by authorised PeopleCert personnel.

We will let you know the outcome of the review up to 25 business days after the receipt of the formalappeal. The Quality & Compliance team reviewer’s decision is then final.

In situations where your appeal is upheld, or where the appeal is not upheld but uncovers issues weneed to address, PeopleCert will give due consideration to any issues and the outcome of your appeal,and will, as appropriate, take additional actions such as:•Reimbursing the appeals fee where an appeal is upheld;•Amending the profile of the centre or candidate concerned in the PeopleCert Assessment Portal(PASSPORT);•

Identifying any other candidates who may have been affected and correct or, where it cannot becorrected, mitigate as far as possible the effect of the issue (e.g. including amending the results forthe candidate(s) affected following an appropriate investigation);•

Reviewing relevant processes and policies to mitigate the likelihood that the issue could occuragain.

For any queries about the contents of this policy, please contact us by using one of our support channels
found here https://www.peoplecert.org/help-and-support© 2024 PeopleCert | All rights reserved
Process: Manage and Support ExamsID No: ECS_PO_26 Appeals Policy ver4.0| 03/04/2024
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