Appealing Against Assessment Decisions Policy and Process

General Principals

General Principals

Pinehirst Education recognises that there may from time to time be disputes regarding assessment decisions. The purpose of this Policy and Process is to support students and staff to appropriately deal with any such disputes with the aim of these being resolved effectively.

It is the Pinehirst Education Policy that all appeals against assessment decisions are considered in an equitable, open, and expedient manner and that they be resolved as early in the Process as possible.


The Appealing Against Assessment Decisions Policy and Process is applicable to all students and staff at all Pinehirst Education Centres.


Paul Morton, Director of Curriculum ,Pinehirst Education June 2023.

Appealing Against Assessment Decisions Policy and Process

 Appealing Against Assessment Decisions Policy and Process 

Pinehirst Education recognises that there may from time to time be disputes regarding assessment decisions. The purpose of this Policy and Process is to support students and staff to appropriately deal with any such disputes with the aim of these being resolved effectively.

It is the Pinehirst Education Policy that all appeals against assessment decisions are considered in an equitable, open, and expedient manner and that they be resolved as early in the Process as possible.


The Appealing Against Assessment Decisions Policy and Process is applicable to all students and staff at all Pinehirst Education Centres.


Process

To be the subject of an appeal, the assessment must appear on the formal assessment strategy for the module, unit, or course.

Pinehirst Education are required to have complaints and appeals procedures in place in line with the conditions of recognition and Provider agreement, and we expect that all Learners are informed of these by Pinehirst Education as part of our induction.

Our Awarding body Open Awards & OCR expects that most appeals made by a Learner in response to internal assessment decisions and the award of qualifications and units to be resolved internally by the Provider.

Learners must follow Pinehirst Education appeals and complaints procedures fully prior to making an appeal to Our Awarding body Open Awards & OCR about assessment decisions made by the Provider which impact on the award of Open Awards qualifications and/or units.

The Learner must make Pinehirst Education aware of his/her intention to submit an appeal to Our Awarding body Open Awards & OCR and ask the Provider for written confirmation that they will release records relating to the appeal.

It is expected that Learners will only appeal directly to Our Awarding body Open Awards & OCR in exceptional circumstances where a Learner is appealing against the conduct of an internal appeals procedure that they do not consider has been conducted fairly or in accordance Pinehirst Education processes. Our Awarding body Open Awards & OCR will investigate the processes used by Pinehirst Education to investigate the Learner’s original appeal.

· An appeal by a Learner must be in writing and signed and dated by the Learner. 

· Appeals received by email will be accepted.

· Learners have 30 working days from the date they were notified of the decision against which the appeal is addressing in which to lodge an appeal.

Where the appeal relates to provision that could provide entry to higher education, the enquiry will be expedited.

Our Awarding body Open Awards & OCR does not wish to present a financial barrier to Learners wishing to make an enquiry or appeal and will therefore not levy any charges on individual Learners unless it is found that the enquiry or appeal is frivolous or malicious.

                   

Appellants must be mindful that the outcome of Our Awarding body Open Awards & OCR investigations may affect Learner results. Final achievements could be either increased or decreased as a result of investigations into the appeal. No person involved in making a decision at one stage in the procedures may be involved in making a decision at any subsequent stage. Where the outcome of an appeal brings into question the accuracy of other results, Our Awarding body Open Awards & OCR will take steps to protect the interests of all Learners and will cooperate with any follow-up investigations required by the regulatory authorities and, if necessary, agree appropriate remedial action with them. This may involve a further review of the work of Learners at Pinehirst Education. Our Awarding body Open Awards & OCR may consult the relevant regulatory authority at any point and will act on any advice received.


Stage 1

If students wishes to make an appeal relating to an assessment, the matter should be raised initially with the relevant Assessor. The appeal should be raised orally in the first instance. This must be done within five working days of notification of the assessment decision.

The Assessor will attempt to resolve the complaint informally. He/she shall enquire into the appeal and will discuss it with the complainant, consider the information provided and advise the complainant of the decision. The decision will normally be communicated to the complainant orally, within five working days of the appeal being raised.

If, upon receipt of the decision, the complainant is still dissatisfied with the decision, he/she may progress the appeal to Stage Two. All appeals must be made within five working days of the assessment feedback.


Stage 2

If the appeal has not been resolved at Stage One, the complainant may refer the appeal to the relevant Internal Verifier by completing the Stage Two Appeals Form. The complainant must complete the form by providing full details of the complaint and should address it to the Internal Verifier. This must be done within five working days of the end of Stage One.

The Internal Verifier will review the assessment decision with the Assessor, the Course Tutor The Director of Curriculum /or the External Verifier, as necessary.

The Internal Verifier will consider all the matters pertaining to the assessment and determine the outcome, usually within 20 working days of receipt of the Stage Two appeal. The result of the appeal will be communicated to all parties by completing the appeals form and copying it to all parties concerned.


Stage 3

If the complaint is not resolved to the satisfaction of the student at Stage Two, the appeal will be referred to The Director of Curriculum through the Internal Verifier and via the Tutor who will update the student record. This must be done within five working days of the end of Stage Two.

The Director of Curriculum will consider the appeal with the Internal Verifier and a nominated technical expert and will be supplied with all the documentation submitted in relation to the earlier stages of the Process.

 

The Director of Curriculum will determine the assessment decision. Such decision will be final and will be communicated to all parties in writing. This will usually be within 20 days from receipt of the Stage Three appeal. The decision will then be binding.

 Notes: The Process may, by agreement of the parties concerned, be used for settling a common appeal where more than one individual has the same complaint.


Document Version: 1 (June 2023) ( June 2024)

Appealing Against Assessment Decisions Policy and Process 

Author PNM


Quality Assurance 

This Policy and Procedure maps to the following external quality assurance frameworks 

  • Ofsted Inspection Framework 

  • QAA 

  • QIA 

  • ESFA