Appeal Procedure

Learners will be informed

All candidates are to be informed that an appeals procedure relating to the Assessment process exists within the Centre and all candidates will be given a copy of this procedure on request.

All candidates should have access to a responsive appeals procedure as it represents a key feature of the summative and formative assessment methods that are used by Youth Cymru.

The appeal procedure responds to a recognitions that:

  • Assessment of the required evidence on an Agored course can be a continuous process with assessors giving constructive feedback at the time of the assessments.
  • At the time of the assessment feedback, records of the agreed outcome should be kept, dated and signed by the assessor.
  • It is important for the assessment team to consider appeals and to improve, where appropriate the assessment system.
  • The consideration of appeals that are made will help the internal verifier to monitor the assessment process and improve it where appropriate.
  • This process will contribute to the standardisation of assessment.
  • If the learner disagrees with an assessment, 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 the criterion that has not been met.
  • 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 Internal Verifier (IV).

Formal Appeals Procedure

If, after the informal discussion with the IV, the candidate wishes to make an appeal, the learner must ask the IV in writing for a re-assessment. This must be done within 5 working days of receiving the original assessment result and addressed to the Youth Cymru Lead IV or  Youth Cymru’s Training and Accreditation Manager

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 IV 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 IV appeals panel to meet

The IV team will then normally meet within 10 working days of the receipt of the appeal by the lead IV/Training and Accreditation Manager, with re-assessment, if deemed necessary taking place within 5 working days of the appeals meeting.

The IV team should 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 judgement that adequate evidence of competence has been shown;
  • An opportunity to re-submit for assessment within a revised agreed timescale.

If the candidate is still not satisfied with the decision at this stage and this procedure has been exhausted, then the candidate can contact the awarding body.