APPEALS AND COMPLAINTS POLICY

1. Introduction

All student work being assessed by teachers for external qualifications is carried out fairly, consistently and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the specification relating to the qualification.

Ziauddin Schools and Colleges are committed to ensuring that:

  • Internal assessments are conducted by teachers who have the appropriate knowledge, understanding and skills and who have been appropriately trained to do this
  • Assessment evidence provided by candidates is produced and authenticated according to the requirements of the Awarding Body (i.e. Edexcel, Ziauddin University Education Board etc.) for the subject concerned
  • The consistency of internal assessment will be maintained by internal moderation and standardisation by the school/college

2. Procedure

If a student has any concerns about the procedures used in assessing their internally assessed work (i.e. controlled assessment/coursework/portfolios, etc) s/he should discuss the matter with the Principal immediately.

Following that, if the matter remains unresolved, the formal appeals procedure should be followed. The student or parent has the right to appeal against any decisions regarding candidate’s internally assessed work   especially where this occurs on the grounds of plagiarised work or other forms of academic malpractice.

Written Appeals Procedure

In the first instance, the student or parent should complete the ZES Complaints Form and attempt to resolve the issue informally.

If this does not satisfactorily resolve the issue, the student or parent can appeal the decision. The student or parent wishing to appeal against the decisions made, or the procedures used in resolving the issue informally of internal assessment, should write to the Examinations Coordinator in the school/college as soon as the need for appeal arises.

The deadline for the receipt of the complaint form which will underpin the appeals process to reach the school/college is ten days prior to the start of the written (external) examination series. Internal appeals will be considered, and resolved, by the date of the last externally assessed paper of the series.

On receipt of a written appeal (see appeals form at the end of this policy), an enquiry into the internal assessment will be conducted by the Examinations Coordinator and the school/college Principal.

This enquiry will consider whether the procedures used in the internal assessment conformed to the published requirement of the Awarding Body (i.e. Edexcel).

The outcome of the appeal will be reported in writing to the student or parent (including relevant correspondence with the Awarding Body) before the publication of the exam results.

A written record of the appeal and the outcome will be kept on file at the school/college and the Awarding Body will be informed of any amendments.

Inquiries into Results

Any student who wants to query a mark/grade awarded upon issue of results should follow the procedure described below:

  1. Contact the Examinations Coordinator and the subject teacher as soon as possible to discuss the mark/grade.
  2. The Examinations Coordinator will advise on the options available to query the mark/grade and the costs involved.

NOTE: Students should be aware that inquiries can result in marks/grades being confirmed or lowered as well as raised.

  • Students must sign the appeals form to confirm that they understand the possible consequences of querying a result.
  • The subject teacher will review the student’s marks/grades and discuss with the Examinations Coordinator and the school/college Principal to agree on the appropriate action taking into account the breakdown of marks, the grade boundaries and the student’s predicted grades.

If the school/college agrees to support the inquiry:

  1. The request, together with the student’s signed appeals form, should be made to the Examinations Coordinator as soon as possible.
  2. The cost of the inquiry will be borne by the student. If the inquiry is successful, the fee will be refunded.

If the school/college does not agree to support the inquiry:

  1. A student may appeal against the decision by the school/college not to support the inquiry.
  2. Appeals should be made in writing to the Examinations Coordinator as soon as possible. The appeal should state, in detail, the reason(s) for the appeal (see appeals form at the end of this policy). This appeal should be signed and dated.
  3. The appeal information will be reviewed by the Examinations Officer and the Principal.
  4. The outcome of the appeal will be communicated by telephone and letter post within two working days.

This decision is final.

Appeals Form

Name of appellant:

Please tick to indicate the nature of your appeal:

  1. Appeal against the decision of the complaint regarding the school’s/college’s delivery of a qualification
  2. Appeal against the decision of the complaint regarding the school’s/college’s administration of a qualification





Complaints

ZES ensures that the complaints procedure is readily accessible, for example, published on the school and college website with a timescale for review.

Points for consideration when using this procedure:

  1. A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction however made, by a parent or other with a legitimate interest in the school/college. It may be about ZES policies or procedures, the conduct, actions or omissions of members of staff employed at the school/college or the standards of teaching and learning.
  2. The procedure outlined in the following section is not for complaints from staff about matters relating to their duties or employment at the school/college, or for staff grievances, or for complaints they may have about parents or others. Those issues should be dealt with through Ziauddin University’s HR staffing procedures and policies.
  3. This complaints procedure is intended to be used by those persons who have a complaint relating to the school or college and no other alternative for addressing that complaint. Where a University appeal mechanism or legislative process takes precedence, then that procedure must be followed and the procedure outlined below in the following section will not apply.
  4. Initially, most complaints will be oral. There should not be a requirement for the complainant to put their complaint in writing at the informal stage. However, schools and colleges should be mindful that English may not be the complainant’s first/preferred language and due consideration and appropriate action should be taken where this is known to be the case.
  5. Schools/Colleges should keep a record of all complaints made and the actions taken. When receiving anonymous complaints in the majority of cases the only action the Principal will take is to log the complaint and a record of any actions taking in response to the complaint. However there may be exceptions to this where the Principal feels further action should be taken and it is for the Principal to use his/her discretion in making that decision and in deciding how to proceed in such cases. These may include complaints that raise serious concerns such as child protection allegations or bullying.
  6. It is important that all concerns are taken seriously. Children learn best when there is an effective partnership between the school/college and the parents. All members of the school/college community are entitled to have their points of view properly considered and heard.
  7. It is very important that all complaints are dealt with as swiftly and as fairly as possible. Failure to address complaints promptly can result in greater dissatisfaction. Complaints and concerns relating to issues, which occurred more than three months before will generally be ruled “out of time”.
  8. When investigating a complaint the Principal of the school/college should try to establish what happened, discover what the complainant feels would remedy the situation and interview those involved, keeping notes of the interviews. It may be appropriate under certain extenuating circumstances to have another person present to take notes on occasions or for conversations to be recorded – but audio/video recording is strongly discouraged.

Complaints Procedure

Stage one: Local resolution of the problem (the informal stage)

In the vast majority of cases a problem can and should be resolved by contacting the class teacher/ subject teacher or member of staff directly involved with the problem. The initial communication with the member of staff may be by letter, telephone conversation or in person by appointment. Where this action does not lead to the problem being resolved, then the complaint should be dealt with through the formal stages of this procedure.

Stage two: The Formal Stage

If the complainant is not satisfied with the response from the member of staff at stage 1 or if the complaint is of a serious nature, the complainant should be advised that the next stage is to put their complaint in writing to the Principal. When writing to the Principal the complainant should seek to include details that might assist the investigation, such as witnesses, dates and times of events and copies of relevant documents.

The Principal will be responsible for carrying out an investigation or appointing another senior member of staff to carry out the investigation and report their findings to the Principal who will then reach a conclusion based on the investigation. The person appointed as the ‘Investigator’ should keep notes of any interviews held as part of the investigation.

In order to clarify the specific details of the complaint, the nature of the complaint and any background to the complaint, the investigator may feel it necessary to meet with the complainant first. It is good practice to supply interviewees with the notes and ask them to sign the notes for accuracy.

At the conclusion of the investigation, the investigator will compile a report detailing their findings and any recommendations or actions they propose need to be considered by the Principal.

The Principal should write to the complainant within 5 working days of receipt of their letter, setting out who is conducting the investigation and that the Principal will write again to the complainant within a further 20 school/college days setting out the actions taken to investigate the complaint and their findings. However, the investigation period for a more complex complaint could be longer than 20 days. The complainant should be advised if this is the case.

Before the investigator interviews a member/s of staff, they must be informed that they can be accompanied by a colleague.

Once satisfied that the investigation has been concluded and a decision on the complaint has been reached, the Principal will notify the complainant in writing of the conclusion and decision made. The complainant will be informed of any action that will be taken as a result of the complaint except where this would be a breach of confidentiality e.g. taking any formal action against individual members of staff which would remain confidential. This letter of notification of the outcome should generally be done no later than 20 working days. The Principal may feel it appropriate to meet with the complainant to communicate the findings in person; in this event the decision should also be confirmed in writing.

The outcome of the investigation would usually be one of the following, but not limited to:

  • The evidence indicates that the complaint was substantiated and therefore upheld
  • The complaint was substantiated in part and the part upheld and identified only is upheld
  • There is insufficient evidence to reach a conclusion so the complaint is inconclusive and not proven
  • The complaint is not substantiated by the evidence and therefore not upheld

In the outcome letter, the complainant will also be informed that if they are not satisfied with the outcome of the investigation, they may request that the Director of Schools and Colleges Complaints Review Panel can review the process followed by the Principal in handling the complaint.

The complainant must be advised in writing of exactly who to contact and the timescale by which they should make contact, should they wish to pursue the matter to stage 3 – the Director of Schools and Colleges Complaints Review Panel. This stage is set out below.

This request must be made in writing to the Director within 10 school/college days of receiving the outcome from the Principal and must include a statement specifying reasons for the request for the review and any perceived failures arising from the outcome of the investigation.

Stage three: The Director of Schools and Colleges Review Panel (For review of complaints that have not been resolved by Stage 2, or for complaints pertaining to a Principal in Ziauddin Schools and Colleges)

Review Panels are convened at the request of a complainant to review the school’s/ college’s decision to a complaint at stage 2.

If the complaint has not been settled at the formal stage and the person making the complaint is not satisfied with the outcome or the way it was dealt with, they can ask for the process to be reviewed by the review panel.

The Review Panel’s purpose, in each case, is to review (not to re-investigate) the original complaint and the school’s/ college’s response to it, including its investigation and the outcome. The Review Panel’s role is not to undertake a re-investigation of the case, nor to extend its reference beyond the above matters.

The role of the stage 3 Review Panel is to review the actions and supporting evidence of the stage 2 investigation. The Panel is not permitted to do the following:

  • To re-investigate the complaint
  • to criticise the complainant for any “contributory negligence” that may have contributed to the difficulties
  • to be an alternative to a disciplinary hearing, as far as staff are concerned
  • To hear any new complaints (except if it relates to the length of time taken to deal with the substantive complaint)

Any review of the process followed by the Principal shall be by a panel chaired by the Director of Schools and Colleges, including the School/College HR Manager, with at least one other member of Ziauddin Management.

The review will normally be conducted through a consideration of written evidence but any requests received to make an oral representation should be considered sympathetically.

The panel will consider the letter from the complainant and if needed request that the complainant to submit in writing (within a reasonable timescale) any further information needed by them relating to their reasons for requesting a review and any perceived failures arising from the investigation process followed. The Principal will be invited to make a written response to the complainant’s submissions.

The panel should be provided with all records, notes or information considered during the investigation (unless prevented from doing so for reasons such as data protection).

The panel should communicate its findings to the complainant and Principal within 25 working days of receipt of the complainant’s letter requesting a review.

The decision made by the Review Panel shall be considered to be final.

Dealing with unreasonable, serial or persistent complaints

Ziauddin Schools and Colleges is committed to dealing with all complaints fairly and impartially, and to providing a high quality service to those who complain. We will not normally limit the contact complainants have with the school/college. However, we do not expect our staff to tolerate unacceptable behaviour and will take action to protect staff from that behaviour, including that which is abusive, offensive or threatening.

We define unreasonable complainants as ‘those who, because of the frequency or nature of their contacts with the school/college, hinder our consideration of their or other people’s complaints.

A complaint may be regarded as unreasonable when the person making the complaint:

  • refuses to articulate their complaint or specify the grounds of a complaint or the outcomes sought by raising the complaint, despite offers of assistance
  • refuses to co-operate with the complaints investigation process while still wishing their complaint to be resolved
  • refuses to accept that certain issues are not within the scope of a complaints procedure
  • insists on the complaint being dealt with in ways which are incompatible with the adopted complaints procedure or with good practice
  • introduces trivial or irrelevant information which the complainant expects to be taken into account and commented on, or raises large numbers of detailed but unimportant questions, and insists they are fully answered, often immediately and to their own timescales
  • makes unjustified complaints about staff who are trying to deal with the issues, and seeks to have them replaced
  • changes the basis of the complaint as the investigation proceeds
  • repeatedly makes the same complaint (despite previous investigations or responses concluding that the complaint is groundless or has been addressed)
  • refuses to accept the findings of the investigation into that complaint where the school’s/college’s complaint procedure has been fully and properly implemented and completed
  • seeks an unrealistic outcome
  • makes excessive demands on school/college time by frequent, lengthy, complicated and stressful contact with staff regarding the complaint in person, in writing, by email and by telephone while the complaint is being dealt with

A complaint may also be considered unreasonable if the person making the complaint does so either face-to-face, by telephone or in writing or electronically:

  • maliciously
  • aggressively
  • using threats, intimidation or violence
  • using abusive, offensive or discriminatory language
  • knowing it to be false
  • using falsified information
  • publishing unacceptable information in a variety of media such as in social media websites and newspapers

Complainants should limit the numbers of communications with a school/college while a complaint is being progressed. It is not helpful if repeated correspondence is sent (either by letter, phone, email or text) as it could delay the outcome being reached.

Whenever possible, the Principal will discuss any concerns with the complainant informally before applying an ‘unreasonable’ marking against the complaint.

If the behaviour continues the Principal will write to the complainant explaining that their behaviour is unreasonable and asking them to change it. For complainants who excessively contact school/college, causing a significant level of disruption, we may specify methods of communication and limit the number of contacts in a communication plan. This will usually be reviewed after 6 months.

In response to any serious incident of aggression or violence, the concerns and actions taken will be put in writing immediately and the police informed. This may include barring an individual from school/college.

Complainants who behave in an unacceptable way

Although fulfilling a public function, Ziauddin schools/colleges are private places. The public has no automatic right of entry. Schools/colleges will therefore act to ensure they remain a safe place for students, staff and other members of their community.

If a parent’s behaviour is a cause for concern, a school/college can ask him/her to leave the premises.

Appendix

Roles and Responsibilities

The Complainant

The complainant or person who makes the complaint will receive a more effective

response to the complaint if he/she:-

  • co-operates with the school/college in seeking a solution to the complaint
  • expresses the complaint in full as early as possible
  • responds promptly to requests for information or meetings or in agreeing the

details of the complaint

  • asks for assistance as needed
  • treats all those involved in the complaint with respect

The Principal

The Principal should:-

  • ensure that the complainant is fully updated at each stage of the procedure
  • liaise with staff members, Director to ensure the smooth running of the complaints procedure
  • keep records
  • be aware of issues regarding the sharing of third party information

The Investigator (if appointed)

The Investigator is the person involved in Stages 1 and 2 of the procedure. The

Investigator’s role can include providing a comprehensive, open, transparent and fair consideration of the complaint through:-

  • sensitive and thorough interviewing of the complainant to establish what has happened and who has been involved
  • consideration of records and other relevant information
  • interviewing staff and children/young people and other people relevant to the

complaint

  • analysing information
  • effectively liaising with the complainant and the Principal as appropriate to clarify what the complainant feels would put things right
  • identifying solutions and recommending courses of action to resolve problems
  • being mindful of the timescales to respond; and responding to the complainant in plain and clear language
  • The person investigating the complaint should make sure that they conduct interviews with an open mind and be prepared to persist in the questioning
  • keep notes of interviews or arrange for an independent note taker to record minutes of the meeting

The Director of Schools and Colleges

The Director has a key role in ensuring that:-

  • meetings are minuted
  • the remit of the convened panel is explained to the complainant and both they and the school/college Principal have the opportunity of putting their case without undue interruption
  • the issues are addressed
  • key findings of fact are made
  • parents and others who may not be used to speaking at such a hearing are put at ease (particularly important if the complainant is a student)
  • the hearing is conducted in an informal manner with everyone treated with respect and courtesy
  • the layout of the room will set the tone – care is needed to ensure the setting is informal and not adversarial
  • the panel is open-minded and acts independently
  • no member of the panel has an external interest in the outcome of the proceedings or any involvement in an earlier stage of the procedure
  • both the complainant and the school/college are given the opportunity to state their case and seek clarity
  • written material is seen by everyone in attendance – if a new issue arises it would be useful to give everyone the opportunity to consider and comment upon it; this may require a short adjournment of the hearing

Review Panel Member

Panellists will need to be aware that:

  • it is important that the review panel hearing is independent and impartial, and that it is seen to be so
  • No member may sit on the panel if they have had a prior involvement in the complaint or in the circumstances surrounding it
  • the aim of the hearing, which will be held in private, will always be to resolve the complaint and achieve reconciliation between the school/college and the complainant
  • However, it must be recognised that the complainant might not be satisfied with the outcome if the hearing does not find in their favour. It may only be possible to establish the facts and make recommendations which will satisfy the complainant that his or her complaint has been taken seriously
  • The panel chair (the Director) will ensure that the proceedings are as welcoming as possible
  • extra care needs to be taken when the complainant is a child/young person and present during all or part of the hearing
  • Careful consideration of the atmosphere and proceedings will ensure that the child/young person does not feel intimidated. The panel should respect the views of the child/young person and give them equal consideration to those of adults
  • If the child/young person is the complainant, the panel should ask in advance if any support is needed to help them present their complaint. Where the child/young person’s parent is the complainant, the panel should give the parent the opportunity to say which parts of the hearing, if any, the child/young person needs to attend

• The parent should be advised however that agreement might not always be possible if the parent wishes the child/young person to attend a part of the meeting which the panel considers not to be in the welfare of the child/young person is paramount

Interviewing Best Practice Tips

Children/young people

Children/young people should be interviewed in the presence of another member of staff, or in the case of serious complaints in the presence of their parents.

Investigation

Care should be taken in these circumstances not to create an intimidating atmosphere. Children/young people should be told what the interview is about and that they can have someone with them.

Staff/Witnesses

  • Explain the complaint and your role clearly to the interviewee and confirm that they understand the complaints procedure and their role in it
  • Staff are allowed a colleague to support them at their interview. The colleague must not be anyone likely to be interviewed themselves, including their line manager
  • Use open, not leading questions
  • Do not express opinions in words or attitude
  • Ask single not multiple questions, i.e. one question at a time
  • Try to separate ‘hearsay’ evidence from fact by asking interviewees how they know a particular fact
  • Persist with questions if necessary. Do not be afraid to ask the same question twice
  • Make notes of each answer given
  • Deal with conflicting evidence by seeking corroborative evidence. If this is not available, consider the option of a meeting between the conflicting witnesses
  • Make a formal record of the interview from the written notes as soon as possible while the memory is fresh. Show the interviewee the formal record, ask if s/he has anything to add, and to sign the record as accurate