Guidance

DAO customer service statement

Updated 17 November 2022

Customer Service Statement

Recognising Quality and Competence: supporting Defence with accreditation and specialist bespoke qualification opportunities.

Vision

The vision of the Defence Awarding Organisation (DAO) is to deliver a customer service that is dynamic and attuned to customer needs. This will be achieved by working with customers and using DAO’s detailed knowledge of the awarding organisation sector, whilst providing a robust accreditation service that is compliant with the requirements of the Qualifications Regulators. DAO will be adaptable, courteous, and behave with integrity.

DAO provides an accreditation service where armed forces personnel (regular and reserve), MOD civil servants can gain formal recognition of their achievements and obtain a qualification, which has been subjected to a rigorous quality assurance process; employers will have confidence that their employees have reached an agreed level of skills and knowledge.

DAO takes seriously all feedback from customers. This is critical to help DAO and Centres continually improve the services they provide. Periodically, a customer satisfaction survey involving all approved Centres and a selection of Learners will be undertaken; however, DAO welcomes feedback at any time.

Feedback may be complimentary, suggestions for improvements, concerns or a complaint. DAO have processes in place to ensure all feedback is addressed quickly and effectively. Compliments and suggestions for improvement to DAO services should be sent to the SO3 Business Co-ordinator by e-mail to DEFAC-DAO@mod.gov.uk or by post to the following address, or by telephoning (01793) 314782:

SO3 DAO Business Co-ordinator
Defence Awarding Organisation
Defence Academy of the United Kindgom
Room TF08 Trenchard
Shrivenham
Swindon
SN6 8LA

DAO will acknowledge receipt of the any feedback within 5 working days and will keep the customer updated on follow-up action, as necessary.

Complaints

In the event of a complaint, it should be submitted using the DAO Complaints Policy. The DAO Complaints Policy and Complaints Form can be found on the DAO website. DAO will acknowledge receipt of the complaint within 5 working days and notify the complainant of the outcome, or the actions to be taken as a result of the complaint within 10 working days.

Appeals against decisions made by DAO

Appeals against decisions made by DAO must go through the appeals process, which is detailed in the enquiries and appeals policy. DAO will acknowledge receipt of the appeal within 5 working days and notify the appellant of the outcome of the appeal within 10 working days.

Malpractice and Maladministration

Actual or suspected malpractice or maladministration should be reported through the malpractice and maladministration process detailed within the DAO Malpractice and Maladministration Policy, available on the DAO website. DAO will acknowledge receipt within 5 working days and keep the informant updated of the actions that are being undertaken and the timescales involved. DAO will also notify the informant of the outcome of any investigation.

Approval, External Quality Assurance and Certification

DAO will allocate External Quality Assurers (EQAs) to centres within 2 months of EQA visit due date. DAO will provide a decision in relation to Centre Approval and/or qualification approval within 21 days of EQA visit.

Registration

DAO requires learners to be registered against the relevant qualification prior to the commencement of the underpinning training course. However, it is acknowledged that this may not always be possible but registration must be undertaken prior to assessment, in order to protect the learner and allow for appeal or compliant if required. DAO will process and confirm all Learner registrations within 10 working days.

DAO centres should use the Unique Learning Number (ULN) as the default identifier when registering a learner, though Service/Staff Number is permissible when it has not been possible to obtain the ULN. DAO will use the ULN as the primary identifier of a Learner.

Publication of Results and issuing certificates

DAO does not undertake grading aggregation of results, results are either pass, or did not achieve standard. Results are to be published by centres to learners within 30 working days of the last assessment supporting a qualification. DAO qualification certificates will be printed and issued by DAO within 3 weeks after the 7-day claim period is initiated by a centre.

Enquiries about results

Enquiries about results must go through the enquiries and appeals process. The Enquiries and Appeals policy and Enquiry Form can be found on the DAO website. DAO will acknowledge receipt of the enquiry within 5 working days and notify the enquirer of the outcome of the enquiry within 10 working days.

Retention of Learner Records approval, External Quality Assurance and Certification

DAO Centres must keep Learner records up to date. Any portfolios produced by Learners are the property of the Learner. The Centre must ensure that all portfolios are available for quality assurance purposes. Centres are required to keep the following records for a minimum of 3 years:-

Assessment plans, action plans and feedback reports Learner interview records Records of achievement/tracking documents IQA sampling plans, records and feedback reports

Fees

DAO does not currently charge learners for certification, nor centres for maintaining DAO centre status.

Review of the Customer Service Statement

This statement will be reviewed annually and revised as necessary in response to customer feedback, changes in legislation and guidance from Ofqual.