Guidance

DAO enquiry and appeals policy

Updated 17 November 2022

Introduction

The key role of the Defence Awarding Organisation (DAO) is to provide an accreditation service by which individuals can gain formal recognition of their achievements; and gain a qualification through a rigorous quality assurance process, employers will have confidence that their employees have reached an agreed level of knowledge and skills. The DAO develops and provides nationally and internationally recognised qualifications from Levels 2 to 7 on the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF). The DAO approve centres to deliver its regulated qualifications through education and training programmes. The DAO is responsible, and reports annually, to the Office of Qualifications and Examination Regulation (Ofqual).

This policy provides the policy and guidance on Enquiries and Appeals for DAO qualifications and replaces all previous versions. DAO anticipates that most enquiries or appeals from learners to be resolved at Centre level and will only consider an individual learner’s enquiry or appeal after the Centre’s internal enquiries or appeals procedures have been fully utilised. Where a learner remains dissatisfied following the Centre’s internal enquiries or appeals policy they are advised to make an enquiry or appeal, in writing, to DAO. DAO can be contacted at DEFAC-DAO@mod.gov.uk.

This policy is aimed at Centres and Learners, enabling them to check on assessment decisions and other decisions made by the DAO, by submitting enquiries to DAO and, if necessary, appeal against decisions made by the DAO. An appeal will be considered if it relates to assessment decisions based on any of the following:

• Conduct of assessment and quality assurance practices.
• Decisions regarding Reasonable Adjustments and Special Considerations.
• Decisions relating to any action to be taken against a Learner or a Centre following an investigation into malpractice or maladministration.
• The Centre disagrees with the outcome(s) from DAO external quality assurance activities (eg Standards Verifier report).
• A learner considers that a Centre decision continues to disadvantage them after the outcome of the Centre’s internal appeals procedure has been reported (eg a decision concerning assessment outcomes or reasonable adjustments).

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to provide a formal procedure through which Centres and Learners can check with DAO on assessment outcomes and decisions that have been made which affects them directly and, if appropriate, submit an appeal against the decision. The procedure has been designed to provide a simple, straightforward process.

It also provides DAO with a procedure by which:

• Enquiries on assessment decisions and associated quality assurance can be made.
• Appeals can be reviewed by a board within Dev Fac, at Defence Academy, that is independent to DAO.
• Any failure identified through the enquiries and appeals process can be corrected and/or the effect mitigated.
• Appeals and enquiries can be monitored, evaluated and reported to the DAO and improvements could be implemented.

Enquiry and Appeals Procedure

The enquiry and appeal procedure has 3 stages:

• Enquiry
• Appeal
• Independent Review

Stage 1 – Enquiry

Enquiries on assessment decisions and other decisions should be made using the enquiry form available from the DAO website and sent to DEFAC-DAO@mod.gov.uk, or the address below:

Defence Awarding Organisation Defence Academy of the UK Room TF08 Trenchard Shrivenham Swindon SN6 8LA

Acknowledgement of the enquiry will be issued within 5 working days and a response to enquiries will be made within 10 working days. Where a full response cannot be provided within 10 working days, the enquirer will be notified of the reason for the delay, the actions that are taking place in order to respond to the enquiry and the timescales involved.

At this stage, every attempt will be made to answer enquiries in full and resolve any issues, avoiding the need to refer the issue to the Appeals process, stage 2. For example, if the enquiry is about the quality assurance process, DAO will speak to those concerned and review the portfolio in question. However, if the issue cannot be resolved at this stage, Centres and Learners can make an appeal.

Stage 2 – Appeal

Appeals should be made using the Appeals Form available from the DAO website and sent to DEFAC-DAO@mod.gov.uk, or by post, to the address above. Acknowledgment of receipt of the request will be issued within 5 working days.

The Appeal stage involves an Appeal Panel. The Appeal Panel will comprise 3 individuals from the DAO, or chain of command, and at least one of whom will be a senior officer of DAO. The senior manager or other nominated person who has no personal interest in the outcome of the appeal will investigate the appeal and report to the Appeal Panel. The Appeal Panel will convene within 10 working days of receiving the appeal. The Appeal Panel will review the findings of the investigations including the correspondence that has taken place and guidance from the Ofqual in reaching their decision. For example if the appeal is upheld, the mitigating actions may be:

• A re-assessment by a ‘senior’ assessor.
• A reduction or withdrawal of sanctions applied to a Learner or Centre.
• Revoking of certificates if the result on the certificate is now false.
• Adjustment of the Special Considerations allowed.
• A change to Reasonable Adjustments allowed or being made.

A full response will be sent to the appellant within 5 days of the panel meeting. Where appeals are made by individual Learners, they should provide written support from their Centre. It is expected that if the appeal relates to a Centre, the Learner will have exhausted the Centre’s own appeals process.

If the appellant is dissatisfied with the outcome of the appeal, they may proceed to Stage 3, which involves review by an independent panel.

Stage 3 – Independent Review

Requests for submission to independent review should be submitted in writing within 10 working days of the decision made by DAO at stage 2. Confirmation of receipt of the request will be issued within 5 working days. The written request should explain in detail:

• The nature of the appeal.
• The reasons for requesting an independent review.
• A suggested satisfactory outcome.

The DAO Responsible Officer is then required to set up a nominated board to undertake the independent review. This board will be made up of 3 members who have training and education experience and will also be senior in rank. The board does not have any governance role and they will only meet if an appeal has been lodged. The appellant may also be asked to attend the board meeting.

The board will review all the decisions taken to that point in time, discuss the decisions made and the actions taken at the previous stage(s). This may include interviews with the relevant manager, assessors, Quality Assurers, Learners and any others who may be involved to ensure transparency and that robust procedures have been carried out and documented in accordance with this process.

If the decision is that the appeal should be upheld, the board will report back to the Appeal Panel in Stage 2 reporting any actions that need to be taken by DAO. This will include the timescales for completion of the actions, which will include mitigating actions. In addition, the Appeal Panel will:

• Identify other Learners who have been affected by the failure.
• Actions to be taken to mitigate the effect of the failure recurring in the future.
• Actions to be taken to ensure that the failure does not recur in the future.

A full response will be sent to the appellant within 5 working days of the independent review board meeting, informing them of the outcome, the actions to be taken and the timescales involved. Should the process take longer than the stated timescale in the policy, the relevant manager will inform the appellant accordingly and give an indication of the timescales. The decision made by independent review board is final. Qualification users may take their appeal to the Ofqual should they so wish. The DAO will co-operate fully with Ofqual in all investigations.

Review of the Policy

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