Procedural review
What a procedural review involves and how to request one.
The Department for Education (DfE) may review its decision-making process in certain circumstances.
A procedural review considers whether DfE followed the correct process when reaching a final decision. It does not reconsider the merits of the decision itself and is separate from DfE’s complaints and appeals procedures.
An awarding organisation or access agency can request a procedural review if it believes DfE:
- did not follow a published process and this could have affected the outcome
- overlooked or misunderstood relevant information and this could have affected the outcome
- considered information that was not relevant to the decision and this could have affected the outcome
- acted outside its legal powers
A procedural review will not consider disagreement with the judgement reached or re-assess the evidence supporting the original decision, except where it is relevant to one of the list of grounds just mentioned.
Requests for a procedural review must be submitted through the qualifications funding approval service tool (QFAST)
The request must:
-
identify the decision being challenged
-
explain which procedural review ground or grounds apply
-
set out why the organisation believes the process was not followed correctly
-
explain how the alleged procedural error could have affected the final decision
Requests must be submitted within 20 working days of the date on which DfE communicated it’s final decision.
Where an organisation is unable to meet this deadline, it should contact DfE as soon as possible and explain the reasons. Requests for an extension will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
DfE will complete the review as promptly as possible after receiving the request and any supporting evidence required.
Where DfE determines that a request falls within the scope of a procedural review, the review will be conducted by an individual who was not involved in the original decision.
DfE may request further information from the awarding organisation where necessary to complete the review.
Following completion of the procedural review, DfE will notify the organisation in writing of the outcome.
Where DfE finds that a procedural error occurred and may have affected the decision, DfE will determine the appropriate next steps, which may include reconsidering the decision in accordance with the relevant processes.
Where DfE concludes that no relevant procedural error occurred, the original decision will stand and the reasons for that conclusion will be provided in writing.