What is a Complaint?
A complaint would be a serious problem concerning the services provided by the OCN and requires attention and action by the OCN. This would include an appeal against a decision to agree Centre Recognition or Direct Claim status.
What is an Appeal?
An appeal is a disagreement about an assessment or verification decision made by the OCN and is covered by the NOCN regulations.
What is a Compliment?
Whilst we make effort to ensure our service is of a high standard and we receive and investigate complaints, it is also useful and encouraging to receive compliments and to know when we are doing things right. We would therefore like to instigate a system whereby compliments are logged.
What is a Suggestion?
OCN welcomes suggestions for future improvement and wishes to address as far as possible customers dissatisfactions. A suggestion would be the result of an issue or dissatisfaction that has arisen concerning the service the OCN provides but does not warrant a formal complaint but needs to be recorded for consideration for future improvement.
Complaints
This procedure will be followed in the event of OCNEMR receiving a complaint concerning the service it provides:
1 In the first instance, an attempt will be made to resolve the complaint informally. If this fails and the complainant is dissatisfied with the response they will be advised to submit a written complaint.
2 On receipt of a written complaint, authorised by an appropriate line manager in the recognised centre, this will be passed immediately to the Director of Curriculum and Quality who will:
- Acknowledge the complaint, normally within five working days, and indicate action being taken
- Ensure that details are logged in the complaints file
- Inform the Regional Director and appropriate Line Manager
- Investigate the complaint with assistance from appropriate members of staff
- Respond to the complainant within a mutually agreed time scale.
3 If the centre remains dissatisfied with the Director of Curriculum and Quality's response, then the complaint will be passed to the Regional Director, who will reconsider the decision and may uphold or dismiss the complaint or suggest alternative action.
4 In the event that the complainant is still dissatisfied with the outcome, the Regional Director with a representative of the Board of Trustees will consider if the complaint is of sufficient seriousness that the Board of Trustees will consider an appeal.
5 If the Regional Director and the Board of Trustee representative consider that there are grounds for appeal, a sub committee of the Board of Trustees will be convened to consist of:
- A Member of the Board of Trustees
- Two OCNEMR officers, who have not been involved with the complaint
The complainant, plus a line manager from the complainant's institution if required, and any OCNEMR officer involved in the complaint will be asked to attend to present their case and to answer questions.
6 The sub Committee may:
- Uphold the complaint
- Dismiss the complaint
- Instruct OCNEMR on remedial action to be taken
- Make recommendations to OCNEMR as to future practice
7 The result of the investigation will be sent to the complainant and authoriser of the complaint.
8 The decision of the sub Committee will be final.
9 A summary of complaints will be made available to the Board of Trustees on an annual basis.
10 Changes will be made to OCNEMR's operational procedures, where appropriate, as a result of an upheld complaint.
What is an Appeal?
An appeal is a disagreement about an assessment or verification decision made by the OCN and is covered by the NOCN regulations.
What is a Compliment?
Whilst we make effort to ensure our service is of a high standard and we receive and investigate complaints, it is also useful and encouraging to receive compliments and to know when we are doing things right. We would therefore like to instigate a system whereby compliments are logged.
What is a Suggestion?
OCN welcomes suggestions for future improvement and wishes to address as far as possible customers dissatisfactions. A suggestion would be the result of an issue or dissatisfaction that has arisen concerning the service the OCN provides but does not warrant a formal complaint but needs to be recorded for consideration for future improvement.
Introduction
This sets out NOCN’s procedures for considering appeals and complaints about NOCN Qualifications and units of NOCN Qualifications. Issues of malpractice are addressed in the document titled ‘Guidelines and Arrangements for dealing with Suspected Malpractice with reference to NOCN Qualifications and Units of NOCN Qualifications’.
Appeals and Complaints
This procedure is intended to ensure that any appeals or complaints received by NOCN are dealt with quickly, fairly and effectively. NOCN aims to resolve appeals and complaints promptly. However, these matters can be complex and may require scrutiny of extensive documentation. NOCN will aim to reach its final conclusion within three months of receiving the written appeal or complaint.
The Appeals/Complaints procedure may be used to:
- Appeal against a decision concerning a Centre’s application to offer an NOCN Qualification or units of a Qualification.
- Appeal by a learner against and internal assessment decision, once the Centre’s own appeals process has been exhausted.
- Appeal and/or complaint by a Centre against the contents of a moderation report or conduct during a moderation visit.
- Appeals against the outcome of an investigation into suspected malpractice.
- Appeal by a Centre against the decision to decline its request for reasonable adjustment arrangements.
- Enquiry or Appeal by a Centre and/or learner concerning external assessment results.
- Appeal by a Centre concerning removal of its approved status to deliver NOCN Qualifications.
Appeals on the outcomes of internal assessment should be made as soon as possible to the Centre following the assessment decision. Once the Centre’s own process is exhausted, any appeal to NOCN should then be made within four weeks of the learner receiving the outcomes of the Centre’s Appeal process.
NOCN will consider appeals or complaints from individual learners or their advocates, groups of students or their representatives, or from a Centre or a group of Centres.
Procedure
The following procedure will be used when an appeal or complaint is made to NOCN concerning NOCN Qualifications and Units of NOCN Qualifications. An appeal or complaint will normally be made in writing, although, where this presents difficulty, other means of communicating will be accepted.
Stage 1
The Regional Director or Representative of NOCN will acknowledge the appeal or complaint within five working days of receipt. S/he will also determine whether the matter falls within the scope of NOCN’s remit as outlined above. Where the appeal or complaint is not within its scope, the Regional Director or Representative will write to the appellant/complainant giving the reasons why the appeal or complaint cannot be acted upon. If the appellant/complainant should follow an alternative appeals/complaints procedure, the matter will be referred as appropriate.
Stage 2
Within 15 working days the Regional Director or Representative will seek relevant information and documentation from both the appellant/complainant and any other parties, for example, OCN, Moderator, External Assessor.
Within 10 working days of receiving the full documentation, the Regional Director or Representative will consider whether the evidence presented is sufficient to reach a decision. If it is not, further documentation may be requested from relevant parties, or further clarification from the appellant/complainant.
Once the Regional Director or Representative is satisfied that all relevant documentation is present, s/he shall reach an initial conclusion on the matter and write to the appellant/complainant, providing a judgement on each point raised and referencing this judgement with relevant evidence. The initial conclusions will, if appropriate, identify any recommendation or implications of the outcome.
The appellant/complainant will be invited to comment on the factual accuracy of NOCN’s initial conclusion within 10 working days.
The Regional Director or Representative will consider any additional information provided before reaching a final conclusion. A final conclusion will be confirmed to the appellant/complainant within 10 working days.
Independent Review
If the appeal is unresolved or if the appellant/complainant is dissatisfied with the decision, s/he may request that the appeal or complaint be referred to the Chair of NOCN Board of Trustees for review. The NOCN Chair will undertake the review with two independent members. The NOCN Chair will respond within ten working days. The decision of the NOCN Chair is final.
Outcomes of an Appeal
- Where the outcome of an appeal against an assessment decision is such as to bring into question the accuracy of results of other learners in the same assessment, NOCN will take appropriate steps to protect the interests of all learners and the integrity of the qualification.
- NOCN will report annually to the NOCN Board of Trustees on the operation of its appeals and complaints arrangements (including enquiries related to appeals or complaints). This report will cover the number and nature of enquiries and appeals submitted and their outcomes. Relevant records and data will be shared with the regulatory bodies on request.
- Centre Enquiry
For an enquiry by a Centre, on the results of a cohort of learners, the fee will be £50 plus £1 per learner in the cohort.
NOCN will produce a Centre Report for the Centre. - Individual Learner Enquiry
For an enquiry about an individual learner’s results (from the learner or the Centre), the fee will be £25.
NOCN will provide a report for the learner. - Refunds
If the assessment decision is reversed, a full refund will be made to the Centre/learner.
