Appeals and complaints
The Education Department of the Velocity Interoperability Network issues examination results, decides on certification and approval, and keeps the registers. Every one of those decisions can be questioned. This page describes the procedures for doing so, the time limits that apply and how long the Department takes to reply.
There are four procedures. A clerical check confirms that an examination result was recorded correctly. An appeal asks for a paper to be re-marked. Representations are the means by which a holder of certification or approval answers a proposal to suspend or withdraw it. A complaint concerns the conduct of the Department or of an approved provider rather than the merits of a decision.
Every request under this page is made in writing to contact@education.gov.vin, stating which procedure is being used. The Department acknowledges receipt within three working days and gives the name of the officer dealing with the matter.
Time limits
| Matter | Who may apply | Time limit | Department replies within |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clerical check of examination marks | The candidate | 10 working days from the date of the result | 10 working days |
| Appeal against an examination result | The candidate, after a clerical check | 20 working days from the outcome of the clerical check | 40 working days |
| Representations against suspension or withdrawal of certification | The holder | 20 working days from the notice | 30 working days |
| Representations against refusal, suspension or withdrawal of provider approval | The provider | 20 working days from the notice | 30 working days |
| Correction of a register entry | The holder | At any time | 20 working days |
| Complaint about an approved provider | A candidate or a member organisation | 6 months from the matter complained of | 30 working days |
| Complaint about the Department | Anyone affected | 6 months from the matter complained of | 20 working days |
Clerical check of a result
Step 1: Write to the Department
Within ten working days of the date on the result, give your name, the paper, the sitting and your candidate number. No reason is required.
Step 2: The marks are checked
An officer who did not mark the paper confirms that every question was marked, that the marks were added correctly and that the total was recorded against the right candidate. The paper is not re-marked.
Step 3: You receive the outcome
Within ten working days the Department confirms the result or issues a corrected one. A corrected result takes effect from the date of the original result.
Appeal against a result
Step 1: Complete a clerical check first
An appeal may be made only after a clerical check. This ensures that the appeal concerns the judgement of the markers and not an error of arithmetic.
Step 2: Set out the grounds
Within twenty working days of the outcome of the clerical check, write to the Department stating which questions you believe were marked wrongly and why. Grounds that concern the conduct of the sitting, such as disturbance or a fault in equipment, should have been reported to the invigilator on the day and should be repeated here.
Step 3: The paper is re-marked
A marker who has not previously seen the paper marks the questions in dispute afresh against the published scheme. Where the new mark differs from the original by more than five per cent of the marks available, a second fresh marker also marks them and the two agree the mark.
Step 4: The Department decides
The Department issues its decision within forty working days of receiving the appeal. The mark may go up, stay the same or go down. The decision is final for that sitting; a candidate who remains dissatisfied may sit the paper again.
Representations against suspension or withdrawal
Step 1: Receive the notice
Before suspending or withdrawing certification or approval, the Department writes to the holder stating what it proposes, the grounds and the evidence relied on. Suspension takes effect on the date of the notice; withdrawal does not take effect until representations have been considered.
Step 2: Make representations
Within twenty working days of the notice, the holder may write to the Department disputing the grounds, explaining the circumstances or describing what has been done to remedy them. Documents may be enclosed. The Department may ask to meet the holder.
Step 3: The Department decides
An officer who was not involved in the original decision considers the representations and decides, within thirty working days, whether to confirm, vary or cancel the proposed action. The holder is told the decision and the reasons in writing.
Step 4: Restoration
Where a suspension is cancelled, the entry is restored as if it had never been suspended. Where a withdrawal is confirmed, the holder may apply for certification or approval afresh once the grounds have been removed.
Grounds and scope
- Grounds on which certification may be suspended or withdrawn
- That the standard is no longer met; that a finding of an assessment has not been remedied within the period set; that the certificate was obtained on false or incomplete information; or that the holder has acted in a way incompatible with the certificate, for example by signing a conformance record they knew to be untrue.
- Grounds on which provider approval may be refused, suspended or withdrawn
- That the syllabus is not followed; that an inspection finding has not been remedied; that instructors do not hold the certification required; that candidates have been registered for examination without completing the programme; or that records required by the conditions of approval have not been kept or have been falsified.
- What may be complained about
- The conduct of a programme or a sitting; the behaviour of an instructor, invigilator or assessor; a failure to reply within the periods published on this site; or any other act or omission of the Department or an approved provider that has affected the complainant. A complaint is not a way of disputing a mark or a decision on certification; the procedures above exist for that.
- What the Department does not reconsider
- The pass mark of a paper, the content of the syllabus, the dates on the examination timetable or the length of the transitional period. These are matters of policy that apply to everyone equally and are changed, where they are changed, by announcement in the Newsroom and not case by case.
Common questions
Related pages
How papers are marked, and the pass mark for each, is described under Examinations. The grounds on which certification is granted, and its validity, are described under Certification; the conditions that approved providers must meet are described under Approved providers. Requests to correct an entry on either register are described under Registers.