EXAMINATION COMPLAINTS, ENQUIRY, AND APPEALS PROCEDURES Including Annual Review and Monitoring

INTRODUCTION

If a candidate feels he/she has been unfairly treated either by the Worshipful Company of Farriers or by the examination centre, an informal approach to the appropriate member of staff is often the quickest and most effective way of resolving the matter, and this should be encouraged. However, if there is not a satisfactory outcome from this course of action, and the complainant chooses to make a formal approach, then the following procedures should be used.

Complaints Procedure

A Complaint is concerned with the level of service, or lack of such, provided to the candidate by the Worshipful Company of Farriers (the awarding body) or by the examination centre. It is concerned with the manner in which a decision has been made or an action taken, rather than the decision or action itself. The details of the complaint should be forwarded in writing to the Registrar of the Worshipful Company of Farriers. It should include the following information:

• Full name and address of the complainant
• Candidate examination number
• Name of the centre where the examination was undertaken
• Clear description of the nature of the complaint
• Any relevant supporting documents or information

The Worshipful Company of Farriers will acknowledge the letter within 5 working days of receipt and will respond to the complaint within 30 working days.

The Registrar of the Worshipful Company of Farriers will advise the Chairman of the Examinations Board of the complaint and will then institute an investigation, using a procedure agreed between the Chairman and the Registrar.The investigation must be documented in a written report.

The report of the investigation is reviewed by a group consisting of the Chairman of the Examinations Board, the Registrar, and a third independent member selected by the Chairman from the membership of the Examination Board of the Worshipful Company of Farriers. This group is known as the Complaints Committee and the membership may change for each separate complaint under investigation.

If the complaint implicates the Registrar, or any other member of staff, then the Chairman must appoint an independent person to conduct the investigation, and the Registrar or staff member will only be involved where he/she is required to provide relevant details or evidence.

Where the complaint involves an examination centre a full investigation, involving staff at the centre, must be undertaken.

The complainant must receive a full response to the complaint within 30 days. If the complainant is dissatisfied with the outcome, he/she may wish to invoke the ‘Final Stage’ procedure.

Enquiry Service

Candidates who are dissatisfied with the result of their examination should contact the Registrar of the Worshipful Company of Farriers (the awarding body) in writing and register a formal ‘Enquiry’ into the result. This should be forwarded to the Registrar within 30 days of the publication of the examination results. The application is to be accompanied by a deposit of £100, which is refundable only in the event of a decision to upgrade a candidate’s marks.

This service allows candidates who dispute their result to have their work clerically checked for accuracy, re-marked, or re-moderated. Re-marking or re-moderation is at the sole discretion of the Worshipful Company of Farriers and candidates cannot insist that a paper is re-marked, or that a practical or oral assessment is repeated.

The letter from the candidate should include:

• Full name and address of the candidate
• Candidate examination number
• Name of the centre where the examination was undertaken
• Clear description of the nature of the Enquiry, including full details of the grounds for the request
• Any relevant supporting documents or information
• The deposit of £100

The Worshipful Company of Farriers will acknowledge the letter within 5 working days of receipt and will reply to the enquiry within 30 working days.

In order to initiate the Enquiry, the Registrar will liaise with the Chairman of the Worshipful Company of Farriers Examinations Board and the Senior Examiner at the centre where the candidate undertook his/her examination, to agree the appropriate course of action. This group is the Enquiry Committee. The agreed action must ensure that the enquiry is comprehensive, transparent and completed in the shortest possible time. Both the mode of enquiry and its outcome must be recorded in writing.

The Enquiry Committee will review the outcome of the Enquiry and the candidate will receive a detailed report of the outcome within 30 working days. If the candidate is dissatisfied with the outcome of the Enquiry, he/she should consider instituting the Appeals Procedure.

Appeals Procedure

An Appeal is concerned with the assessment decision awarded by the Worshipful Company of Farriers. It will usually follow the outcome of an Enquiry, when the candidate is dissatisfied with the enquiry’s conclusion and has invoked further investigation via the Appeals procedure. Alternatively the candidate may opt to proceed directly with an appeal. Appeals against the assessment decision for the Theory part of the Examination may be made as described in this Annex. However, because of the nature of the shoeing process, whereby the marked section is either hidden or destroyed by the next stage of shoeing, in considering an appeal against the assessment decision for the practical examination, it is strongly recommended that candidates prepare themselves for a re-sit at the following set of Diploma Examinations rather than expecting any appeal to change the result, which will by necessity be based on the assessments made by the examiners at the time. Candidates should be aware that the marking sheets used at the practical examination are the only record of the practical examination, and therefore a reconsideration of the marks awarded by the examiners is highly unlikely to be considered sufficient grounds for amending the original decision, which is made carefully immediately after the examination, and at which time any marginal results are re-considered by the examiners before the results are confirmed.

There are two levels of appeal, and the appellant must chose which level they require. An Appeal should be forwarded to the Registrar within 30 days of the publication of the results or receipt of the report detailing the outcome of the Enquiry. The application is to be accompanied by the relevant Appeal Fee, which is refundable only in the event of a decision to upgrade a candidate’s grade.  Candidates should be aware that the Appeal Committee is empowered to reduce the grade awarded for either or both parts of the examination.

On receipt of a formal written request for an Appeal, the Worshipful Company of Farriers will usually hear the Appeal within 30 working days.

The appellant must forward details of the Appeal in writing to the Registrar of the Worshipful Company of Farriers. It should include the following information:

• Full name and address of the appellant
• Candidate examination number
• Name of the centre where the examination was undertaken
• The Level of the Appeal (Level One or Level Two)
• Clear description of the nature of the Appeal including (if there has been an Enquiry) the reason for not accepting the outcome of the Enquiry
• Any relevant supporting documents or information
• The deposit of £200 (Level One) or £500 (Level Two) 

The Worshipful Company of Farriers will normally acknowledge the letter within 5 working days of receipt. The Chairman of the Examination Board must appoint an Appeal Committee consisting of three members of the Examination Board together with an independent member, who is not, and has not been at any time during the past seven years, a member of the awarding body’s board or committees, or an employee or examiner of the awarding body. These individuals must not have been involved with the case when it was previously investigated at the Enquiry stage.

For a Level One Appeal, the Appeal Committee will examine the facts of the case as presented by the appellant in writing. For a Level Two Appeal, the Appeal Committee will meet to examine the facts of the case as presented by the appellant in writing, and, if the appellant so requests, he/she may attend the meeting to present the case personally. The Registrar and/or the Chairman may, if necessary, present the facts of the case to the Appeal Committee, but they must not be directly involved in deciding the outcome. Detailed records will be kept of the appeal hearing. 

The Appeal Committee will meet together to examine the facts of the case and if the appellant so requests, he/she may attend the meeting to present the case personally. Alternatively, the appellant may present the case in writing. The Registrar and/or the Chairman may, if necessary, present the facts of the case to the Appeal Committee, but they must not be directly involved in deciding the outcome. Detailed records will be kept of the appeal hearing.

The appellant must receive a full response within 25 working days of the Appeal hearing. If the complainant is dissatisfied with the outcome, he/she may wish to invoke the ‘Final Stage’ procedure.

Final Stage

If the candidate is still dissatisfied in the way that the Worshipful Company of Farriers has dealt with the Appeal or the Complaint, arrangements may be made to have the process independently reviewed.

Annual Review and Monitoring of the Complaints, Enquiry and Appeals Procedure

The Worshipful Company of Farriers will conduct an annual review of the Complaints, Enquiry and Appeals procedures, including a year on year comparison, and this will be evaluated by the Examinations Board at their April meeting. The review will then be reported to the Court at its July meeting. Should any appeal decision suggest that assessment decisions made during an examination series may have be incorrect, the Registrar is to examine those cases that may have been affected and report this to the Chairman of the Examination Board. The appeal decision is to be reflected across the results of that examination session.