The purpose of an appeal is to independently establish if NCFE have applied the correct processes, procedures and policies in a fair and consistent way.

For NCFE Level 1/2 Technical Awards, NCFE Level 3 Certificate in Mathematics and Applied General qualifications, NCFE CACHE Level 2 and Level 3 Technical and Applied General qualifications, please see the JCQ Appeals Booklet.

What types of appeal will NCFE accept?

A Centre can submit an appeal following the outcome of:

• An Enquiry about Results or Assessment Decision.
• An application for a Reasonable Adjustment or Special Consideration.
• A malpractice or maladministration investigation.
• A decision to impose a sanction resulting from a malpractice or maladministration investigation.
• A review of an appeal (stage 1) decision.
• The termination of a product and/or Centre approval status for maladministration or malpractice, or termination for breach of Centre Agreement.

What will an appeal not involve?

The Appeals procedure will not comprise of:

• A review of marking of external assessments
• A review of assessment decisions
• A review of the content of External Quality Assurance visit reports.
• An External Quality Assurance visit.
• A change to a decision/sanction imposed.
• A change to the centre’s approval status.

Who can appeal?

A Centre can submit an appeal on behalf of a learner or a group of leaners, with their explicit permission.

When can an appeal be submitted?

You must submit an appeal application within 30 working days of receiving the original decision or 30 calendar days for T levels following the outcome of an enquiry, or the outcome of a review of an appeal (stage 1).

Appeal acceptance

The decision of whether or not to accept the application for an appeal is based on several factors, and you will be notified within 5 working days from the date the appeal was submitted if it has been accepted or rejected. Please consult the relevant policy linked above.

Appeal stages

Stage 1 – Review of appeal

• Review of the appeal carried out by NCFE staff who are independent and not involved in the original process or procedure.
• The staff involved at this stage will not be subject matter experts, but will be experienced on all applicable processes, procedures and policies.

You have the right to submit an appeal to the Independent Appeals Committee following completion of the stage 1 appeals procedure if you are not satisfied with our decision/outcome.

Stage 2 – Independent Appeals Committee

• The committee will consist of at least 1 independent NCFE staff member not involved in the original process or stage 1 of the appeal.
• Another independent person will also be appointed by NCFE for the committee.
• Please review the above policy for further details regarding the Independent Appeals Committee requirements and process.

Appeal timescales, review and outcomes

If accepted to stage 1, we will aim to resolve an appeal within 20 working days of acceptance. An appeal outcome report will be sent within 5 days of the decision being made, either upholding or rejecting the appeal at this stage.

You have the right to submit an appeal to the Independent Appeals Committee (stage 2) following completion of the stage 1 appeals procedure if you are not satisfied with our decision/outcome. We will aim to confirm acceptance within 5 working days, and once the committee have made a decision you will be informed within 5 working days.

If the stage 2 review found that we had not correctly applied our processes, procedures or policies fairly or consistently, we will send you an appeal outcome letter or email, which will include remedial actions to be completed, including appropriate timescales.

If the stage 2 review found all processes, procedures and policies to have been applied correctly and in a fair and consistent way the appeal will be rejected. The decision of the Independent Appeals Committee is final and will complete our appeals procedure. We will not accept any further appeal.

Should you disagree with the decision, you have the right to express your dissatisfaction regarding our actions, products or services through our Complaints Procedure.

Fees

A fee is charged for an appeal submission. If the appeal outcome is not in favour of the appellant, we will invoice in accordance with the fees below.

Service	Cost
Review of appeal- Stage 1	£150
Independent Appeals Committee – Stage 2	£350
Review of appeal- Stage 1 (T Level Only)	£100
Independent Appeals Committee – Stage 2 (T Level Only)	£300

For current information on NCFE fees, please refer to our fees and pricing document.

How to submit an appeal

Please complete the below appeals form and email to [email protected] within the required timescales.

For EPA appeals, please send the form to the EPA Quality & Compliance inbox at [email protected]

Contact us at [email protected] if you would like to request a secure file sharing link, or have password protected the attachment.

Appeals form