Qualifications Regulations and Policy Forms Enquiries policy

Enquiry policy

Issue 3

This document details the policy applying to the following award:

that are awarded by the ifs School of Finance (ifs).

You will need to complete the Enquiry application form under this policy.

The appropriate fee must accompany your application form.

Introduction

The ifs recognises that students who have sat written assessments for the ifs awards listed above and who have received their result for an assessment unit have the right to request an enquiry should they believe that they have not received a fair and/or accurate result. This policy therefore applies to students who believe that they may have been unfairly treated during the assessment process and not in accordance with standard procedures.

This policy does not apply to cases where students believe that their performance during the written assessment may have been adversely affected by external factors eg illness, disturbance at the assessment venue, etc. Such cases are dealt with under the ifs Special consideration policy.

  1. Types of Result Enquiry
    1. Enquiries apply to individual assessment components or units within an award, not to the award itself. However they do not apply to coursework because it is fully moderated before results are issued.
    2. The ifs has established three types of result enquiry that may be requested by a student. Each has an associated fee:
      1. Type 1 A review of the student's assessment for the appropriate attempt at an assessment component or unit together with a clerical check;
      2. Type 2 A review of the student's assessment and written report on the student's examination performance for the appropriate attempt at an assessment component or unit;
      3. Type 3 A written report on the student's assessment performance for the appropriate attempt at an assessment component or unit.
    3. If the student believes that a question within an examination is in error they should apply for a Type 1 or 2 enquiry and pay the appropriate fee.
    4. The form of the response to an enquiry will depend upon the type of enquiry requested:
      1. Type 1 A letter confirming that the review has been completed, a clerical check has been undertaken and the outcome (see 3.a. below)
      2. Type 2 A letter confirming that the review has been completed, a clerical check has been undertaken, a question by question report of the student’s assessment performance with a brief explanation of why the student did or did not give the correct answer and the outcome (see 3.a. below)
      3. Type 3 A question by question report of the student’s examination performance with a brief explanation of why the student did or did not give the correct answer
    5. The enquiry fee will only be refunded to the student if his/her grade is changed as a consequence of the enquiry or if a question within the assessment is found to be in error.
    6. A student may request a Type 1 enquiry and subsequently a Type 3 enquiry or a Type 2 enquiry at the outset.
    7. Only one complete enquiry (Type 1 and 3 or Type 2) is permitted for each attempt at an assessment component or unit.
  2. Submitting an enquiry
    1. A request for a result enquiry must be submitted to the ifs Customer and Student Services department using the Enquiry application form within ten working days of the assessment result being communicated to the student (for electronically delivered examination this will be ten working days after the date of the assessment; for paper based examination this is ten working days after the date on the results letter).
    2. The ifs reserves the right not to consider requests for enquiries received beyond the published deadlines.
    3. No enquiry will be accepted by the ifs unless it is accompanied by the appropriate fee.
    4. Each request for an enquiry will be acknowledged by the ifs within five working days. The acknowledgement will include the date by which the student can expect the full response to the enquiry.
    5. For Type 1 requests, the ifs will normally inform the student in writing of the outcome of the result enquiry within 20 working days of receiving the request. However, in complex cases needing detailed investigation, additional time may be required. In such cases, the ifs will ensure that the student is kept fully informed of progress.
    6. For Type 2 or 3 requests, the ifs will normally undertake to dispatch the requested report to the student within 30 working days of receiving the request. However, in complex cases needing detailed investigation, additional time may be required. In such cases, the ifs will ensure that the student is kept fully informed of progress.
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  3. Outcome of an enquiry
    1. There are three possible outcomes to a Type 1 or 2 enquiry
      1. An improvement to the student's mark for the assessment component and/or grade for the unit;
      2. A reduction in the student's mark for the assessment component and/or grade for the unit;
      3. No change in the student's mark for the assessment component and/or grade for the unit.
    2. If a student is dissatisfied with the outcome of either type of result enquiry, (s)he has the right to appeal the decision for that attempt at an assessment unit in accordance with the ifs Appeals policy.
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