Complaints Policy and Process

Policy

Reed Learning is committed to maintaining high standards in all aspects of the delivery and administration of apprenticeship and CIPD qualification programmes, assured by a rigorous quality assurance process that ensures learners make good process, achieve well and have a positive experience.

We aim to ensure a consistent standard of high quality for learners and to provide them with the best support to achieve their learning goals. We undertake this as outlined in our Quality Assurance & Evaluation process.

Gathering and analysing employer and learner feedback is a key feature of the process.

Whilst our explicit aim is to ensure that delivery and support are of a high standard, we do recognise that on occasion circumstances may arise which lead to a complaint. In respect of this our policy is to encourage free communication to ensure any problems arising during the course of our programmes can be discussed and resolved to the satisfaction of all concerned.

Our aim is that all problems/complaints should be resolved as close as possible to their point of origin and with the minimum of formality.

Where an issue cannot be resolved informally it should be dealt with under the formal procedure set out below. The procedures have been written as guidelines and retain some degree of flexibility. The specific circumstances of each case will be considered to determine the correct course of action to be taken. Appeals against assessment decisions should be made by following the Appeals Procedure.

Procedure

The complainant should inform the PR Adviser of any complaint within ten working days of the incident, by emailing Lyndsey.unwin@reedlearning.com. The complaint should be in writing as a formal letter/email of complaint.

The PR Adviser will update the Chief Operating Officer (COO) who will investigate the complaint which will often involve a conversation directly with the complainant in order to fully understand the issue. The COO will respond in writing within ten days of receiving the formal notification of complaint.

If, after the COO has communicated the response, the complainant believes the matter is still not resolved he or she will have the option of referring the matter to the applicable Awarding Body.

CIPD students can contact CIPD on 020 8612 6200.

Apprentices and Employers can contact the apprenticeship helpline regarding Apprenticeship concerns, complaints and enquiries:
National Apprenticeship Helpline
email: nationalhelpdesk@apprenticeships.gov.uk
telephone: 0800 015 0400

Records

Records will be kept of any complaint or grievance, our response and any action taken. These records will remain confidential and will be stored in accordance with the Data Protection Act.

Quality improvement

Reed Learning reviews and updates the Quality Assurance strategy at least annually in line with our ethos of continuous improvement; our quality assurance & evaluation process ensures that we are constantly looking for ways to improve and, in this respect, we consider that complaints provide us with important insight. They are considered as part of the ongoing analysis of employer and learner feedback as outlined below.

We record the complaints on a database which helps us track and categorise them. The complaints are shared and discussed with the wider team. Depending on the incident this can be at the monthly delivery team meetings or at the Quarterly all-employee training days which help identify important areas for improvement across programmes, services, policies and procedures. Our priority is to expedite any change or improvement which helps us respond positively to learner’s needs.