We welcome feedback from our students. Where a complaint regarding one of our products or services is received, we undertake to deal with that complaint promptly, courteously and efficiently. We aim to learn from all complaints so that we can improve our products and services in the future.

We deal with complaints about the following:

• Staff conduct or behaviour
• A training or public event
• The delivery or assessment of a course
• Materials, documentation and resources
• The way a test or exam was administered
• A result (if a candidate feels they were adversely affected by circumstances outside of their control, and they do not feel that special consideration was appropriately applied)
• A malpractice decision
• Our service, including the application of our standard processes (for example, special consideration, enquiry on results, appeals)
• Prolonged and/or frequent unavailability of systems

Please note we cannot deal with complaints about incidents or matters concerning our associates or awarding bodies, although we will assist where possible.

Other procedures (not part of our complaints procedures)

In addition to our complaints policy, we have a number of other procedures which you can utilise:

• Enquiry on, or appeal against a result
• Request for Special Consideration (Special Circumstances information)
• Comments or suggestions about content, test design and delivery or other aspects of our operations

What to do if you have a complaint?

To help us investigate your concerns promptly, please outline your complaint in as much detail as possible when contacting us. As well as the details of your complaint, be sure to include:

• Your full name and registration/student number
• Contact details (such as email address, postal address and phone number), details of the course you are studying

All correspondence between Training Link and students is recorded in our Student Management System. This enables us to deal with complaints quickly and efficiently but occasionally (depending on the nature of the complaint) we may ask for more information.

As part of our investigation into your concerns, where applicable, we will examine all correspondence, and in cases where complaints are in connection with staff, we may need to discuss the matter with them, unless you explicitly state that you do not wish for us to do so.

Sometimes in cases where a third party is involved it may take longer to investigate your concerns fully. In these cases, we will keep you informed of progress and advise you of any revised timeframes as they present themselves.

Step 1

Discuss the complaint informally with your tutor or the Training Link administration department (as appropriate). The vast majority of situations are generally resolved at this stage.

Step 2

If your complaint has not been resolved to your satisfaction at step 1, the next step would be to document your complaint in writing.

You have three options: –

1. Please visit the “contact us” page on the Training Link web site, complete the form and submit it. This will be sent directly to our Student Services department.
2. If you prefer, you can contact Student Services directly by e-mail: – studentservices@training-link.co.uk
3. You can also employ the postal service: –

FAO Student Services
Training Link
Unit B Meltex House
65-67 Kepler
Tamworth
Staffordshire
B79 7XE

As contact forms and e-mail correspondence are considered to be official documents, this method allows you to escalate your complaint in a more formal setting.  Please entitle your correspondence “Complaint”. Please also ensure that you include your full name, and give us as much information as possible so that your complaint can be investigated to the fullest. Student Services will then contact you within 5 working days to discuss your complaint and attempt to come to a mutually agreeable resolution.

Step 3

If you are unhappy with the outcome at step 2, please get back in touch with us (via any of the above methods) and we will forward your appeal to Training Link’s senior partner. After reviewing and investigating your complaint in full, they will contact you personally within 5 working days notifying you of the results of this investigation.

Step 4

If you are still unhappy with the outcome, you should contact the awarding body directly (e.g. AAT or ICB), or for complaints specifically regarding apprenticeship matters the ESFA. Their contact details are as follows: –

AAT – https://www.aat.org.uk/about-aat/aat-customer-charter/complaints-about-aat-approved-training-providers

ICB –  https://www.bookkeepers.org.uk/Contact-Us/FAQs/Members–Practices-FAQs#Complain

ESFA – https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/education-and-skills-funding-agency/about/complaints-procedure

Step 5

If your complaint is in relation to the AAT then the matter can be further escalated to OFQUAL: –

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofqual/about/complaints-procedure