Cambridge English aims to provide access to English language teaching courses of the highest possible quality. However, there may be occasions when a candidate is unhappy with the course provision offered by a centre and/or with their final grade.
Conditions for Appeal
- Before entering the Appeals Procedure, you must have raised the matter with your centre in the first instance and have followed your centre’s internal complaints procedures. If you remain dissatisfied with your centre’s response and/or unhappy with your final grade once it is confirmed by Cambridge, you may make an Appeal.
- All requests for an Appeal must be received via the centre within two weeks of you receiving your final grade. Please note that an Appeal cannot be made by a third party.
- You will receive a copy of the report following the investigation, usually within 10 weeks of receipt of the Appeal, (allowing sufficient time for a thorough investigation of the case).
Appeal Fees
There is an administrative fee payable for each stage of the Appeals process. Please speak to your centre who will be able to confirm the fees.
Appeal Outcomes
The outcome of an Appeal may be a confirmation of the original decision or an overturning of this decision which may, in turn, lead to the award of a higher grade, a lower grade, or no grade change, or to the award of a grade where no previous grade was awarded.
Where an Appeal leads to a change of grade or the award of a grade where no grade was previously awarded, any Results Enquiry and Appeals fees will be refunded in full, and an amended Statement of Results and Certificate will be issued as appropriate.
Stages of Appeal
Appeal Stage One
You will be given the Cambridge English Teaching Qualifications Stage One Appeal Form by your centre. You must complete the form, detail the concerns you have, and submit this to the centre.
A Chief Assessor who has had no previous involvement with the result in question, reviews the documentation and prepares a report on your performance and/or the specific points of any complaint about course provision. The report is then sent to an Independent Reviewer who endorses the decision where appropriate and confirms that the Appeals procedure has been followed correctly.
You have fourteen days to consider the outcome and decide if you wish to proceed to the next stage.
CELTA Additional Information
- Please check your CELTA 5 for detailed information regarding raising an Appeal.
- An investigation into an Appeal is based on scrutiny of the following:
- an Appeal Stage One form, completed by the candidate
- portfolio and candidate application and selection procedures
- Assessor/Moderator’s Report
- Other documents and correspondence including the following:
- the centre’s response to the Appeal
- the centre’s terms and conditions for refunds, including a copy of the Candidate Agreement
- candidate application and selection notes.
- An Appeal Stage One includes a clerical check of the result by Cambridge English.
- It is not possible to investigate spoken comments that were made, or incidents that took place during the course for which there is no record.
- Cambridge English is unable to intervene with the following:
- contractual arrangements between centres and candidates
- contractual arrangements between centres and tutors
- issues relating to the payment of fees
- requests for refunds
- issues relating to trainees’ accommodation
- end-of-course reports issued by the centre.
DELTA Module 2 and DELTA Module 3 Additional information
- For Result Enquiries relating to DELTA Modules please see the section above - 'Enquiry of Results'. Please note that Appeals for DELTA Module Two and Three Appeals should be made two weeks after receiving the Stage Two Re-Mark/Re-Moderation report/result.
- An investigation into an Appeal is based on scrutiny of the following:
- Appeal Stage One form
- DELTA Module 2 - portfolio of coursework
- DELTA Module 3 - written assignment
- Assessor Report
- Other documents and correspondence including the following:
- the centre’s response to the Appeal
- the centre’s terms and conditions for refunds, including a copy of the Candidate Agreement
- candidate application and selection notes.
Appeal Stage Two
A Stage Two Appeal must be made within two weeks of the receipt of the Stage One report. The Appeal Stage Two form can be obtained by sending an email to Cambridge English Teaching Qualifications Appeals: teachingawardappeals@cambridgeenglish.org.
NB: Stage Two Appeals received after this time will not be considered.
You will be provided with a formal report from an Independent Appeals Investigator. There is no further re-assessment of your work at this stage, and the Independent Appeals Investigator will only consider concerns raised regarding a centre’s conduct, course provision and/or concerns about the way that Cambridge English handled the Appeal at Stage One.
This concludes the Appeals procedure for CELTA, DELTA Module Two and DELTA Module Three.
Appeals can only be submitted following a decision that affects grades awarded to candidates (e.g. decisions relating to results outcomes, malpractice, centre closures).
Conditions for Appeal
- The Appeal is submitted in writing by the Centre Exams Manager clearly outlining the grounds upon which the Appeal is being submitted.
- The Appeal is submitted within 21 days of receipt of the relevant decision.
- Appellants must submit a completed Appeals application form and make payment to the Centre or directly to Cambridge by the end of the 21-day period. Appeals will not be accepted without payment.
- An Appeal against a result may not be submitted unless both Stages 1 and 2 of the Results Enquiry process have taken place first. (This condition does not apply to Appeals against decisions relating to malpractice.)
- You will receive a copy of the report following the investigation, usually within 10 weeks of receipt of the Appeal, (allowing sufficient time for a thorough investigation of the case).
Appeal Fees
There is an administrative fee payable for each stage of the Appeals process. Please speak to your centre who will be able to confirm the fee.
Appeal Outcomes
The outcome of an Appeal may be a confirmation of the original decision or an overturning of this decision which may, in turn, lead to the award of a higher grade, a lower grade, or no grade change, or to the award of a grade where no previous grade was awarded.
Where an Appeal leads to a change of grade or the award of a grade where no grade was previously awarded, any Results Enquiry and Appeals fees will be refunded in full, and an amended Statement of Results and Certificate will be issued as appropriate.
The outcome of an Appeal following a malpractice decision may be a confirmation that the result remains withheld or an overturning of this decision which leads to the release of the result. If the Appeal is upheld the results will be released and a Statement of Results and Certificate will be issued. The Appeal fees will also be refunded in full.
Stages of Appeal
Pre-appeal
The written evidence relating to the case will be reviewed by a Pre-appeal committee and a decision will be made on whether to uphold the Appeal or progress to Appeal Stage One.
Stage One
The written evidence relating to the case will be considered by an independent authority. Appellants will be notified in writing of the outcome of stage 1, including the outcome of any further work authorised, within 10 weeks of submission. The candidate has fourteen days to consider the outcome and decide if they wish to proceed to the next stage.
Stage Two
If the candidate remains dissatisfied, they may have their case considered in full by the Cambridge English Appeal Committee*. Appellants have the right to present their case in person to the stage two Appeal committee. The Centre Exams Manager must request a Stage Two Appeal in writing within fourteen days of receiving the outcome of the Stage One Appeal.
*The Committee will normally consist of three members including an Independent Reviewer, the Cambridge English Chief Executive or someone nominated by them, and another Senior Manager from within Cambridge English. Members of the committee cannot have had any previous involvement with the case.
Consideration of an Appeal by the Appeals Committee concludes the Appeals procedure for DELTA Module One and TKT.