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Awarding Organisation of The Swimming Teachers’ Association

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 STA, registered charity number 1051631 in England and Wales and SC041988 in Scotland

Complaints Policy

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Complaints Process Overview

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Purpose

Safety Training Awards (STA) is committed to providing an efficient and high standard of service to all. We are continually working to achieve this level of service by operating in line with an internal quality management system. STA take every care to ensure we are delivering a high standard of service but are aware that there may be occasions that we do not meet both yours and our expectations, in this instance please raise your concerns with us immediately so we can address them, respond positively, and rectify any mistakes made.

Policy

Safety Training Awards is committed to promoting fairness and equality of treatment to all. We welcome positive or negative feedback from any individual that has been directly affected by our services. We strive to think our members and learners have confidence that we will listen to their views and act upon them accordingly. All written correspondence will be acknowledged by us within 7 working days, any dissatisfaction received will be treated as a complaint.

Our aim is to provide our members and learners with a clear, precise process to follow when they feel the need to make a complaint and effectively communicate the process Safety Training Awards will follow to resolve the complaint.

We aim to ensure:

  • The complaints procedure is an easy process to follow and is prompt and efficient
  • All complaints are treated as a dissatisfaction with our level of service
  • The resolution is to the complainant’s satisfaction (explanation, apology, action taken) and our staff when dealing with the complaint are courteous, consultative, and responsive
  • Complaints and feedback received is reviewed in line with our quality management standards to help improve our products and services.

Everyone has the right to raise a complaint, so this policy will define the stages and procedures you would need to follow, guidance is as follows:

  • The process you need to follow to raise a complaint
  • The appropriate person who this should be directed to
  • The timescales for the complaint to be investigated
  • How and when you will be notified of the outcome.

Safety Training Awards will not accept a complaint under this policy in relation to the following:

Approved Training Centre Responsibilities

ATCs should take all reasonable steps to ensure that their staff involved in the management, assessment and quality assurance of STA qualifications, and their learners, are aware of the contents of this document. ATCs are required to have a complaints and an appeals procedure in place to deal with complaints from learners about the services provided and / or decisions made by an ATC. ATCs are required to report to STA without delay any complaints that they receive relating to:

  • Equality in the delivery of qualifications
  • The processing of personal data or compliance with data protection legislation
  • The integrity of the qualifications or their award
  • Any matter that may give rise to a potential Adverse Effect (as defined by the regulators).

Raising Concerns and Making Complaints

All individuals can access the information about our complaint’s procedures through our website or can request a copy by contacting us. When communicating with us we are committed to providing equal opportunities for all.

Tutors, Assessors, and IQA’s may raise a complaint directly to Safety Training Awards by following this policy.

If you have attended a course and are dissatisfied with the service or you are seeking a refund of your course fee you must firstly try to resolve this matter with the approved training centre (ATC) co-ordinator. Learners must have exhausted the ATCs complaints policy before raising a complaint with Safety Training Awards. Safety Training Awards do not offer refunds for courses organised by ATCs, please contact the ATC co-ordinator directly to discuss your concern/complaint prior to contacting us. If you are not happy with the ATCs response then please contact Safety Training Awards for further advice.

A complaint can be raised by an individual, a group or a third party who is acting on behalf of someone else. If a third party is submitting a complaint on behalf of someone else, they will need written permission from the complainant along with the written complaint attached, this should then be presented to Safety Training Awards for acceptance.

Once Safety Training Awards have received a complaint an acknowledgement will be sent within 7 working days. The complaint will be reviewed in line with our policies and procedures and where necessary an investigation will be conducted. To ensure a fair and thorough process is followed the duration of the investigation will depend on the nature and severity of the complaint we receive at this stage, or the complexity of the response required. We do aim to provide this as soon as the outcome is available or within a maximum of 28 days.

How to Make a Complaint

Informal Process

We understand that most individuals who are not satisfied with a service would like it addressed and dealt with as soon as possible, therefore an informal process would be far more appropriate.

An informal process will be more efficient resolving complaints quickly by mediating between who is responsible for the dissatisfaction and the complainant. The complaint may be resolved immediately following this process, so we encourage our members and learners to contact us directly for an informal discussion if they have a complaint that needs to be resolved to achieve the desirable outcome.

If a complaint cannot be resolved informally then the formal complaints procedure should be followed. We may require further information from the complainant to ensure we fully understand what the complaint entails, we will investigate accordingly to achieve the best outcome.

Formal Process

Stage 1

If the complainant is not satisfied with the outcome from the informal process the dissatisfaction should be submitted in writing to Safety Training Awards. Once we have received this information, we will send acknowledgement of receipt to the complainant within 7 working days and an investigation to resolve the dissatisfaction will commence.

Safety Training Awards will identify an appropriate manager to review the complaint for further investigation and the complainant will be notified of the individual responsible for this. The member of management will conduct a further investigation in to the complaint, upon completion of the investigation they will communicate and notify the complainant and provide them with an explanation or resolution.

To ensure a fair and thorough process is followed the duration of the investigation will depend on the nature and severity of the complaint we receive at this stage, or the complexity of the response required. We do aim to provide this as soon as the outcome is available or within a maximum of 28 days of receiving the stage 1 complaint. In some cases, this may take longer to conclude the complaint with an outcome, in these instances the complainant will be notified of revised timescales.

If the complainant remains dissatisfied with the outcome from the manager’s investigation the next steps to pursue are stage 2 of the complaint’s procedure.

Stage 2

If the complainant is not satisfied with the outcome from the stage 1 complaints process, they are able to request a review of the complaint by a senior manager. This must take place within 14 days of the outcome of the original complaint and must be submitted in writing. The senior manager will determine if appropriate procedures were followed and the complaint was answered fully, if there is new evidence submitted in support of the complaint this will also be reviewed. Following review, we shall aim to notify the complainant in writing as soon as possible of the outcome, within a maximum of 28 days.

If the complainant remains unsatisfied with the final response, they may then refer the complaint to the appropriate regulatory authority i.e. Ofqual (England), SQA Accreditation (Scotland) or Qualifications Wales (Wales). If the complaint relates to delivery by a school or public leisure centre, or any other public body in Scotland, the complaint could also be referred to the Scottish Public Service Ombudsman. Please see below for the relevant contact details.

Monitoring and Review

Safety Training Awards is committed to continual improvement, all complaints received by Safety Training Awards are reviewed to prevent re-occurrence, to improve the suitability and effectiveness of our policies and procedures and to contribute to the development of qualifications that are fit for purpose and meet individual needs.

Contact Details

Safety Training Awards (STA)

Please click here to view contact details for Safety Training Awards.

Ofqual (England)

Complaints
Ofqual
Earlsdon Park
53–55 Butts Road
Coventry
CV1 3BH

Tel: 0300 303 3344 (the phone line is open on weekdays from 09:00 to 17:00 *except bank holidays)
Website: ofqual.gov.uk
Email: complaints@ofqual.gov.uk

SQA Accreditation (Scotland)

SQA Complaints Team,
Strategic Planning and Governance,
The Optima Building
58 Robertson Street
Glasgow
G2 8DQ

Tel: 0345 213 5249
Website: accreditation.sqa.org.uk
Email: accreditation@sqa.org.uk

For complaints relating to schools or public leisure centres in Scotland, a complaint can be raised with the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.

Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

In Person

SPSO
Bridgeside House
99 McDonald Road
Edinburgh
EH7 4NS

By Post

Website: www.spso.org.uk
Freephone advice line: 0800 377 7330
Fax: 0800 377 7331
Post: SPSO, Bridgeside House, 99 McDonald Road, Edinburgh, EH7 4NS

Qualifications Wales (Wales)

Qualifications Wales
Q2 Building, Pencarn Lane
Imperial Park
Coedkernew
Newport
NP10 8AR

Tel: 01633 373 222
Website: qualificationswales.org/english
Email: enquiries@qualificationswales.org (if you wish to make a complaint, please title your email ‘Complaint’)

Last Updated: 12th December 2024