Feedback, complaints and appeals

Providing us with your feedback about what is going well and what could be improved can help highlight potential improvements in how we deliver the programme. We will actively seek your feedback in our mid-year and end-of-year surveys.

To send us further feedback, please email us with the subject 'Feedback'. We will pass on comments to the relevant team as required.

We define a complaint as dissatisfaction with the service you received from our team. If your complaint is about an organisation that we work with, you are advised to use this organisation's complaints procedure before submitting a complaint to us.

When is a complaint an appeal?

We define an appeal as a request for a review of a decision made by us that you feel is incorrect or unfair, and that you would like us to reconsider.

If this is more appropriate for you, please follow our separate appeals procedure, detailed below.

How to complain

You should submit a complaint in writing using the language assistants complaints form (32KB).

Please download the form and save it before completing it. When you have completed the form, please attach it to an email with subject 'Complaint' and send it to us.

What happens next?

When we receive your complaint, we will ensure it is directed to the relevant team to investigate and respond.

We aim to acknowledge receipt of your complaint in writing within three working days, and provide you with a full response within 10 working days of this acknowledgement.

In more complex cases, it may take longer to respond. In this case, we will keep you updated on the progress of your complaint. 

An appeal is a request to review a formal decision made by our team where you feel we have not followed procedure.

Appeals must specify either an administrative error on our part, or that published procedures have not been adhered to as detailed in our application forms on our website.

Where an appeal relates to the application process, we will not consider any additional information of which we have not previously been made aware.

Please note that we cannot accept appeals for decisions made by external organisations or our partner organisations.

Who can appeal?

Appeals can be made by language assistants applicants (the person or institution submitting an application to us), when their application is unsuccessful.

Please note that we can only change the status of your application in the event of an administrative error on our part or where published procedures have not been adhered to as detailed in this policy.

When to appeal

If you are appealing against a decision made by us, you should do so no later than 10 days after receiving notice of the decision.

How to appeal

If you wish to appeal a decision made by us in relation to your application, you must follow the appeals procedure outlined below.

Please note you may only appeal if you believe we have not followed the correct procedures as set out in our published guidance.  

You should submit an appeal in writing using the language assistants appeals form (30KB).

When you have completed the form please attach it to an email with the subject ‘Appeal’ and send it to us.

Timescale

Appeals should be made within 10 calendar days of an application decision made by our team.

We will notify you of the appeals timescale when contacting you about a decision. We aim to acknowledge your appeal in writing within three working days. Appeals will be dealt with according to a standardised process.

We aim to reply fully to you with the appeal decision in writing within 10 working days of the acknowledgement.

Appeals that are more complex may take longer to deal with. In this case, we will keep you updated on the progress of your appeal.