Refund and Cancellation Policy

We hope you are happy with your purchase from ICS. If you are not fully satisfied, we will refund or exchange your materials provided they are returned to ICS within 10 working days of receipt.

They must be returned in a saleable condition, in the original, undamaged packaging. If the product is not in a re-saleable condition, we reserve the right to refuse a refund.

In order to cancel your course, please return your course materials to ICS at the address below, stating your name, address, student registration number and the reason for cancellation.

Return to:

• Returns Department
  ICS Ltd
  1st Floor
  45 Finnieston Street
  Glasgow G3 8JU

Please remember to get a free proof of postage certificate from the Post Office or send your parcel by Recorded Delivery. We may ask you to provide proof of the postage date if you returned materials are recevied at ICS outwith the 10 day cancellation period.

We regret that we cannot be responsible for items which never reach us or are damaged in transit. Please note that Postage and Packaging charges and returns postage cannot be refunded, unless your materials are faulty or damaged.

If you have any questions then please contact our Student Services team directly on 0870 9000 384 or email studentservices@ics-uk.co.uk and they will be able to assist.

ICS Complaints Policy

Our promise

ICS is committed to providing a quality service and achieving the highest standards of support to our students. One of the ways in which we can continue to improve our service is by listening and responding to the views of our customers.

Therefore we aim to ensure that:

• making a complaint is as simple as possible;
• we treat a complaint as any clear expression of dissatisfaction with our service which calls for a response;
• we deal with it promptly, politely and professionally;
• we respond in the right way - for example, with an explanation, or an apology where we have got things wrong, or information on any action taken etc;
• we learn from complaints and use them to improve our service

How do I make a complaint?

• Complaints should be raised as soon as possible after the problem occurred.
• Complaints must be made in writing and sent to:

The Complaints Management Team
ICS
Skypark 5 (First Floor)
45 Finnieston Street
Glasgow
G3 8JU

customerservices@ics-uk.co.uk

• We will reply in writing within 21 working days from when we received your complaint. If it is not possible to give you a full reply within this time, for example, if your complaint requires more detailed investigation, we will give you an interim response telling you what is being done to deal with your complaint, when you can expect the full reply and from whom.

ICS Appeals Policy

For all accredited courses, Students should check their Course and Exam Guide or Student Handbook to check for any programme specific appeals processes. This process is intended only for programmes that do not have a specific process or for ICS Diploma programmes.

In the first instance Students should discuss any potential appeal, with his/her Course Tutor and/or a member of the Student Services team to try to settle the issue in an informal way.

If still unhappy with the mark received on an assessment, the Student may follow the formal appeals procedure:

Stage 1

The Student should raise the issue in writing with the Head of Programme Management within 10 working days of issue of the assessment grade. The Head of Programme Management will forward the correspondence to an alternative Tutor within 5 working days of receiving the appeal.

The second tutor will reconsider the reasons underpinning the decision and provide clear feedback. If the second Tutor is upholding the original assessment decision, then the Student will be provided with full information describing what is required to demonstrate their competence. This will be provided in writing, and relate specifically to the standards relevant to the assessment decision.

If the Student remains unhappy with the decision, they should communicate this in writing to the Head of Programme Management who will forward the correspondence to an Internal Verifier. (For programmes that do not have an Internal Verifier, the appeal should go straight to stage 3)

Stage 2

The Internal Verifier will review all evidence and assessment records in order to consider the appeal. A decision will be made within 10 working days and the Student and Tutor will be informed in writing. If the Student is dissatisfied with the decision the appeal proceeds to Stage 3.

Stage 3

The third and final stage involves the right of appeal to the ICS Assessment Appeals Panel. The Tutor/Internal Verifier will pass all records to the Head of Programme Management. The Head of Programme Management will convene an Appeals Panel.

The Student and Tutor/ Internal Verifier will be invited to make their case to the Panel. The Panel will reach its decisions within 10 working days. Results of the appeals panel will be final.

MALPRACTICE – EDEXCEL COURSES

ICS are committed to ensuring the integrity of their learners and centre staff involved with the Edexcel BTEC programmes.  This policy aims to define malpractice and the procedures to be followed if such instances of malpractice are discovered.

The following is taken from www.edexcel.org.uk Assessment Malpractice

Policy on Assessment Malpractice

“Malpractice consists of those acts which undermine the integrity and validity of assessment, the certification of qualifications and/or damage the authority of those responsible for conducting the assessment and certification.”

Learner Malpractice

For the purposes of these policies and procedures, a malpractice is defined as any action(s) or behaviour likely to confer an unfair advantage in assessment, whether by advantaging the alleged offender or disadvantaging (deliberately or unconsciously) another or others.

The following sets out policies on Learner Malpractice for ICS.  Details of Edexcel’s policy on Learner Malpractice can be found on www.edexcel.org.uk

Examples of such offences taken from the Edexcel Assessment Malpractice document are given below; these are inline with ICS’ view on learner malpractice activity: this list is not exhaustive.

• plagiarism by copying and passing off, as the learners’ own, the whole or part(s) of another person’s work, including artwork, images, words, computer generated work (including Internet sources), thoughts, inventions and/or discoveries whether published or not, with or without the originator’s permission and without appropriately acknowledging the source
• collusion by working collaboratively with other learners to produce work that is submitted as individual learner work.  Learners should not be discouraged from teamwork, as this is an essential key skill for many sectors and subject areas, but the use of minutes, allocating tasks, agreeing outcomes, etc are an essential part of team work and this must be made clear to the learners
• impersonation by pretending to be someone else in order to produce the work for another or arranging for another to take one’s place in an assessment/examination/test
• fabrication of results and/or evidence
• failing to abide by the instructions or advice of an assessor, a supervisor, an invigilator, or Edexcel conditions in relation to the assessment/examination/test rules, regulations and security
• misuse of assessment/examination material
• introduction and/or use of unauthorised material contra to the requirements of supervised assessment/examination/test conditions, for example: notes, study guides, personal organizers, calculators, dictionaries (when prohibited), personal stereos, mobile phones or other similar electronic devices
• obtaining, receiving, exchanging or passing on information which could be assessment/examination/test related (or the attempt to) by means of talking or written papers/notes during supervised assessment/examination/test conditions
• behaving in such a way as to undermine the integrity of the assessment/examination/test
• any alteration of any results document, including certificates
• cheating to gain an unfair advantage

Procedure to be Followed in the Event of Suspected Learner Malpractice

• If a member of ICS staff suspects that a learner has undertaken any act which could be viewed as malpractice he/she should notify a member of the Programme Management Group immediately, where necessary this should be done in writing.  The Student will be notified of the suspicion in writing.
• It is then the responsibility of the Programme Leader to determine whether an offence has taken place.
• Where malpractice is found not to exist, the Student shall be notified in writing and no further action will be taken.
• Where malpractice is evident the Programme Leader will notify the Programme Manager and Education Services Director who will ask the Student whether he/she admits the offence.  Where the offence is admitted, the penalty will be prescribed according to Edexcel and ICS policies.  Should the Student accept the penalty, the Programme Management Group will formally notify the Student and Edexcel, in writing and keep a record on the Students file.
• Where the Student disputes the proposed penalty the matter will be referred to an ICS Investigating Panel, this will be held as soon as practicable.
• Any malpractice or attempted acts of malpractice that affect the assessment outcomes will be reported to Edexcel.

ICS Investigating Panel

An ICS Panel board will be convened by the Education Services Director and Programme Manager to investigate the facts of the case and, where applicable, determine a penalty.

If the Panel finds that an offence has not been committed, or there is insufficient evidence, the Student shall be notified in writing by the Programme Management Group that no further action will be taken.

Where there is sufficient evidence to determine an offence has been committed the Student will be asked whether he/she admits the malpractice.  Where the offence is admitted a penalty will be set by the Panel.

If the Student agrees to the penalty the Programme Management Group will notify the Student of the outcome and update records accordingly.

Where the Student does not admit the offence or disputes the penalty set by the Panel, the case will be sent to Edexcel to determine the outcome.  The Student will be notified in writing.