I wish to make a formal complaint – where do I start?

If you have any concerns at all about your training, we strongly recommend that you try to sort them out informally with your centre, if at all possible, as soon as you can; once the formal complaints process is started up, it may close off other options.

When things do go wrong, there are clear boundaries between the roles of your centre and CPCAB as the awarding organisation. Complaints about admission or removal from a course, payment of fees, any aspect of your teaching experience, or the standard of service you have received must be addressed directly with your centre, this includes disagreements about internal assessment decisions which should be addressed via the centre’s internal appeals process. When you join your group you should be provided with a formal appeals and complaints policy that explains how to do this.

CPCAB can only review a complaint concerning any of the above areas if you have already exhausted the centre's own complaints procedure without satisfaction. Under these circumstances we will investigate...

whether the centre has followed their own processes fairly and properly
whether CPCAB guidelines have been followed and
that there have been no instances of malpractice or maladministration.

It is rare that CPCAB are in a position to change the results of a centre complaint, unless the complaint reveals an incidence of malpractice or maladministration in relation to the integrity of the qualification, or where a complaint or appeal process has not been offered or not been followed fully by the centre. Students often assume that CPCAB is the governing body of their training centre, but this is not the case. As the awarding organisation (formerly known as ‘exam boards’) our role is to maintain the integrity of the qualification by quality assuring centre assessment and awarding a qualification where all the requirements have been achieved. We also ensure that centres have appropriate processes in place, and follow these processes when required.

To make a formal complaint please read our page making a complaint.