Complaints and appeals
How to complain about a training centre or about BETA, and how to ask BETA to look again at a decision.
Complaint or appeal?
A complaint is about how something was done: a service, the way someone behaved, or a process that was not followed. Anyone can complain, including candidates, operators, employers, instructors, centres and members of the public.
An appeal asks BETA to change a decision: a test result, a malpractice finding, a sanction, a refused adjustment, the suspension or revocation of a card, or a decision on a centre or instructor approval. If you send a complaint that is really an appeal, we will tell you and explain how to appeal.
Making a complaint
Complain to the centre
A complaint about a centre, its instructors, premises, machines or bookings goes to the centre first. Every approved centre has its own complaints procedure. It must acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days and give you its answer within 20 working days.
Bring it to BETA
If the centre does not answer in time, or you are not satisfied, bring the complaint to BETA. You can come straight to BETA if the complaint is about the centre's owner or manager, if you fear complaining to the centre would count against you, or if it is about malpractice.
Ask for an independent review
If you are not satisfied with BETA's answer, ask for a review within 20 working days of it. A BETA director who was not involved looks at how the complaint was handled. We aim to give the review decision within 20 working days. It is BETA's final response.
A complaint about BETA itself comes straight to us. We acknowledge every complaint within 3 working days, give it a reference and say who is handling it. Someone who was not involved in the matter looks into it, and we give you our answer in writing within 20 working days. If we need longer, we tell you why and give you a new date before the 20 days are up.
Say what happened, when, who was involved, what the centre said if you went to it first, and what you would like to happen. We accept anonymous complaints, but we cannot send an answer to someone we cannot contact. We keep the name of a person who complains confidential and share it only with those who need it to look into the complaint, or where the law requires.
Appealing a decision
Send your appeal
Write to BETA within 20 working days of the written decision. Give the decision's reference, say why you think it was wrong, and attach any evidence. We acknowledge an appeal within 3 working days and tell you who is reviewing it.
Stage 1: review of the record
A BETA reviewer who had no part in the decision checks the record it rests on. For a test result that means the marking sheet, the calculated result, the test notification and the course record. We aim to give a written decision within 15 working days.
Stage 2: appeal panel
If you are not satisfied, ask for a panel. We ask you to do this within 10 working days of the stage 1 decision. The panel includes an independent plant training specialist who does not work for BETA. You can bring a colleague, a union representative or a friend. We aim to give the panel's decision within 30 working days.
Who can appeal: a candidate or operator about their own test, card or adjustment; an instructor about their own approval or sanction; a centre about its own approval, categories, sanction or a finding against it. A centre can appeal for a candidate with the candidate's written agreement. An employer cannot appeal a decision about an operator's card, but can make a complaint.
There is an appeal fee, which is refunded in full if the appeal is upheld in whole or in part. A decision stays in force while an appeal runs unless the reviewer decides to pause it.
An appeal cannot ask BETA to award marks the marking sheet does not support or to ignore a disqualifying fault that was recorded. It can ask us to check that the sheet was added up correctly, that the rules were applied correctly, and that the test was run to the standard. The pass marks, the disqualifying faults, the course lengths and the fees are the standard itself and cannot be appealed. If you think one of them is wrong, write to us and it will be considered at the next review.
What happens at the end
An appeal can be dismissed, upheld or upheld in part. If a test result appeal is upheld and the candidate is recorded as passed, the card is issued from the date of the original test. If a test cannot be confirmed either way, or was not run to the standard through no fault of the candidate, a retest can be ordered.
The panel's decision is BETA's final decision on an appeal, and the independent review is BETA's final response to a complaint. When we give you either, we will tell you about any route outside BETA that may be open to you. For a complaint about how we handle your personal information, you can also go to the Information Commissioner's Office.
How to get in touch
Email info@betaqualifications.com or write to BETA Qualifications Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ, United Kingdom. Centres can also use the enquiry function in the portal. Put the registration number, centre number or decision reference in the subject line.
For more on how tests are marked and centres are checked, read how BETA keeps its standards.