Primary and Final FRCA examinations (reviews and appeal) regulations

8

Subject to the following regulations, a candidate can ask the Head of Examinations to review the conduct or the result of their examination.
Reviews will be entertained which allege impropriety or bias of some kind in the organisation, content, conduct or determination of the result of the examination. The burden of proof lies with the applicant, who must prove clear reason to why their performance was affected by impropriety or bias. The following are some examples of incidents that could occur, and may affect performance in the areas mentioned above:

• Organisation, e.g. wrong or missing documentation, instructions or artefacts, poor seating/lighting, error in timing allowed, which was not resolved during the examination.
• Content, e.g. questions not relevant to the examination, questions on a topic not related to the curriculum.
• Conduct, e.g. prior to or during the exam process the examiner asked personal questions about candidate’s age, gender, origins, beliefs, disabilities, workplace or experience which affected the candidate’s performance or final outcome.
• Determination of the result, e.g. the examiner(s) did not follow the marking methods set out in Appendix 2 of the current examination regulations.

The above list gives some examples of situations that may form the basis of a request for a review; it is not intended to be a complete list.

9

No Review, however, may be made of matters which relate solely to the examiners’ judgement.

10

Any request for a Review must be submitted by emailing exams@rcoa.ac.uk, setting out in full the matter on which alleged impropriety or bias is based, addressed to the Head of Examinations and submitted within two months of completing the relevant examination.

11

On receipt of a request for a Review, the Head of Examinations will consider the admissibility of the request and inform the candidate by email whether the on the ground of Regulation 9 or for any other reason the request is admissible.

12

If the Head of Examinations:

a) is of the opinion that the Review request is in the nature of a request for guidance, re-calculation or a complaint rather than a challenge of the examination procedure or result due to alleged impropriety or bias, the request will proceed in accordance with the appropriate regulation.

b) finds that the matter on which the Review is based contains any error of fact, the candidate shall be so informed without delay and shall be invited to indicate whether he or she wishes to pursue the matter. If he or she does not, the Review shall be deemed to have been dismissed.

c) concludes that the matter on which the Review is based, provides proof of impropriety or bias of some kind in the organisation, content, conduct or determination of the result of the examination, whether in whole or in part, the Head of Examinations shall take any action necessary to rectify the situation identified and the candidate shall be informed of the findings and any corrective action to be taken.

d) concludes that the matter on which the Review is based does not prove impropriety or bias of some kind in the organisation, content, conduct or determination of the result of the examination, then the candidate shall be so informed in writing forthwith.

13

a) In conducting the Review in accordance with Regulation 11, the Head of Examinations may consult the Examiners.
b) Where a matter under review remains unresolved, a person shall not be eligible to apply for or attend FRCA examinations.