Complaints and Appeals Procedure

How to raise a complaint or assessment appeal with Xcademia, the stages and timescales we follow, and where to go if you are still not satisfied.

Policy details

Version: 1.0
Effective date: 20 October 2026
Next review: October 2027, or earlier following material change
Owner: Quality lead
Supports ISO 9001:2015 clauses: 8.2.1, 9.1.2, 10.2

Xcademia's quality management system is aligned with ISO 9001. It is not independently certified.

Purpose and who can complain

We want to hear when something has not met your expectations. This procedure explains how to raise a complaint or an appeal, what we will do, and how long each step takes.

Anyone can complain to us, including learners, employers and customers who commission training, and members of the public. A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction about our services, our people, our partners acting for us, or how we have handled your information or a previous concern.

How to raise a concern

Email info@xcademia.com.
Call +44 20 8050 4999.
Use our contact form.
If you are on a programme, tell your trainer or your programme contact, who will pass it on to us.

Please tell us what happened, when it happened, who was involved and what outcome you would like. If you need support to make a complaint, or need it in another format, tell us and we will make reasonable adjustments.

Informal resolution first

Many concerns can be settled quickly by speaking to the person involved or to your programme contact. We encourage this where it is appropriate and you are comfortable doing so. You do not have to try informal resolution first if you do not want to, and you can move to the formal procedure at any time.

Formal complaints and appeals

If a concern is not resolved informally, or you prefer to make a formal complaint, we follow the stages below. Timescales are in working days.

Formal stages and timescales
Stage	What happens
Stage 1: acknowledgement	We acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days.
Stage 1: investigation and response	We investigate and send you a written response within 20 working days. If we need more time, we will tell you, explain why and say when to expect a response.
Stage 2: appeal	If you are not satisfied with our response, you can ask for an appeal within 20 working days of the date of that response.
Stage 2: review	A member of management who was not previously involved reviews the complaint and our response.
Stage 2: outcome	We send you a written outcome within 20 working days of receiving your appeal request.

The Stage 2 outcome is our final decision under this procedure.

Assessment appeals

If you disagree with an assessment result or how your work was marked, you can appeal. We handle assessment appeals in the same way and within the same timescales as complaints. Your work will be re-marked or reviewed by a different assessor who was not involved in the original decision, and we will explain the outcome in writing.

For results from an awarding body or an external examination, the awarding body or examination provider's own appeals process applies. We will help you understand it and use it.

Records, confidentiality and learning from complaints

We keep a complaints log. Each complaint is recorded, given an owner, investigated and answered, and any resulting action is recorded.
We treat complaints confidentially and share details only with those who need them to investigate and resolve the matter.
You will not be treated less favourably for making a complaint or an appeal in good faith.
We review complaints and recurring themes as part of management review, and the lessons feed our improvement plan.

If you are still not satisfied

If a programme is publicly funded, you may be able to refer your complaint to the funding body after you have completed our procedure. We will give you the details of how to do that.

If your complaint is about how we have handled your personal data, you can also contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) (opens in a new tab). Read our privacy policy.

Quality Policy: How Xcademia plans, delivers and improves its training, and the quality objectives we measure under our ISO 9001 aligned system.
Learner Support and Reasonable Adjustments Policy: How learners can ask for support or reasonable adjustments at Xcademia, how we agree them, and how we keep your information confidential.
Assessment and Certification Policy: How we design and mark assessments, quality assure decisions, and issue Xcademia completion and achievement certificates you can verify online.
Supplier and Delivery Partner Management Policy: How Xcademia selects, briefs and monitors specialist partners and associate trainers, and why we stay responsible to our customers for their work.

View all policies