Complaints Handling Procedure

Complaints about approved awarding bodies

Qualifications Scotland Accreditation is committed to maintaining high standards of quality to maintain the integrity of its accredited qualifications and to ensure that all awarding bodies remain compliant with Qualifications Scotland Accreditation regulatory requirements.

Where an individual or an organisation has a complaint about an awarding body, or their providers we will carry out appropriate enquiries through our Regulatory Complaints Handling procedure.

We will establish if the awarding body and/or their providers are delivering services in line with their policies and procedures and that they meet the requirements of the Regulatory Principles and associated policies.

There is no right of appeal to Qualifications Scotland Accreditation’s findings, however where the complainant is dissatisfied at the action or lack of action, or about the standard of service provided by or on behalf of Qualifications Scotland Accreditation during their regulatory complaint they can do so through our Complaints about Qualifications Scotland Accreditation process.

Complaints about Qualifications Scotland Accreditation

Qualifications Scotland Accreditation is committed to ensuring that all our customers receive the best possible service from us, however we recognise that, sometimes, some of our customers will experience problems.

We define a complaint as an expression of dissatisfaction about Qualifications Scotland Accreditation’s action or lack of action, or about the standard of service provided by or on behalf of Qualifications Scotland Accreditation.

Our Complaints Handling procedure sets out how we will deal with your complaint. Complaints can be a valuable source of information to help us improve our services.

Where a right of appeal exists, Qualifications Scotland Accreditation’s appeal processes should be exhausted before the appellant can initiate a complaint on the same matter. More information about appeal processes is available in Qualifications Scotland Accreditation's Appeal Process on our website.

All Complaints

At times complainants’ behaviour can make it difficult for us to help them.Qualifications Scotland Accreditation has adopted an Unacceptable Actions by Complainants Policy  that sets out our approach to dealing with problematic behaviour from complainants.

SQA Accreditation Annual Complaints Handling Report

As a public sector body, Qualifications Scotland falls under the remit of the Scottish Public Sector Ombudsman. It requires that public bodies providing an annual report detailing:

1 Number of complaints received.

2 Number and percentage of complaints at each stage that were closed within the set timescales.

3 Average time for a full response at each stage.

4 Outcome of complaints at each stage.

Both of Qualifications Scotland’s function publish a separate report. SQA Accreditation Annual Complaints Handling Report (April 2024 – March 2025)