17 Complaints and Appeals
a Complaints
Complaints concerning either: the examiner's conduct of an exam or environmental issues to do with the exam venue or facilities should be made to ABRSM's Representative (or, where there is no Representative, direct to ABRSM’s office in London). In order for ABRSM to investigate complaints fully and promptly prior to the release of results, it is essential that such issues are raised immediately, by telephone or email. Details of the complaint must be confirmed in writing (by email or post) within seven days of the exam.
b Appeals
The appeals procedure exists to investigate the unusual situation in which a candidate receives a significantly lower result than anticipated:
i) Graded practical exams: Appeals concerning the validity of results should be made on the international appeals/feedback form - Practical (with a translation into English where necessary). The form can be obtained from the Representative or downloaded here. Appeals can only be made by the Applicant and must be addressed to the Quality Assurance Manager, ABRSM, 24 Portland Place, London W1B 1LU. Such appeals must be postmarked within eight weeks of the exam. The full and thorough investigation, undertaken by the Quality Assurance Manager and/or the Chief Examiner, may include a detailed statistical review of the candidate’s and Applicant’s result histories. ABRSM may involve an independent person in the appeal. The international appeals/feedback form must be accompanied by the following:
- a copy of the mark form(s) concerned;
- an unedited recording of the candidate performing the exam pieces and a selection of the technical requirements (on CD, minidisk or cassette tape);
- a letter verifying that the candidate is the performer and the recording is unedited, and stating the date of the recording. Download an example letter of authentication.
The payment form (section 4 of the International Appeals/Feedback Form) must be completed to enable the investigation to proceed.
If the appeal is unsubstantiated, the investigation fee (half the entry fee) will be charged to the credit card concerned. If the appeal is substantiated, no charge will be made and an entry voucher will be issued at ABRSM’s discretion.
If an appeal remains unresolved by the deadline for entry to the next exam Period, candidates intending to retake should be entered in the normal way, meeting the published entry deadline. Any appeal substantiated after the entry deadline will result in a full refund of the exam fee paid in lieu of a voucher being issued.
Applicants not wishing to follow the formal appeals procedure for Practical examinations but who have general concerns about results are encouraged to send feedback, using the international appeals/feedback form, to the Quality Assurance Manager. While ABRSM cannot guarantee a detailed response to correspondence of this nature, all feedback is taken seriously and will be drawn into ABRSM’s rigorous internal monitoring procedures.
ii) Theory exams: Appeals concerning the validity of results should be made on the Theory exam appeals form (with a translation into English where necessary). The form can be obtained from the Representative or downloaded here. Appeals can only be made by the Applicant and must be addressed to Theory Quality Assurance, ABRSM, 24 Portland Place, London W1B 1LU, United Kingdom. Such appeals should be postmarked within twelve weeks of the exam. The payment form (section 4 of the Theory exam appeals form) must be completed to enable a full and thorough investigation by a moderator to proceed. An independent person may be involved at this stage. ABRSM aims to respond with the outcome within four weeks of acknowledging receipt of the appeal. If the appeal is unsubstantiated, the investigation fee (half the entry fee) will be charged to the credit card concerned. If the appeal is substantiated, an amended result will be issued. Completed Theory papers are not returned.
Candidates intending to retake should be entered in the normal way, meeting the published entry deadline. Any appeal substantiated after the entry deadline will result in a full refund of the exam fee (if the candidate no longer wishes to retake).
c Independent Review
In the exceptional circumstance that an Applicant does not accept the Chief Examiner’s decision regarding an appeal, the Applicant may seek an independent review as to the correctness of the application of ABRSM’s appeals procedure in the particular case. A request for this should be made within 14 days of the despatch of the Chief Examiner’s decision and must be addressed in writing to the Chief Executive, accompanied by a fee of £60 per candidate made by credit card (Visa or MasterCard or by sterling draft negotiable in the UK. ABRSM aims to respond with the outcome within four weeks of acknowledging receipt of the appeal. If ABRSM is unable to respond within this timeframe, the Applicant will be kept informed. An independent person, unconnected with ABRSM, will be involved in the independent review process. The findings of the independent review will be fully taken into account by the Chief Executive, who will make the final decision. If the appeal is substantiated, the review fee will be refunded to the credit card concerned.