Policy for Apprenticeships
PLEASE READ THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS SITE
1. AVAILABILITY
This policy, procedure and process is made available directly to employers and apprentices at the point of enrolment, it is also available on our website and is made available when asked.
2. PURPOSE
nGAGE Specialist Recruitment Limited (hereafter as nGAGE) defines a complaint as any situation, product or service in which you express your dissatisfaction. At nGAGE, our apprentices and clients are at the heart of everything we do. We are committed to supporting you at every step of your journey with us. If, however, you feel that we have fallen short of your expectations, we endeavour to do whatever we can to resolve your issues. We promise to be transparent in all dealings with you during this process.
nGAGE will act in accordance with this complaints procedure should you feel that you have cause for complaint about your experience with us. This procedure explains how you can make or escalate a complaint with nGAGE and how you can expect it to be handled.
Our Complaints Procedure explains:
•How you can make a complaint
•How your complaint will be initially handled
•What to do if you are dissatisfied with the initial response
•How your complaint can be escalated further•Appealing an assessment outcome
•Changes to our complaints procedure.
3. CONFIDENTIALITY
Except in exceptional circumstances such as a Safeguarding or Public Safety issue, every attempt will be made to ensure that both the complainant and nGAGE maintain full confidentiality. However, the circumstances giving rise to the complaint may be such that it may not be possible to maintain confidentiality and each complaint will be judged on its own merit. Should this be the case, the situation will be explained to the complainant at the earliest possible moment. Similarly, depending on the circumstances, where a complaint leads to disciplinary action against a nGAGE employee, nGAGE may need to keep some aspects of the disciplinary action and/or outcome confidential.
4. MAKING A COMPLAINT
4.1 Complaints about the service you have received
If you are unhappy with the service you have received, please contact us, outlining what your complaint is:
Email: [email protected]
Complaints may be submitted by an apprentice, employer, parent, guardian or authorised representative acting on behalf of an apprentice where appropriate.
This policy is available in alternative formats on request and reasonable adjustments will be made where required to ensure accessibility
4.2 Whistleblowing and Serious Concerns
Some concerns are not service-related complaints and should be reported through our whistleblowing process.
4.2 (a) What is whistleblowing?
Whistleblowing is the reporting of a concern about wrongdoing, illegal activity, unethical behaviour, risks to health and safety, safeguarding concerns, fraud, financial misconduct, breaches of legal obligations, or conduct that is not in the public interest. A whistleblowing concern does not need to relate directly to the quality of training or apprenticeship services provided by nGAGE. It may relate to the conduct of employees, apprentices, employers, suppliers or any other person connected with our business activities.
4.2 (b) Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is unwanted conduct of a sexual nature that has the purpose or effect of violating a person's dignity, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. Please refer to the safeguarding policy
4.2 (c) Reporting a Whistleblowing Concern
You may report concerns confidentially and, if you prefer, anonymously. All reports go only to our General Counsel, that is the person in charge of our Legal Department, in first instance.
If your concern relates to:
Fraud or financial wrongdoing;
Criminal activity;
Breaches of legal or regulatory obligations;
Health and safety risks;
Modern slavery or human rights concerns;
Bribery or corruption;
Sexual harassment;
Discrimination, bullying or victimisation;or
Any serious misconduct, you should report the matter using the QR code below:
No individual will suffer any detriment, retaliation or victimisation for raising a genuine concern in good faith. Where a concern is received under this Complaints Policy but is determined to be a whistleblowing, safeguarding, sexual harassment, discrimination, bullying, misconduct or other serious concern, nGAGE may transfer the matter to the appropriate internal process for investigation.
In these circumstances:
•The matter may not be investigated under this Complaints Policy.
•Different investigation procedures and timescales may apply.
•Confidentiality and data protection obligations may limit the information that can be shared regarding the outcome.
•Appropriate safeguarding, disciplinary, legal or regulatory action may be taken where required.
The complainant, if they have identified themselves, will be informed that the matter has been referred to the appropriate process wherever it is appropriate and lawful to do so.
5. HOW YOUR COMPLAINT WILL BE INITIALLY HANDLED
5.1 When a complaint is received, the tutor who is working with you (apprentice or employer) or the Line Manager will be given the opportunity to resolve the matter informally with you.
5.2 The Tutor / Line Manager will contact you to discuss the complaint informally within a period of 24 hours of being made aware by you of any dissatisfaction. Should the Tutor / Line Manager be unavailable, another member of the nGAGE management team will contact you.
6. WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH THE INITIAL RESPONSE
6.1 In the event that you are dissatisfied with this informal resolution, the Tutor / Line Manager will refer you to the Quality Manager for nGAGE. You will be contacted by either the Quality Manager or another senior manager within 2 working days. They will endeavour to resolve your complaint during a telephone call if possible. If you remain dissatisfied, they will ask you to submit a formal written complaint outlining the full details of your experience so that every point can be investigated and responded to thoroughly.
6.2 Within 5 working days of receipt of any written complaint the Quality Manager or another senior manager will write/email to you acknowledging receipt and confirming that they are investigating the complaint.
6.3 Should the Quality Manager be on leave or otherwise unavailable, an alternative senior manager will be designated the responsible person to deal with your complaint in their absence.
6.4 Upon receipt of any written complaint and following acknowledgement the Quality Manager or other senior manager will undertake an investigation of the issues raised. This investigation will include interviews with the persons involved in the case and checking of all relevant details. The investigation will also consider the activity history recorded on the apprentice in question. Once a full investigation is complete, a full, honest and open written response will be sent to you within ten working days.
6.5 There may be exceptional circumstances where the Quality Manager or other senior manager is unable to respond within this timescale. In such circumstances, they will write to you and explain the reason why they cannot reply during that time and will provide you with an anticipated timescale as to when you are likely to receive a written response to your complaint.
7. HOW YOUR COMPLAINT CAN BE ESCALATED FURTHER
7.1 Should you disagree with our response and wish to escalate (appeal) your complaint, you should notify nGAGE of this in writing within 28 days of the date of our written response.
7.2 Your complaint and investigation will then be escalated to our Directors.
7.3 Upon receipt of your appeal, you will be contacted by the Directors or a member of their team within two working days acknowledging receipt and confirming that they are reviewing your complaint.
7.4 The Directors will review all documentation and correspondence relevant to your complaint and will respond with a final decision in writing within ten working days of the receipt of your appeal.
7.5 In the event that you are dissatisfied with the conclusions reached after investigation at the first and second stage of escalation, you will be provided with details of how to contact the regulator who will be able to independently review your complaint and our decision if appropriate.
7.6 If you are unhappy with an apprenticeship and have not been satisfied with the outcome of following the above complaints procedure then you can contact the Department for Education (DfE) directly and raise your concerns with them. The DfE will only accept complaints in writing, by email or letter. Please see the link - Complaints about post-16 education and training provision funded by DfE - GOV.UK
7.7 If you have difficulties in providing details in writing or if you are under 18, they will consider complaints made on your behalf by a third party. You will need to confirm that they can communicate with that third party on your behalf. If the complaint is on behalf of more than one person, the DfE will need written permission from everyone.
Use the DfE’s customer help portal to make a complaint, or write to:
Customer Service Team,
Department for Education
Cheylesmore House
Quinton Road
Coventry CV1 2WT
7.8 The DfE will acknowledge the complaint. If the complainant is still unsatisfied after the DfE response they can write to the complaints adjudicator to decide on the case.
8. APPEALING AN ASSESSMENT OUTCOME
Apprentices who feel that he conduct of an assessment; the adequacy of the range, nature and comprehensiveness of the evidence when set against the national standards and evidence requirements; and/or the adequacy of the opportunities offered to demonstrate competence or attainment have not met their expectations, may raise a complaint/appeal for their assessment outcome.
8. 1 Stages
Stage 1:If a apprentice wishes to complain/appeal, this complaint/appeal should be lodged, in writing, to the NGAGE Quality Manager, within 10 days of them being notified of the assessment decision.
Stage 2:The Quality Manager will attempt to find a solution, for example through another assessment or re-consideration of the evidence/work by an tutor who was not previously involved in assessment of the students’ work for this unit.
8. 2 Appeal to the Awarding Body. If you remain unsatisfied with the outcome of any complaint once all internal procedures have been followed, you will be advised that you may now appeal to the awarding organisation and follow their appeals and complaints procedure.
9. CHANGES TO OUR COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS PROCEDURE
We keep our complaints procedure under regular review. We utilise a document change tracker for the most recent changes. Any complaints in process when a change is made will be handled under the procedure that was in place when the initial complaint was made until a resolution is found.
10. CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
nGAGE will maintain records of complaints, investigations, outcomes and actions taken. Complaint trends and lessons learned will be reviewed periodically as part of our quality assurance, safeguarding and governance arrangements to support continuous improvement.
Learning from complaints is used to improve training delivery and learner experience, strengthen staff development and systems, and inform quality assurance and governance processes.
11. REVIEW CYCLE
This policy is reviewed annually, or sooner if regulatory or funding requirements change, or inspection feedback identifies improvement actions.
Chris Peel, Business Unit CEO, 14th August 2026
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