How do I make a complaint about AIR APAC?
A complaint can be about service quality, conduct, a delivery partner, an approved instrument, AIR APAC itself or a certified person. This page explains how to make one, what happens after, and when the matter is an appeal instead.
AIRS-J/1, the Standard that AIR APAC publishes, describes a complaint in section 18.7. Its first sentence reads: "A complaint is distinct from an appeal and may concern service quality, conduct, a delivery partner, an approved instrument, AIR APAC or a certified person."
An appeal asks for a review of a decision, such as a decision on your certification status. A complaint raises a concern about a service, a person's conduct or an organisation's actions. AIR APAC publishes a complaints procedure. This section summarises it for a candidate or an employer with a concern. Every time and step for a complaint below is the one the complaints page gives.
How to make a complaint
Use the contact page and choose the topic "Appeal, complaint or access support". Say three things:
- who or what the complaint is about;
- what happened;
- what outcome you want.
You do not need an account. You do not need to have taken an assessment. Every complaint starts at the same contact page.
What happens next
- Acknowledgement. AIR APAC acknowledges the complaint in writing within 5 working days. The acknowledgement names who is handling it.
- Investigation. Someone who was not involved in the matter investigates. The complaints procedure states that the owner of AIR APAC takes no part in deciding a complaint. A review board member with an interest in the matter declares it and does not advise on it (section 17.1).
- A complaint about AIR APAC itself. A review board member who is not involved investigates it. The review board's members are listed on the people page.
- Response. You receive a written response, with reasons, within 30 calendar days of the acknowledgement. If the investigation needs longer, AIR APAC tells you why and gives a new date before the first date passes.
If you are not satisfied
Ask in writing, within 30 days of the response, for the review board to look at the complaint again. The review board member who reviews it was not involved in the first investigation.
What a complaint does not do
A complaint does not change anyone's certification status, except through the suspension, revocation and appeal steps in sections 18.4 to 18.6 (section 18.7). Suspension and revocation are limited to the grounds that section 18.4 lists.
Some concerns are complaints because there is no decision to appeal. A development reading, such as a reading from a practice session, decides nothing and cannot be appealed. A comment on a development reading is therefore a complaint under section 18.7 (section 18.5).
When it is an appeal instead
Some concerns are about a decision that can be appealed. These are a decision on your certification status, an employment-grade result released to an employer, an access-support decision that affects access to assessment, and a suspension. A candidate may appeal each of these within 30 days (section 18.5). The appeals procedure sets out the route and the times. If you disagree with an anchor itself, that is a comment on the Standard, and it goes to the review board (section 18.6). In plain words: an anchor is the published description of the behaviour that defines a level on a dimension.
What AIR APAC publishes
The procedure commits AIR APAC to publish, each year, the number of complaints received, the themes, how many were upheld and the changes made. It names no complainant. This is the aggregate reporting that the complaints procedure covers under section 18.7.
A complaint about how AIR APAC handles personal data uses the same route: the contact page, topic "Appeal, complaint or access support".
What this does not claim
- It does not replace the complaints procedure. Where the two differ, the complaints page and AIRS-J/1 govern.
- It does not promise any outcome to a complaint.
- It does not say that a complaint can change a certification, a band or a reading.
- It does not say that AIR APAC has received, upheld or reported any complaint so far.
Judgment is how well a person decides once AI has given the answer. AIR APAC publishes the standard for judgment in AI-enabled work, certifies people against it through its official instrument, and stands behind every result.