Malpractice and Maladministration Policy.

About this policy

Elearnment Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales (company number 17458288). We provide online training under the Good Food Hygiene brand, at goodfoodhygiene.co.uk. Employers and food safety inspectors rely on our certificates to show that a named person has understood what a course teaches. This policy explains how we protect that trust: how we prevent cheating and mistakes, how to report them, and what we do when they happen.

What we mean

Malpractice is deliberately doing something that undermines an assessment or a certificate. Examples:

• someone else taking a course or assessment for a learner
• sharing an account or login with another person
• sharing assessment questions or answers, or copying another person’s
• using software, scripts or bots to answer assessments
• trying to get round the system’s assessment controls
• changing, forging or misusing a certificate
• anyone who works with us altering results or records, or giving learners answers

Maladministration is a mistake, rather than a deliberate act, that affects assessments or certificates. Examples:

• a question marked with the wrong answer
• a technical fault that records a result incorrectly
• a certificate issued with the wrong details, or to the wrong person
• course content that no longer matches the assessment

How we prevent it

• Marked on our server. Answers are marked by our system when submitted, never in the learner’s browser, so a result cannot be edited.
• Random papers. Each attempt draws questions at random from a larger bank (10 from 20 for lesson assessments, 20 from 40 for the final assessment), in a shuffled order with shuffled answers.
• A fresh paper each visit. Opening an assessment again draws a new paper, and an out-of-date paper cannot be submitted, so questions cannot be looked up and answered in advance.
• Limited attempts. Paid courses allow three attempts per assessment. A learner who uses all three can be allowed one further set, once per assessment, at the Director’s discretion after re-reading the lesson. Earlier attempts are always kept on record.
• Named, verifiable certificates. Every certificate shows the learner’s name and a unique reference that anyone can check on the Good Food Hygiene website. A checked certificate shows the name, course and completion date we hold, so a changed certificate does not match.
• One learner per account. The Good Food Hygiene Terms & Conditions forbid sharing logins and getting round assessment controls, and every learner agrees to them when creating an account.
• Checks on our own work. Questions are checked against course content under our Course Content Review Policy.

How to report it

Anyone can report suspected malpractice or maladministration — a learner, an employer, an inspector, or someone who works with us — by emailing enquiries@goodfoodhygiene.co.uk.

Tell us what you know, who it involves, and any evidence you have. You can ask for your identity to be kept confidential, and we will respect that as far as the investigation and the law allow. Nobody who reports a concern in good faith will be treated worse for doing so.

How we investigate

1. We acknowledge the report within 2 working days.
2. Where there is a risk to the integrity of certificates, we may place a hold on the certificate or account while we investigate.
3. The Director, or someone they appoint who is not involved, investigates. They look at the records we hold, such as login history, assessment attempts and answers, and certificate details.
4. Anyone accused of malpractice is told what the concern is and given the chance to explain before any decision is made.
5. We aim to reach a decision within 20 working days, and tell the people involved in writing, with reasons.

Possible outcomes

If malpractice is found, depending on how serious it is, we may:

• give a written warning
• cancel the affected assessment attempts or results
• withdraw the certificate, so that its reference no longer verifies
• close the account, without refund where the Terms & Conditions allow
• tell the employer, if their business account paid for the learner’s course
• report the matter to the police where fraud or another crime may have taken place

If maladministration is found, we:

• correct the records and reissue any affected certificates
• find and put right every other learner affected by the same mistake
• tell the people affected what happened and what we have done
• change the content, system or process that caused it

Appeals

Anyone who disagrees with a malpractice decision can appeal under our Appeals Policy.

Records

Every report, investigation and outcome is recorded and kept for 3 years. The Director reviews these at least every three months for patterns that show where our controls need strengthening.

Responsibility and review

The Director of Elearnment Ltd is responsible for this policy. It is reviewed every year, and whenever our assessment system changes.

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