Policy Statement

The purpose of this policy is to set out the guidelines and procedures for identifying, monitoring and managing actual, perceived and potential conflicts of interest relating to the delivery of end-point assessment and internal quality assurance of Dark Olive CIC end-point assessments.

Definition of conflict of interest

In respect of Dark Olive CIC, a conflict of interest exists where:

• Dark Olive CIC’s interests in any activity undertaken by it, on its behalf, has the potential to lead it to act contrary to its interests when undertaking assessment, quality assurance or other activities across the awarding organisation qualifications in accordance with its signed Centre Agreement.

• a person who is connected to the assessment, quality assurance or other activities across the awarding organisation qualifications has a personal interest in any other activity which has the potential to lead that person to act contrary to their interests when carrying out the activity, or
• an informed and reasonable observer would conclude that either of these situations was the case.

The following are examples of situations where an individual may have a personal interest in assessment results. These are intended as a guide and not an exhaustive list:

• where an assessor is a close family member or friend of a learner undertaking the assessment. The assessor may have a personal interest in their family member or friend successfully passing the assessment.

• where an internal quality assurer is the close friend of the assessor. The existence of this personal relationship between the internal quality assurer and the assessor could mean that the internal quality assurer has a personal interest in their friend having favourable internal quality assurance feedback.

• where a member of staff of Dark Olive CIC is taking an examination, and the invigilator is a colleague from Dark Olive CIC with whom they are friends. The existence of the friendship could mean that the invigilator will have a personal interest in their colleague/friend achieving a high mark in the examination.

• where an individual has a professional or financial interest in another organisation that may lead it to act contrary to its interests in complying with the awarding body’s Conditions of Recognition.

In the above examples, Dark Olive CIC is required to take all reasonable steps to avoid the assessment being undertaken by the assessor/internal quality assurer or invigilator in question.

Where this is unavoidable, arrangements must be put in place to ensure the assessment is undertaken compliantly, such as arranging for another individual who does not have a personal interest to oversee the assessment.

In the event of an individual identifying a conflict of interest in advance of, during or following assessment, IQA or invigilation taking place, the individual must declare the conflict to an appropriate member of staff within their centre.

Dark Olive CIC must follow its policy and procedures in dealing with the conflict as well as notifying the awarding organisation via the Centre Declaration of Conflict of Interest form.

Management of conflicts of interest

Members of staff at Dark Olive CIC who act as an assessor, internal quality assurer (IQA) invigilator or any other member of staff who may have a personal interest in the outcome of assessment must declare it, and should, as far as possible, not be involved in that assessment. Where this is not possible, Dark Olive CIC will have policies and procedures in place to ensure that the assessment is verified by an individual who has no interest in the learners’ work.

Staff responsible for assessment and quality assurance, as well as staff involved with carrying out other activities across the awarding organisation qualifications, must comply with Dark Olive CIC’s conflict of interest policy and procedures. Staff may include but are not limited to the following:

• Tutors, trainers and assessors
• Internal quality assurers
• Staff who may have access to confidential assessment materials
• Managers
• Staff within partner organisations
• Invigilators
• Heads of departments, Board Members or the CEO

All perceived, potential or actual conflicts of interest should be identified and effectively managed, not only those that may have an adverse effect. This is with a view to ensuring that once a conflict of interest has been identified, Dark Olive CIC is able to consider any possible adverse effect that may arise from the conflict and to take steps to prevent or minimise these.

Policy and procedures developed within Dark Olive CIC will detail how perceived, potential or actual conflicts of interest are identified, recorded, managed and monitored to mitigate any adverse effect that the conflict of interest may have on individuals.

The following points provide practical steps on what to consider within a conflict of interest to aid compliance with this requirement. This is not an exhaustive list:

• the types of situations in which a conflict of interest may arise in relation to Dark Olive CIC, and of these, which could have an adverse effect (e.g. examples of scenarios within Dark Olive CIC where conflicts of interest may occur)

• the intended audience for the policy

• what policies should be read in conjunction with the conflict of interest policy

• information on roles and responsibilities of staff with oversight of identifying and managing conflicts of interest e.g. for collecting, reviewing and actioning conflict of interest declarations, making decisions about measures to avoid or mitigate adverse effects and for informing the awarding organisation

• requirements of staff when declaring conflicts of interest (e.g. documentation to use)

• requirements of staff when managing conflicts of interest (within the centre and any partner organisations) (e.g. all conflicts of interest will be subject to internal quality assurance)

• information on how key staff and stakeholders will be made aware of the conflict of interest policy and procedures and their responsibility in supporting centre compliance with this requirement e.g. staff, tutors, assessors, IQAs, invigilators and staff at partner organisations

• information on who can be involved in internal decision-making procedures when conflicts of interest are declared

• review date for the policy.

All stakeholders are required to record potential or actual conflicts of interest and personal interest, dating back for a minimum of 3 years. This happens upon recruitment and is requested at contract renewal.

New conflicts should also be declared as soon as they are identified during the course of any contract year by informing management of Dark Olive CIC. If there is any doubt that the situation represents a potential conflict, it is recommended that it should be declared.

The register of Conflicts of Interest is managed, monitored and maintained by Dark Olive CIC management.

Decisions will be taken by the ‘relevant person’ – this will be a member of Dark Olive CIC staff with the authority to make such a decision, and most usually would be the End Point Assessment Quality Manager or nominated representative. The ‘relevant person’ will then:

• Assess the nature of the conflict
• Assess the risk or threat to the organisation’s functions
• Decide whether the conflict warrants further action/mitigation to be taken
• Decide what steps to take to avoid or manage the conflict or adverse effect

There may need to be a discussion between the person notifying the potential conflict and the ‘relevant person’. The purpose of the discussion is to establish if an actual conflict exists (and whether there is potential for an ‘adverse effect’) and if so, to reach a decision about how the conflict will be managed.

Good practice would be that if no potential current conflicts are identified, these ‘nil returns’ are logged and recorded, and that regular review and update is undertaken.

Dark Olive CIC will take all reasonable steps to ensure that all staff and assessors involved in end-point assessment are required to declare any interest of friends or family sitting upcoming assessments and it will be necessary to complete and sign a declaration of interest form.

If a member of Dark Olive CIC’s independent learner assessment staff is undertaking end-point assessment and identifies a conflict of interest on the day of the end-point assessment that previously has not been identified through the declaration, the independent assessor is required to contact an Internal Quality Assurer immediately before any assessment takes place.

Dark Olive CIC will arrange an alternative provision for the end-point assessment of the learner(s) or put mitigating actions in place to ensure the integrity of the end-point assessment activity.

Identification of potential conflicts of interest

Where a conflict of interest or personal interest has been identified, the next step is to analyse whether this could have an ‘Adverse Effect’. An ‘Adverse Effect’ is defined as:

“An act, omission, event, incident, or circumstance has an Adverse Effect if it –

• gives rise to prejudice to Learners or potential Learners, or
• adversely affects the ability of the end point assessment organisation to undertake the development, delivery or provision of end-point assessment, or public confidence in qualifications.

Where an ‘Adverse Effect’ could reasonably be expected to occur, all reasonable steps must be taken to mitigate the effect as far as possible and to correct it.

This may be achieved by:

• Reorganising activities and/or key functions, where reasonable, so that the Adverse Effect is mitigated
• Gaining an undertaking from the individual(s) concerned to conduct their responsibilities so that the integrity of Dark Olive CIC end-point assessments is maintained, as well as their own professional integrity

If neither of the above steps are possible, another solution must be found. The solution should be in proportion to the nature of the conflict. In extreme circumstances, activities may need to be monitored or even restricted.

The first step will be to try to eliminate the ‘Adverse Effect’ e.g. by assigning another member of staff to undertake the end-point assessment activity. By doing so, this reduces the risk of assessments being compromised and ultimately assessments being voided.

Where elimination is not possible due to financial or/and resource implications, measures should be put in place which can demonstrate that the conflict is being managed effectively so as not to compromise the outcome of the assessment. Key principles here are transparency and mitigation.

All reasonable steps should be taken to avoid any part of the end-point assessment of a Learner (including assessing, interviewing, quality assurance) being undertaken by any person who has a personal interest in the result of the assessment.

Where, having taken all such reasonable steps, an assessment by such a person cannot be avoided, arrangements should be made for the relevant part of the assessment to be subject to additional scrutiny by another person.

Internal Conflicts

Dark Olive CIC requires staff and contractors involved in end-point assessments to declare conflict of interest if they are acting in different roles. Any such declarations will be carefully monitored to ensure that those assessments are not compromised.

Recording Conflicts

The register of Conflicts of Interest is managed, monitored and maintained by the Dark Olive CIC.

A record is kept for all staff involved in End Point Assessment, even if no conflicts or personal interests exist. The record captures the information required to understand, assess and put in place any mitigation measures for each conflict, and the Conflict of Interest declaration document is sent out during the annual re-contracting process, with each stakeholder being required to complete and return this form, which includes their declaration that they have read, understood and provided accurate information.

The information provided by key stakeholders should be processed in accordance with data protection principles as set out in the Data Protection Act 2018 and GDPR 2018. Data will be processed only for the purpose set out in this policy and not for any other purpose.

Declaring Conflicts of Interest 

Dark Olive CIC must declare any conflicts of interest that arise from staff who act as an assessor, internal quality assurer (IQA) or any other member of staff who has a personal interest in the outcome of learner assessment to the awarding organisation by completing Centre Declaration of Conflict of Interest form.

Where a conflict of interest is identified, all related learner evidence and accompanying IQA records must be retained for external quality assurance purposes.

It is understood that staff/individuals may have concerns in reporting perceived, potential or actual conflicts of interest if Dark Olive CIC has not followed their own conflict of interest policy/procedures. However, staff/individuals can be reassured that any concerns that they may have relating to conflicts of interest will be treated in the strictest confidence. 

Conflicts of interest discovered by the awarding organisation that have not been declared by Dark Olive CIC, may be viewed as maladministration or in some cases malpractice and the awarding organisation will, where relevant, apply the appropriate sanctions. 

Should conflicts of interest be identified by the awarding organisation that have not been declared by Dark Olive CIC, costs of any additional quality assurance checks that are necessary as a result must be met by Dark Olive CIC. 

Monitoring and reviewing conflicts

Dark Olive CIC Management, in conjunction with the End Point Assessment Quality Manager (or their nominated representative) are responsible for maintaining a register of interest and will:

• Record in the register all conflicts of interest and personal interest
• Make the register of conflicts available to any stakeholder at any time for reference purposes
• Keep a log of any actions taken to manage a conflict of interest

The register of conflicts of interest will be available for inspection by the relevant body.

Conflict of interest investigations

Where investigations are conducted by Dark Olive CIC for Learner malpractice, maladministration, breach of confidentiality, appeals or complaints, all reasonable steps will be taken to avoid those under investigation being investigated by anyone with a personal interest in the outcome of the investigation, and – where it is unavoidable – ensure any part of the investigation they do conduct is scrutinised by someone else who does not have such an interest.