Whelehans Wine School - WSET 2024 - Terms & Conditions

Booking

Full payment details must be agreed at least 10 working days before course start date. Places will only be confirmed once payment is received, and Whelehans Wines have emailed a booking confirmation. Bookings must be made on the official booking form on website. www.whelehanswines.ie

Cancellation of course & refund policy

Cancellations of confirmed places are accepted up to 5 working days prior to the start of the course. An administration fee of €30 will apply. The full course less €30 will be refunded to the payee/applicant. The WSET course pack will be provided to students on the first day of the course. Whelehans Wine School will not process payment from a student, until the course is fully confirmed. In the event of the course being cancelled, the student will have the option to transfer to another course or be fully refunded.

Examination

All Students must bring photo ID with them to exams and this must identify with the course registration name. The decision of the examination invigilator as to the eligibility of the candidate to sit the examination will be final.

If a student fails their exam, we give each student an option to re-sit the exam, on the next exam date being conducted by Whelehans Wine School. The student must liaise withdavid@whelehanswines.ie to ensure the student is registered to do a resit.

Confirmation by both parties must be completed 20 working days before the resit. Whelehans Wine School will endeavour to facilitate all students as best as is possible. The cost of a resit is as follows;

• Level 1 Exam Re-sit – €55
• Level 2 Exam Re-sit – €70
• Level 3 Exam Re-sit – Theory €110/Tasting €100

If you have any further queries on the above, please do not hesitate to contact us:

Email:david@whelehanswines.ie  Call: (01) 9011144

Whelehans Wine School Complaints & Appeals

Complaints Procedure

As a Whelehans Wine School student you have the right to contact us with a guarantee of confidentiality and assurance that your complaint will not prejudice you in any way. To make a formal complaint, please adhere to the following procedure:

• All student complaints should be made to your APP, Whelehans Wine School.  Your main contact at the Whelehans Wine School is David Whelehan ▪ Complaints must be made in writing by emailingdavid@whelehanswines.ie or by post: marked Strictly Private & Confidential, David Whelehan, APP, Whelehans Wines, Silver Tassie, Loughlinstown, Dublin 18, D18VK37.

Please note the results of a candidate are independent of Whelehans Wine school and should not form the basis of a complaint unless it has been demonstrated that the standard of the educator falls short of the standard set by the WSET.

If you are making a complaint about the course provided by Whelehans Wine School please include the following details in your email / letter:

1. Name, Address and any other contact information i.e. mobile number advising of your preferred method of contact.
2. Full details of complaint, nature, when, where, who why.
3. Details of any previous attempts made to resolve the problem.
4. Specify how you would like the complaint to be resolved.
5. You should expect acknowledgment of your complaint within 5 working days.

David Whelehan will deal with the complaint with the utmost

of sensitivity and total confidentiality.

Whelehans Wine School will endeavour to have a meaningful and agreeable resolution within 30 working days from the date of receipt of the complaint by the applicant. If the applicant is not satisfied with the proposed resolution and both parties fail to agree on an agreed course of action, the applicant has the right of appeal to the WSET. In this event the student should submit the complaint to WSET email QA@wsetglobal.com

detailing the complaint process to date and the offered resolution. The applicant should expect acknowledgment of the complaint to the WSET within 20 working days. The WSET at this point will follow their own complaints procedure. If you have any further queries on the above, please do not hesitate to contact us: Email, david@whelehanswines.ie Call: (01) 901 11 44

Conflict of Interest

As an APP Whelehans Wines is required to identify to WSET and assist in managing or monitoring actual, potential and perceived conflicts of interest (‘Conflicts of Interest’) involving both APP staff and students. This policy complements WSET’s conflicts of interest policy and works to safeguard the integrity of WSET qualifications and promote confidence in WSET and Whelehans Wines processes and procedures.

This policy applies to all Whelehans Wines staff and students and to any individual acting on behalf of Whelehans Wines. A Conflict of Interest exists where an individual has interests or loyalties that could adversely influence their judgement, objectivity or loyalty to WSET or Whelehans Wines when conducting activities associated with WSET qualifications. Examples of Conflicts of Interest include: 

• The assessment of candidates by an individual who has a personal interest in the result of the assessment for any or all individuals concerned;
• The moderation of assessment of candidates by an individual who has a personal interest in the result of the assessment for any or all individuals concerned;
• The undertaking of a WSET qualification by any individual employed by an APP;
• The invigilation of a WSET assessment by any individual involved in the delivery of training leading to the assessment;
• The coaching of candidates by any individual involved in the assessment of candidate scripts;
• The employment by an APP of individuals engaged in the delivery of taught programmes or in the role of Internal Assessor in another APP;
• The investigation of a non-compliance incident by someone who is unable to act impartially.

Some of these Conflicts of Interest are manageable and therefore acceptable. For example, if family member of one of Whelehans Wines educators or APP staff takes a qualification and exam through Whelehans Wines or when an employee of Whelehans Wines, or of the WSET, takes a WSET qualification through Whelehans Wines, we can notify WSET in advance and work with them to put in place measures to maintain the integrity of the exam.Some Conflicts of Interest are not manageable and are not acceptable. For example, no mitigation efforts overcome the conflict created when an individual when a single individual serves as the educator and exam officer of an exam for a family member where an external invigilator is not available. Any staff member or student of Whelehans Wines who becomes aware of a Conflict of Interest must inform David Whelehan – Emaildavid@whelehanswines.ie or phone 01-9011144 as soon as possible. 

Whelehans Wines will inform the WSET of the possible conflict of interest and will work with WSET to put any protective or mitigating measures in place to manage the conflict on a case-by-case basis. If WSET and Whelehans Wines determine the conflict is not manageable, David Whelehan will inform any impacted APP staff or students. Please note that the failure to declare a conflict of interest may have consequences for the student or Whelehans Wines because we are required to report conflicts to WSET.

The Whelehans Wine School – Privacy Policy

The Whelehans Wine School is committed to protecting your privacy. At all times we aim to respect any personal data you share with us, or that we receive from others, and keep it safe. The Whelehans Wine School complies with its obligations under data protection legislation (GDPR) by keeping personal data up-to-date; by storing and destroying it securely; by not collecting or retaining excessive amounts of data; by protecting personal

data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access and disclosure; by ensuring that appropriate technical measures are in place to protect personal data and by guaranteeing total transparency on how we manage your data. If you have any queries please contact David by emailing david@whelehanswines.ie

Why we collect your personal data:

1. To register you as a candidate with WSET and enable you to sit examinations for WSET qualifications.
2. To administer and conduct your examination, including making arrangements for reasonable adjustments and/or special considerations.
3. To provide you with post-results services such as enquiries against results and appeals and solicit feedback from you on WSET qualifications.
4. To process your registration for any WSET-hosted courses or events so that we can deliver these services to you (or which have registered interest in).
5. We can fulfil our services and communicate with you about them;
6. To verify your identity;

What personal data we collect:

We may collect the following information about you:

1. Your name, date of birth, and contact details (this could include your postal address, telephone numbers and email address);
2. Your payment card details (which are encrypted) when you purchase any products or services (should you pay for one of our products or services over the telephone, your card details will not be retained and will be securely destroyed);
3. In certain situations, information relating to health which may be required to support applications for reasonable adjustment and/or special consideration in the context of examinations for WSET qualifications.

How we collect your personal data:

When you register for a WSET examination with Whelehans Wine School, you will be emailed a booking form, where you need to fill out all the relevant information, we are required to provide WSET with some of your personal data for the purpose of identification and managing your qualifications and results. This includes your name, your date of birth, your gender, your unique candidate identifier and your email address. If you have any queries about how this information is provided and used, please emaildavid@whelehanswines.ie

Sharing your personal data with third parties:

For us to provide you with products and services, we need to share some of your personal data with The WSET regulatory body. We will share your data with no other third party.

What personal data do we share:

We need to process some of your personal data to fulfil your registration on any WSET-hosted events or courses. When you sit an examination for a WSET qualification, WSET will process your script which may contain personal data. It may be marked, verified or reviewed by third-party examiners.

The Whelehans Wine School – Diversity & Equality Policy:

The Whelehans Wine School is committed to upholding the principles of diversity and equality in all areas of its work, seeking to ensure that all candidates are treated fairly and equally at all times. This policy applies to any individual acting on behalf of WSET. The Whelehans Wine School assures equality of opportunity for candidates by:

• ▪ Promoting open access to WSET qualifications (having regard to the legal minimum age for the retail purchase of alcohol and assessment competence standards);
• ▪ Ensuring that the format of WSET materials do not discriminate unlawfully against anyone on the grounds of disability, age, marriage and civil partnership, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation (having regard to the legal minimum age for the retail purchase of alcohol and assessment competence standards);
• ▪ Allowing candidates with special educational needs, disabilities or temporary injuries to access WSET assessments without changing the demands of the assessment in line with our Reasonable Adjustment and Special Consideration policies;
• ▪ Reviewing this policy regularly to ensure it continues to meet legislative and organisational requirements and is fit for purpose.

Whelehans Wine School – Reasonable Adjustments Policy, or advantage over any other candidates.

Both the WSET & Whelehans Wine School seeks to assess all candidates in a way that puts them at no disadvantage based on disability or differing ability. This policy and the reasonable adjustment process allows us, Whelehans Wines, to work with you, our student, before an assessment to gather the information we need to submit a request to WSET and work with them to make arrangements that give students access to WSET qualifications. 

A reasonable adjustment is any action that helps to reduce the effect of a disability or difficulty that places the candidate at a substantial disadvantage in the assessment situation. Reasonable adjustments are approved by WSET and put in place before the assessment activity takes place; they constitute an arrangement to give the candidate access to the qualification. Using a reasonable adjustment does not impact how WSET grades your exam, or your result, but WSET cannot agree to reasonable adjustments where your particular difficulty affects performance necessary to complete the assessment outcomes (e.g. inability to smell or taste for a level 3 exam). The goal of reasonable adjustment is to give you equal access to a WSET qualification, not to give unfair advantages over other students who take an assessment without the same adjustment, or to affect the overall reliability of the assessment outcomes that are explained in the course Specification. 

 The use of a reasonable adjustment is not taken into consideration during the assessment of a candidate’s work. Reasonable adjustments must not give unfair advantage over candidates for whom reasonable adjustments are not being made, or affect the reliability and validity of the assessment outcomes as detailed in the applicable Specification. Examples of Reasonable adjustments may be:

• Changing standard assessment arrangements, for example allowing candidates extra time to complete the assessment activity;
• Adapting assessment materials, such as providing materials in large text format;
• Providing access facilitators during assessment, such as a sign language interpreter or reader;
• Re-organising the assessment room, such as removal of visual stimuli for an autistic candidate.

Whelehans Wines will gather the information we need you to submit a Reasonable Adjustment Application from to WSET. WSET must approve and arrange reasonable adjustments before the assessment activity takes place. Before completing enrolment with Whelehans Wines, we will give all students access to this policy and the chance to identify any special needs that could require a reasonable adjustment. If a student identifies a special need, Whelehans Wines will give the student the Reasonable Adjustment Application Form as soon as possible and work with the student to gather the necessary information. 

For any student seeking a reasonable adjustment, please contact Whelehans Wines by emaildavid@whelehanswines.ie or by phone David 01-9011144 with:

• Your full name;
• contact information;
• description of the special need, disability or differing ability that requires an adjustment; and
• supporting documentation.

You must submit this information at least 30 working days before the exam date for Levels 1-3 qualifications. The information you submit will be shared with WSET and will be handled under WSET’s Privacy and data Protection Policy. Whelehans Wines will keep records of all reasonable adjustment applications.

Whelehans Wine School – Special Consideration Policy:

Special consideration is any adjustment given to a student who has temporarily experienced an illness or injury, or other event outside of their control at the time of the exam that significantly affects their ability to take the exam or their ability to show their knowledge and understanding in the assessment. Special consideration is only for things that happen immediately before or during an exam that have a material impact on your, the student’s, ability to take the exam or on your performance.

To be eligible for special consideration, you must have completed the whole course and would have been fully prepared if not for the temporary illness, injury or other uncontrollable event. A special consideration may be for an individual (e.g. a student becomes ill the day of the exam) or a group of students (e.g. an exam is interrupted by a natural disaster).

You may be eligible for special consideration if:

• Your performance on the exam is adversely affected by an event outside of your control. This may include temporary illness, temporary injury, bereavement or exam room conditions;
• Reasonable adjustments which were agreed in advance of the exam proved inappropriate or inadequate;
• The application of special consideration would not make a passing result and certificate misleading about the student’s ability to satisfy the qualification’s assessment criteria.

Applying for special consideration

If you have taken an exam, or your exam is immediately approaching, and you feel that you have a temporary injury or illness, or other uncontrollable event that has interfered with your ability to complete your exam, please contact Whelehans Wines – emaildavid@whelehanswines.ie or phone David, 01-901114  as soon as possible. Whelehans Wines will provide you with a Special Consideration Application Form, which must be completed and returned with supporting documentation within 5 working days after the effected exam. The information you submit will be shared with WSET and will be handled under WSET’s Privacy and Data Protection Policy.

If there has been serious disruption during an exam affecting a group of students, Whelehans Wines will submit a detailed report of the circumstances and candidates affected to WSET to request a special consideration. Whelehans Wines will keep records of all applications for special consideration.

Whelehans Wine School – Malpractice and Maladministration Policy

Both Whelehans Wines and WSET have policies and procedures in place to protect WSET students and safeguard the integrity of WSET qualifications. Whelehans Wines ensures compliance with Whelehans Wines and WSET’s policies through this Malpractice and Maladministration Policy, which gives a framework for both us and you to identify, report and manage potential malpractice or maladministration. Non-compliance with [[insert APP name]] or WSET Policies and Procedures can fall into two distinct, but related, categories:

1. Maladministration, where the non-compliance is generally unintentional, or the result of mistakes, carelessness, inexperience or poor processes; and
2. Malpractice where the non-compliance is intentional or the result of a negligent or reckless action without consideration of the consequences of the action.

Context is important and the line between maladministration or malpractice is not always clear: for example, maladministration incidents may become malpractice (e.g. if you fail to implement corrective measures, repeat the same or similar incident, or attempt to misrepresent or hide information during an investigation); or there may be mitigating factors that turn potential malpractice into maladministration. Though malpractice and maladministration are distinct concepts, they can shade into one another. Malpractice and maladministration are always case, context and fact specific. Both APPs and students can commit malpractice and maladministration. There are many ways that malpractice or maladministration could occur, including new ways we have not seen yet. But some examples of malpractice or maladministration include:

For APPs:

• Failure to adhere to WSET Policies and Procedures;
• Failure to follow WSET requirements for course delivery or exam regulations;
• Failure to follow WSET’s candidate registration and certification procedures;
• Late student registrations;
• Fraudulent claim for certificates/fraudulent use of certificates/reproduction or forgery of certificates;
• Withholding critical information from WSET quality assurance;
• Insecure storage of exam materials;
• Revealing or sharing confidential exam materials with candidates ahead of an exam;
• Intentional attempts to manipulate exam results so that they do not reflect the candidate’s actual exam performance;
• Failure to disclose a Conflict of Interest;
• Issue of incorrect exam results/failure to issue results to students in a timely manner;
• Failure to timely respond to WSET;
• Unauthorised reading/amendment/copying/distribution of exam papers;
• Denying WSET access to information, documentation, workforce, facilities;
• Failure to return exam papers within the specified timeframe or to follow delivery and tracking regulations;
• Infringements of WSET copyright, trademarks, intellectual property rights and brand identity;
• Use of unqualified and/or unregistered educators or internal assessors;
• Breach of confidentiality
• Misleading advertising/publicity;
• Any action likely to lead to an adverse effect.

For students:

• Cheating, or facilitating cheating, including the use of unauthorised devices or materials;
• Disruptive behaviour in an exam;
• Plagiarism of any nature by students;
• Impersonation (including forgery of signatures);
• Unauthorised reading/amendment/copying/distribution of exam papers;
• Any action likely to lead to an adverse effect;
• Breach of confidentiality.

In general, we also expect that both Whelehans Wines staff and our students should treat others and be treated professionally and respectfully at all times. We will treat inappropriate behaviour including verbal or physical abuse, persistent or unrealistic demands, or threats that cause stress to staff as misconduct and may report student misconduct to WSET as necessary.

Reporting and Investigation of Malpractice or Maladministration

As an APP, we aim to ensure compliance with WSET Policies and Whelehans Wines policies and will keep records of potential or actual malpractice or maladministration by you, our students, or our staff. We are required to notify WSET immediately of any non-compliance issues that could be malpractice or maladministration, so that WSET can investigate the non-compliance under their own Malpractice and Maladministration Policy.

We ask that you also raise any concerns or non-compliance issues that may be malpractice or maladministration with Whelehans Wines as soon as possible contacting David Whelehandavid@whelehanswines.ie or phone 01-9011144

Managing Non-Compliance

If WSET identifies malpractice or maladministration, they will consider its impact and may apply sanctions. WSET will take all reasonable steps to ensure the sanctions do not disadvantage uninvolved students affected by malpractice or maladministration. However, in some cases, they may need to disallow or withhold results and/or certificates. Potential sanctions may be enacted against the APP.

WSET will consider all relevant information on a case-by-case basis, balancing the facts with potential or actual effects, and against the seriousness of the sanctions against those effects. WSET records all malpractice and maladministration incidents for both APPs and students. If WSET determines that a student has committed malpractice or maladministration, they may apply one or any of the following sanctions: 

Sanctions Applicable to Students/Candidates

Written Warning:The student is issued with a written warning that if the offence is repeated within a set period of time then further specified sanctions will be applied.

Exam Result: declared Null and Void - A student’s exam result is disallowed. This may include invalidation and recall of a certificate already issued.

Disqualification from a Qualification: - The student is disqualified from participating in the concerned qualification with immediate effect and further excluded from participating in any further WSET qualifications for a period of 12 months. This includes access to WSET materials.

Student Disqualification:The learner is disqualified from participating in any courses or assessments leading to WSET qualifications. This includes access to WSET materials.

Disqualification from use of WSET certified logos and postnominals :Actions bringing WSET into disrepute may result in the student or graduate being barred from use of WSET postnominals and WSET certified logos.

Appeals

If you wish to appeal penalties or sanctions WSET has imposed due to Malpractice or Maladministration, please follow the procedures laid out in WSET’s Complaints Policy.