Sign up to receive the latest news about our academy, newest course offerings, special offers, & wine events before anyone else.
We’re excited to have you join us!
Join Our Growing Community!
Complaints & Appeals
If a candidate or student feels that they have been subject to a situation or action that is unsatisfactory or unacceptable, that individual should file a complaint. Complaints must follow a two-stage process, both of which require an official email to commence.
In stage one, complainants should begin with their Course Educator, the individual responsible for providing and overseeing the course delivery of the complainant’s relevant qualification. Complainants may verbally make the Course Educator aware of the situation, but to file an official complaint, complainants must email the Course Educator to create a record of the complaint. Complaints at this level might include issues with course delivery, interactions with other candidates, or issues regarding the classroom space as a whole. Course Educators are trained to deal with and resolve complaints at this level, but if the Course Educator’s solution is not found to be satisfactory to the complainant, they may proceed to stage two.
In stage two, complaints are made to the Director of Education and may include complaints that were not resolved in stage one. However, official complaints regarding maladministration, malpractice, acts of discrimination, and conflict of interest (please refer to the following sections for more details regarding these issues) should begin at stage two and be brought immediately to the Director of Education. Additionally, complaints or appeals about an exam result must be made within 10 business days of the student receiving their exam result. Complaints at this stage must be made in writing via email or traditional post to:
Lee Pancake, Director of Education
1221 North Orange Avenue
Orlando, FL 32804
All complaints and appeals will be handled with a guarantee of confidentiality. Please refer to our Data Protection policies for more details.
When submitting a complaint in stage two, the complainant must provide full details of the complaint, what they have done, if anything, to resolve it to date, and their full name, email, and phone contact information.
Lee Pancake, Director of Education of Slate Wine & Spirits Academy, will handle the complaint and get back to the complainant within 5 business days of receiving the written documentation. If the complaint is about a WSET exam grade, Slate Wine & Spirits Academy will follow WSET complaints and appeals processes and manage the initial communication with WSET.
If the complainant is still not satisfied with a response, they may wish to file a formal complaint with WSET directly by emailing [email protected].