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- What's happening with the Quality Mark?
What's happening with the Quality Mark?
- Important notice-Revised Audit Costs for General Quality Mark audit
- Audit body contract awarded
- GQM auditing services
- GQM registration closed
- The way forward
- Additional information
- Standards withdrawn
Important notice-Revised Audit Costs for General Quality Mark audit
Please note: The Assessment Network Ltd (TAN) has introduced a new size banding and associated fee for organisations employing between 1 and 3 members of staff. Please see audit charges below.
Audit body contract awarded
We are pleased to confirm that after a successful application process the Legal Services Commission (LSC) have awarded the contract for the delivery of the auditing services for the General Quality Mark (including Telephone) Standard to The Assessment Network Ltd. The contract started on 1 April 2009.
GQM auditing services:
- There will be a fixed charge to undergo the audit process. Charges are graduated according to the size of the organisation*. The breakdown of costs for organisations that require a re-audit to maintain their accreditation is outlined in the table below:
| Organisation Type | Audit charge (excl VAT) |
|---|---|
|
1-3 employees** |
£750 |
|
4-15 employees |
£1,000 |
|
16-30 employees |
£1,250 |
|
31+ employees |
£1,500 |
*Organisation size relates to the number of people that work within the service (or part of the service) that the GQM covers.
**The Assessment Network Ltd has introduced a new size banding and associated fee following a review of their estimates of resources required to audit very small organisations. 'The GQM Audit Charges' schedule is available in the General Documents section on the right hand side of this page.
- Re-audit of the standard will now only be required once every two years. Audits will recommence from 1 April 2009.
- It will be necessary for all GQM holders to register for continuation within the QM scheme.
- Organisations that choose to withdraw from the QM will be required to remove all references to the QM from their materials within 3 months of withdrawal.
- For new applicants the audit process will follow the procedure currently outlined in the GQM standard; desktop audit, followed by preliminary audit followed by full audit.
New Applicants
Preliminary Audit (including Desktop)
1-3 employees** £500 4-15 employees £750 16-30 employees £875 31+ employees £1,000
Organisation Type
Audit Charge (excl VAT)
Full Audit
| Organisation Type | Audit Charge (excl VAT) |
|---|---|
|
1-3 employees** |
£750 |
|
4-15 employees |
£1,000 |
|
16-30 employees |
£1,250 |
|
31+ employees |
£1,500 |
** The Assessment Network Ltd has introduced a new size banding and associated fee following a review of their estimates of resources required to audit very small organisations. 'The GQM Audit Charges' schedule is available in the General Documents section on the right hand side of this page.
General Quality Mark Registration closed
The registration period for organisations wishing to continue to hold the General Quality Mark standard has now closed.
The Assessment Network Ltd will contact organisations that have re-registered shortly, in order to schedule in their audit. If an organisation has missed the deadline but wishes to obtain the GQM standard they can apply directly to The Assessment Network Ltd . For further information on The Assessment Network Ltd please access its website.Any organisation that has not already registered to continue with the GQM standard will have until 1 June 2009 to withdraw all references to the QM from their materials. For the avoidance of doubt, any organisation that has missed the registration period and applies to the Assessment Network will need to withdraw QM references from 1 June 2009 until they can arrange to obtain an audit.
The way forward
We are aware of, and welcome, the sector led initiatives to develop a new quality standard and competence assessment. Therefore, we view the appointment of a GQM audit body as an appropriate solution whilst the sector wide standard is in development. We will work with the sector over the coming years and review the role of the GQM in the light of developments. We will keep all standard holders up to date with any future developments.
Additional Information
Go to this page on our website for further information regarding the GQM.
Please email the Quality Mark team with any other queries.
Standards withdrawn
We have withdrawn the following quality mark standards:
- Self-help information
- Assisted information
- Websites
- Community mediation.
This was effective 3 Mar 08.
Last updated: 03 September 2008