CSWIP Insight: How your certificates are processed

We are often asked how long it will take for a certificate to be received, and so we thought it would be a great idea to give you an inside look at how your certificates are processed. It is not quite as simple as just hitting ‘print’.

The process starts when we receive the enrolment form and results notice from the Examination Body. One of our highly trained Certification Officers must check that all of the candidate’s details have been entered correctly on our system and match what is on the enrolment form. While this includes the obvious checks – name and date of birth – it also includes some things that you might not expect:

• Making sure the candidates photo is up to date, (photos must be current so that when the ID card is shown it is an accurate representation of the person named on the certificate)
• Determining if the candidate is self-sponsored or sponsored (if they are sponsored, their certificates and ID badge will be sent to the sponsor),
• Confirming what language the exam was sat in (if taken in a language other than English, a translation clause is added to the certificate)
• If the correct examining body, exam type and scheme have been selected (to make sure that the certificate is issued under the correct certification scheme)

The next step is to check the candidate’s relevant experience to ensure that they have met any entry requirements required by the scheme. These include the following:

• Confirming which of the pre-entry requirements the candidate has identified as meeting.
• Reviewing the description of experience. What are the duties the candidate has undertaken? Do these meet the requirements? Have they been carried out for the required amount of time?
• If a candidate claims to have held a certificate for an amount of time, this needs to be checked and confirmed on our system.
• If the candidate refers to an attached CV, it must be checked to see if it has been attached and lists the correct experience as mentioned above.

While this may not seem like a lot to check, it is worth noting that TWI Cert offers over 30 different levels of certification in over 15 different certifications schemes, each with their own unique requirements! Added to this, some certifications have even more requirements than what is listed above, such as the need for a recent eye sight test. Those in the middle of their certification cycle – at the 5 year renewal point – will be required to provide evidence of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to ensure that they have provided the correct amount of varied CPD activities for the full 5 years of their certificate which should relate to their type of certification. Then there are the rules that govern schemes that are allowed to submit their experience post their examination!

The signature page must then be checked to ensure that the candidate has signed under the declaration to confirm they understand the rules associated with their certification as well as their obligations under the Code of Conduct. As well as this, Certification Officers will check the verifier’s details, even going so far as to contact the verifier directly to confirm the verifier’s name, company, professional relationship to the candidate, and that the information provided by the candidate was accurate and that the verifier was the signatory on the form.

Once satisfied that the enrolment form checks are complete, the Certification Officer can move on to processing the certificate. However, even after the certificate (and ID card!) is processed and issued it undergoes scrutiny to make sure there has been no errors during the issuing or printing process. Such as, Date of Birth, Certificate Title, Version of the Scheme Document, Issue Date, Expiry Date, and Groups or Categories. Finally, the formatting must be checked to ensure that all of the information fits appropriately on the certificate, and if any adjustments are required they are made.

If an error is encountered during the checks, the Certification Officer must investigate the problem. This can involve anything from speaking with the training provider or Examinations Body, to sending the paperwork back to be redone and the candidate spoken to. One of the most common issues experienced is a different spelling of a candidate’s name on the enrolment form to what has been placed on the system – usually a nickname has been used rather than what is on official documentation. To help us process your certificates as quickly as possible, please ensure that your details are the same across all paperwork to help avoid delays!

So as you can see, processing certificates is definitely not as easy as just hitting ‘print’. It is a complex process requiring in-depth checks carried out by highly trained Certification Officers, thus ensuring that the certification you have attained remains a reliable, credible, and integral source of competence assurance.