Part III — Operating Standards
Chapter 11 — Administrative Requirements
Chapter 11
Administrative Requirements
This chapter sets out the administrative capacity an Affiliated
School must maintain: the record systems, the staffing, the
communication infrastructure, and the procedures for handling
parent and student grievances. It is the operational foundation
on which the compliance regime in Parts V and VI rests.
11.1 General Principle
11.1.1
An Affiliated School must maintain administrative systems
capable of producing, on demand, accurate and complete records
of every student enrolled, every teacher employed, every
examination conducted, and every fee received.
11.1.2
Administrative capacity is not a separate requirement from
data governance. It is the human and procedural counterpart of
the technical obligations in Chapter 21 and Chapter 22. Where
this chapter imposes an obligation to maintain a record, the
technical requirements for that record are set out in Part V.
11.1.3
A School that lacks administrative capacity does not satisfy
the framework, irrespective of the quality of its teaching.
Without reliable records, WISE credentials cannot be issued
with confidence, and audits cannot be conducted.
11.2 Student Record System
11.2.1
The School must maintain a student record for every student
enrolled in an affiliated class. The record must be held in
the Institution Management Portal, and a corresponding copy
must be retained locally on a Non-Corruptible Medium as
provided in Chapter 21.
11.2.2
Each student record must contain, at minimum, the following
fields, which correspond to the WISE credential schema:
| Category | Field |
|---|
| Personal | Full legal name (as in official identity document) |
| Date of birth |
| Gender |
| Nationality |
| Residential address |
| Unique student identifier (assigned by WEQSC) |
| Parent / Guardian | Name of parent or legal guardian |
| Contact telephone number |
| Contact email address, where available |
| Enrolment | Class and section |
| Date of enrolment |
| Programme (ISCED level and stream, where applicable) |
| Enrolment status (active, transferred, withdrawn, graduated) |
| Academic | Subject registrations for the Academic Session |
| Internal Assessment marks, by subject and instrument |
| WISE Examination results, by subject |
| Final grades and grade point average |
| Attendance | Daily attendance record |
| Aggregate attendance percentage, updated termly |
| Attendance-related communications with parent or guardian |
| Welfare | Medical exemptions and special provisions in force |
| Records of serious disciplinary matters, where they affect the student's enrolment status |
| Recognition | Bonus Marks eligibility documentation (see Chapter 17) |
| Scholarship awards received |
| Girl-Child support or Elite Support Tier awards, where applicable |
11.2.3
A student record must be created within thirty days of
enrolment. The record must be updated within thirty days of
any change to any field.
11.2.4
Where the WISE credential schema is amended by WEQSC, the
School must comply with the amended schema within the
transition period specified in the amendment notice.
11.2.5
Student records must be accurate. Where an error is discovered,
the School must submit a correction request to WEQSC under
Chapter 22. The School may not directly alter any field in the
Portal.
11.2.6
A student transferring out of the School is entitled, on
request, to a certified transfer record. The School must issue
the record within fourteen days of a written request by the
parent or guardian.
11.3 Examination Records
11.3.1
The School must maintain, for every WISE examination conducted,
a complete examination record comprising: the date of the
examination; the subject and class; the list of candidates
who sat; the invigilator's report; the sealed question paper
and the seal-opening record; the attendance register; and the
record of any incident reported under Section 11.3.4.
11.3.2
Examination scripts collected from candidates must be returned
to WEQSC in accordance with the procedure notified for each
examination. The School may not retain copies of scripts beyond
the period specified in the examination instructions.
11.3.3
Internal Assessment records — test papers, project submissions,
practical record books — must be retained by the School for
inspection at audit, for the period specified in Chapter 21.
11.3.4
Where any incident occurs during an examination that may
compromise its integrity — including but not limited to a
late arrival of sealed papers, an unauthorised person in the
examination hall, a disruption, or a suspected irregularity —
the invigilator must record the incident in the invigilator's
report, and the School must notify WEQSC within twenty-four
hours.
11.3.5
Examination records must be retained for the period specified
in Chapter 21. Failure to maintain examination records is a
Major Finding at audit.
11.4 Administrative Staffing
11.4.1
The School must employ, or have firm written commitments to
employ, at least one full-time administrative officer whose
designated responsibilities include:
- Maintenance of the student record system in the Institution Management Portal
- Submission of data to WEQSC within the deadlines specified in Chapter 23
- Retention of records in accordance with Chapter 21
- Correspondence with WEQSC on routine administrative matters
- Support of the annual audit process under Part VI
11.4.2
The administrative officer must have completed the WEQSC Portal
induction within thirty days of appointment, and must maintain
current knowledge of the Portal's functionality.
11.4.3
The School must identify, in writing to WEQSC, a Principal
Portal User who is responsible for the accuracy and timeliness
of all Portal submissions. The Principal Portal User is the
School's accountable person for administrative compliance.
11.4.4
Where the School has more than three hundred students enrolled
in affiliated classes, it must employ at least two full-time
administrative officers with Portal responsibilities.
11.4.5
Administrative staff must be provided with access to the Portal
commensurate with their responsibilities, under the role-based
access control provisions of Chapter 23.
11.5 Communication Infrastructure
11.5.1
The School must maintain a functioning institutional email
address monitored during business hours, and a telephone line
that is answered during business hours or equipped with a
voicemail facility that is monitored daily.
11.5.2
The School must notify WEQSC within seven days of any change
to its institutional email address, telephone number, or
designated Principal Portal User.
11.5.3
The School must monitor correspondence from WEQSC and respond
within the period specified in the correspondence. Where no
period is specified, the School must respond within fourteen
days.
11.5.4
Where the School becomes aware that it may be unable to
respond to a WEQSC communication within the specified period,
it must notify WEQSC in writing before the deadline, giving
reasons and proposing an alternative date.
11.5.5
A School that fails, without reasonable excuse, to respond to
three or more WEQSC communications within a period of twelve
months may be placed on Provisional Affiliation under
Chapter 29.
11.6 Parent and Student Communication
11.6.1
The School must communicate to parents, at the commencement of
each Academic Session, the following information in writing:
- The curriculum to be delivered, with a summary of subjects and streams
- The examination calendar, including all internal and WISE examination dates
- The fee structure applicable to the session, distinguishing WEQSC fees from School fees
- The attendance requirement set out in Chapter 13
- The availability of scholarships and support programmes under Part IV, together with eligibility criteria and application procedures
- The grievance procedure under Section 11.8
11.6.2
The School must hold at least two parent-teacher meetings per
Academic Session for each class in the affiliated levels.
11.6.3
The School must provide, at least once per term, a written
progress report to the parent or guardian of each student,
setting out Internal Assessment marks, attendance, and any
matter requiring the parent's attention.
11.6.4
Communication under this section must be in a language the
parent or guardian can reasonably be expected to understand.
Where the parent's language differs from the School's primary
language of communication, the School must make reasonable
efforts to provide a translation or summary.
11.7 Fees and Financial Records
11.7.1
The School must maintain financial records in accordance with
the accounting standards applicable in its jurisdiction, and
in a form capable of audit.
11.7.2
The School must maintain, for every fee received from a
parent or guardian, a receipt showing the date, amount, payer,
and purpose of the payment. Receipts must be issued within
seven days of receipt of the payment.
11.7.3
The School's fee arrangements with WEQSC — comprising affiliation
fees and annual fees payable by the School to WEQSC — are
confidential to the School. The School is not required to disclose
to any parent, student, or third party the amount of any such fee,
nor to identify such fees separately in receipts issued to parents
or guardians.
11.7.4
The confidentiality in Section 11.7.3 does not affect: the Student
Examination Fee, which is separately published by WEQSC under
Chapter 14 and which the School may disclose or itemise as it sees
fit; the School's obligation to pay WEQSC fees when due; or the
School's obligation to maintain internal records sufficient to
demonstrate to WEQSC at audit that its fees to WEQSC have been
paid.
11.7.5
The School must maintain the financial records specified in
this section for the retention period in Chapter 21, and must
produce them on request at audit.
11.7.6
Where the School charges any fee to a student that WEQSC has
not authorised — including any fee for registration in the
WISE programme, for the issue of a WISE Credential, or for
participation in the Scholarship Examination — that charge is
a Breach. WEQSC fixes the Student Examination Fee, and it is
the only examination-related fee payable by a student to the
School or to WEQSC.
11.8 Grievance Procedure at School Level
11.8.1
The School must maintain a written grievance procedure, made
available to parents and students, for the receipt and
resolution of complaints relating to:
- Teaching quality
- Assessment and marking
- Attendance recording
- Discipline
- Fees and receipts
- Any matter arising under this Framework that is within the School's control
11.8.2
The grievance procedure must provide for:
- Submission of a written grievance to a designated member of staff
- A written acknowledgment within seven days of receipt
- A substantive response within thirty days of receipt, or a written notice stating why the response will take longer and giving a new date
- An internal appeal to the senior officer where the complainant is dissatisfied with the initial response
- A record of every grievance received and its outcome
11.8.3
A record of grievances must be maintained for the retention
period in Chapter 21, and must be produced at audit in
anonymised form.
11.8.4
A complainant who is dissatisfied with the outcome of the
School's grievance procedure may escalate the matter to WEQSC
under Chapter 35. Escalation to WEQSC does not require the
School's consent, and the School must cooperate with any
enquiry conducted by WEQSC.
11.8.5
A pattern of grievances across a single academic year that
reveals a systemic failure in the School's administrative
practice may be treated as a Minor Finding at audit, and, if
repeated, as a Major Finding.
11.9 Administrative Data Security
11.9.1
Access to the Institution Management Portal must be controlled
through individual credentials. Shared logins are prohibited.
11.9.2
Administrative staff with Portal access must have completed
the data protection induction within thirty days of appointment.
11.9.3
Local copies of student records must be protected by
password access or equivalent controls, and must not be stored
on any device accessible to unauthorised persons.
11.9.4
The School must maintain a register of persons with access to
student records, distinguishing between access through the
Portal and access through local copies. The register must be
available for inspection at audit.
11.9.5
Where an administrative officer ceases to hold a role with
access to student records, the School must revoke that access
within twenty-four hours and record the revocation.
11.10 Coordination with Part V
11.10.1
The requirements of this chapter are administrative. The
corresponding technical requirements — retention periods,
storage media, modification authority, encryption standards —
are set out in Part V.
11.10.2
Where a record is required by this chapter and also by
Chapter 21, both chapters apply. Nothing in this chapter
narrows the obligations in Chapter 21, and nothing in
Chapter 21 relieves the School of its administrative
obligations under this chapter.
11.10.3
In the event of any apparent conflict between this chapter
and Part V, the more specific provision prevails. Where the
conflict cannot be resolved by specificity, the matter must
be raised with WEQSC for determination.
11.11 Breach — Consequences
11.11.1
A Breach of any provision of this chapter is subject to the
audit regime in Chapter 28 and, where applicable, to the
suspension and termination regime in Chapter 29.
11.11.2
The following are classified as indicated, unless the
contrary is established at audit:
| Breach | Classification |
|---|
| Failure to maintain student records | Major |
| Failure to maintain examination records | Major |
| Charging any unauthorised fee to a student or parent | Critical |
| Falsification of any administrative record | Critical |
| Failure to report an examination incident within twenty-four hours | Major |
| Failure to maintain a grievance procedure | Minor (Major if repeated) |
| Failure to notify change of contact details or Principal Portal User | Minor |
| Failure to respond to WEQSC communications | Minor (Major if repeated, per §11.5.5) |
| Shared Portal credentials | Major |
| Failure to revoke access within twenty-four hours | Minor (Major if systemically neglected) |
11.11.3
A Critical Finding under this chapter is subject to the
remediation timetable in Chapter 28, and may constitute
grounds for Suspension under Chapter 29 where it is
deliberate, repeated, or affecting a significant number of
students.
11.11.4
Nothing in this chapter displaces the School's right of
appeal under Chapter 35.
Further Resources
- Student record schema —
wise.weqsc.org/schema/student
- Invigilator's report template —
wise.weqsc.org/forms/invigilator
- Grievance register template —
wise.weqsc.org/forms/grievance
- Parent communication templates —
wise.weqsc.org/forms/parent-comms
- Portal access register template —
wise.weqsc.org/forms/access-register