Part III — Operating Standards
Chapter 12 — Governance and Leadership
Chapter 12
Governance and Leadership
This chapter sets out the governance and leadership standards an
Affiliated School must maintain. It covers the authority of the
senior officer, the composition and duties of any governing body,
the management of conflicts of interest, succession planning,
and the relationship between the School's leadership and WEQSC.
12.1 General Principle
12.1.1
An Affiliated School must have clear, documented, and effective
governance arrangements, under which authority and
accountability are unambiguously vested in identifiable
persons.
12.1.2
Governance is a substantive standard, not a formal one. A School
that has the appearance of governance without the substance —
for example, a board that never meets, or a senior officer
who is not in fact authorised to bind the School — does not
satisfy this chapter.
12.1.3
The governance requirements in this chapter apply irrespective
of the legal form of the School — whether it is a company, a
trust, a society, a foundation, a partnership, a sole
proprietorship, or a public institution.
12.2 Senior Officer — Authority and Accountability
12.2.1
Every Affiliated School must have a Senior Officer — designated
as Principal, Director, Head, Headmaster, Headmistress,
Rector, or equivalent, according to the usage of the School's
jurisdiction — who is accountable to WEQSC for the School's
compliance with this Framework.
12.2.2
The Senior Officer must have, and must be able to demonstrate
on request, authority to bind the School in respect of:
- Its affiliation and all obligations arising under it;
- The payment of fees to WEQSC;
- The accuracy and timeliness of data submitted to WEQSC through the Portal;
- The conduct of WISE examinations;
- The issue of WISE Credentials; and
- Cooperation with audits and inspections under Part VI.
12.2.3
The Senior Officer is the School's primary point of contact
with WEQSC. Communications from WEQSC to the Senior Officer
are communications to the School.
12.2.4
The Senior Officer may delegate functions to other members of
staff, but may not delegate ultimate accountability for
compliance. Delegations must be in writing, must specify the
scope and limits of the delegation, and must be recorded in
the School's governance file.
12.2.5
The Senior Officer must complete the WEQSC leadership induction
within ninety days of appointment. Where the Senior Officer
has not completed the induction within that period, the
School must notify WEQSC and provide an explanation.
12.2.6
The Senior Officer must maintain current knowledge of this
Framework, and must complete any refresher induction required
by WEQSC following an amendment to the Framework that affects
the School's obligations.
12.3 Change of Senior Officer
12.3.1
Where the Senior Officer of an Affiliated School ceases to
hold office, the School must notify WEQSC in writing within
seven days, stating:
- The date on which the office became vacant;
- The name of any person appointed as Acting Senior Officer, together with the anticipated duration of the acting appointment;
- The proposed process for the appointment of a permanent successor; and
- The date by which a permanent successor is expected to be appointed.
12.3.2
The School must appoint an Acting Senior Officer within
fourteen days of the office becoming vacant, and must appoint
a permanent successor within one hundred and eighty days.
12.3.3
Where a permanent successor is not appointed within the period
specified in Section 12.3.2, the School must apply to WEQSC
for an extension, giving reasons. WEQSC may grant an extension
of up to a further one hundred and eighty days, on such terms
as it considers appropriate.
12.3.4
Failure to appoint a permanent Senior Officer within the period
specified, or any extension granted, may result in the School
being placed on Provisional Affiliation under Chapter 29.
12.3.5
A change of Senior Officer does not affect the School's
obligations under this Framework. The School remains bound by
all obligations subsisting at the date of the change, and the
incoming Senior Officer assumes accountability from the date
of appointment.
12.4 Governing Body
12.4.1
Where an Affiliated School has a governing body — a board of
directors, a board of trustees, a management committee, a
governing council, a school management committee, or
equivalent — that body must:
- Have a written constitution, charter, or terms of reference specifying its composition, powers, and procedures;
- Meet not less than twice per Academic Session, with minutes recorded and retained;
- Have at least one member with responsibility for academic matters, whether by designation or by the member's own qualification;
- Have a clear procedure for the appointment, evaluation, and removal of the Senior Officer; and
- Act at all times in the best interests of the School and its students.
12.4.2
Where an Affiliated School does not have a governing body in
the sense of Section 12.4.1 — for example, a school operated
as a sole proprietorship or by a single proprietor — the
School must establish a documented advisory mechanism under
which at least three persons, including at least one parent
representative and at least one member of the teaching staff,
are consulted on significant governance matters. The advisory
mechanism must meet not less than twice per Academic Session.
12.4.3
Where the School is a public institution subject to statutory
governance arrangements under the law of its jurisdiction, the
arrangements required by that law satisfy this section,
provided the School can produce evidence of the arrangements
and of the meetings held.
12.4.4
The composition of the governing body — or of the advisory
mechanism under Section 12.4.2 — must be documented and
provided to WEQSC at the time of application and updated
within thirty days of any change.
12.5 Governing Body — Duties
12.5.1
The governing body — or, where none exists, the Senior Officer
with the advisory mechanism — is responsible for:
- Approval of the School's annual budget and financial statements;
- Oversight of the School's compliance with this Framework;
- Appointment, evaluation, and where necessary removal of the Senior Officer;
- Adoption of written policies in respect of admission, discipline, grievance, and fee structure;
- Oversight of the annual audit and of any Audit Finding under Part VI; and
- Setting the School's strategic direction.
12.5.2
The governing body must receive, not less than once per
Academic Session, a report from the Senior Officer on:
- The School's compliance status under this Framework;
- Any Audit Finding in the preceding twelve months and the remediation of it;
- Any Breach, Suspension, or Provisional Affiliation status;
- Any material litigation or regulatory action affecting the School;
- The School's financial position.
12.5.3
Minutes of governing body meetings must be retained for the
retention period specified in Chapter 21, and must be available
for inspection at audit.
12.6 Conflicts of Interest
12.6.1
The School must maintain a written policy on conflicts of
interest, applying to members of the governing body, the
Senior Officer, and senior academic and administrative staff.
12.6.2
A person has a conflict of interest if their personal,
financial, or family interests, or the interests of any entity
with which they are associated, could reasonably be seen to
influence the discharge of their duties to the School.
12.6.3
Every person to whom the policy applies must declare any
interest that could reasonably be considered to give rise to a
conflict, whether actual or potential, at the time of
appointment and upon any subsequent change. Declarations must
be recorded in a conflict of interest register maintained by
the School.
12.6.4
Where a conflict is declared, the person concerned must not
participate in the deliberation or decision to which the
conflict relates. The recusal must be recorded in the minutes
of the meeting at which the matter is considered.
12.6.5
The conflict of interest register must be made available to
WEQSC on request, and its existence and current maintenance
are verified at audit.
12.6.6
A failure to declare a conflict of interest, or participation
in a decision in which a declared conflict subsists, is a
Breach, and may be classified as a Major Finding at audit
where it relates to a matter of significance to the School's
compliance or finances.
12.7 Management Structure and Reporting Lines
12.7.1
The School must maintain a documented management structure
showing the reporting lines from each member of staff to the
Senior Officer.
12.7.2
The management structure must identify, for each of the
following functions, the person responsible:
- Academic leadership and curriculum delivery;
- Examination conduct and integrity;
- Student records and Portal submissions;
- Laboratory safety and equipment maintenance (where ISCED Level 3 is offered);
- Financial management and fee collection;
- Data protection and cybersecurity;
- Student welfare and safeguarding; and
- Grievance handling.
12.7.3
A single person may hold responsibility for more than one
function. The School must ensure, however, that no person
is responsible for both the approval of a financial
transaction and the verification of that transaction.
12.7.4
The management structure must be documented in writing, kept
current, and provided to WEQSC upon request.
12.8 Succession and Continuity
12.8.1
The School must maintain a written succession plan in respect
of the Senior Officer and each person identified under
Section 12.7.2 as responsible for a critical function.
12.8.2
The succession plan must identify, for each critical function,
at least one person capable of assuming the function on a
temporary basis in the event of the absence or incapacity of
the person normally responsible.
12.8.3
Where the School is unable, at any time, to identify a
successor for a critical function, it must notify WEQSC
within thirty days and propose a remedy.
12.8.4
In the event of a prolonged absence or incapacity of the
Senior Officer — for example, by reason of illness, legal
incapacity, or loss of liberty — the School must appoint an
Acting Senior Officer within fourteen days, and must notify
WEQSC within the same period.
12.9 Relationship with WEQSC at Governance Level
12.9.1
The relationship between the School and WEQSC is a regulatory
relationship, not a commercial partnership. The Senior Officer
and the governing body must conduct the relationship in a
manner consistent with that character.
12.9.2
Neither the governing body nor the Senior Officer may accept,
and neither may offer, any inducement, gift, or benefit, in
cash or in kind, to any WEQSC officer, employee, or
contractor, in connection with any matter arising under this
Framework. This prohibition applies whether the benefit is
offered directly or indirectly.
12.9.3
Where the School becomes aware that a WEQSC officer has been
offered, or has solicited, any such benefit by any person
connected to the School, it must report the matter to WEQSC
within seven days.
12.9.4
A breach of Section 12.9.2 is a Critical Finding, and may
constitute grounds for Termination under Chapter 29, whether
the benefit was accepted or merely offered.
12.9.5
The School must, in all its dealings with WEQSC, act honestly,
cooperatively, and in good faith. Concealment of a material
fact, whether in an application, an audit, or any other
interaction, is treated as a misrepresentation under Section
6.14.
12.10 Financial Governance
12.10.1
The governing body — or, where none exists, the Senior Officer
— must approve the School's annual budget before the
commencement of each financial year, and must review actual
performance against the budget not less than once per
Academic Session.
12.10.2
The School must maintain appropriate internal financial
controls, including the segregation of duties between
authorisation and verification of expenditure, and must
document those controls.
12.10.3
The School must maintain reserves or committed funding
sufficient to meet its operating costs and its obligations
to WEQSC for a period of not less than three months, at all
times during the Affiliation Cycle.
12.10.4
Where the School becomes aware that it is likely to breach
the requirement in Section 12.10.3, it must notify WEQSC
within fourteen days and propose a remedy.
12.10.5
Financial governance is subject to the audit regime in
Chapter 27, and the School's compliance with this section is
verified at the annual financial audit.
12.11 Breach — Consequences
12.11.1
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.
12.11.2
The following are classified as indicated, unless the
contrary is established at audit:
| Breach | Classification |
|---|
| Accepting or offering any inducement in connection with a WEQSC matter | Critical |
| Failure to declare a material conflict of interest | Major |
| Failure to maintain a governing body or advisory mechanism | Major |
| Failure to appoint a permanent Senior Officer within the period allowed | Major |
| Failure to maintain documented management structure | Minor (Major if repeated) |
| Failure to maintain a succession plan for critical functions | Minor |
| Failure to maintain a conflict of interest register | Minor (Major if systematic) |
| Failure to notify change of Senior Officer within seven days | Minor |
| Failure to notify inability to maintain reserves | Minor |
| Breach of internal financial controls | Major where material |
12.11.3
Nothing in this chapter displaces the School's right of
appeal under Chapter 35.
Further Resources
- Governance file template —
wise.weqsc.org/forms/governance-file
- Conflict of interest register template —
wise.weqsc.org/forms/coi-register
- Management structure template —
wise.weqsc.org/forms/management-structure
- Succession plan template —
wise.weqsc.org/forms/succession
- Leadership induction —
wise.weqsc.org/cpd/leadership