Conflicts of Interest
A conflict of interest arises when a personal interest conflicts with a responsibility to act in the best interests of TEFL Society or the participant, when it comes to meeting criteria set out by the awarding body. Conflicts of interest can be real or perceived and can happen at every level of an organisation.
- When to declare Conflicts of Interest
1.1 TEFL Society staff and contractors should always disclose an activity if they are in doubt about whether a conflict of interest exists.
1.2 TEFL Society staff and contractors must disclose and discuss any potential conflict of interest with their line manager at the earliest opportunity.
1.3 Conflict of interest should be declared by markers when marking the work of participants who they know outside of professional capacity.
1.4 TEFL Society staff and markers should make it known if they have been contacted by participants outside of official work channels, for example on Whatsapp
- Declaring and Monitoring Conflict of Interest
2.1 TEFL Society markers must fill out the Conflict of Interest Form before the end of every certification window
2.2 TEFL Society markers should make it clear prior to a certification window if they are marking a participant which may cause an issue in terms of conflict of interest
2.3 All Conflicts of Interest will be monitored closely, making sure all risks/mitigations (Shown in section 3) are being followed
2.4 All recorded conflicts of interest will be reported to the awarding body
- Mitigation and Risk Management
3.1 Where possible TEFL Society aims to ensure markers do not mark the work of a person they have had contact with outside of a professional setting.
3.2 If TEFL Society staff or contractors have been assigned participants who they know outside of a professional setting, TEFL Society will look to move the participant to a different marker
3.3 Where this is not possible IQAs will include the specific participants work in their sample, conducting a more thorough sample if necessary
3.4 TEFL Society looks to mitigate the risk of purposeful Conflicts of Interest through randomly assigning work to markers and all work going through a final check with the Head of Marking
3.5 TEFL Society will keep a log of all reports conflicts of interest
- Failure to declare
4.1 In the event that a marker or other member of the assessment team fail to declare a conflict of interest sanctions will be actioned:
4.1.1 Increased levels of sampling from IQA
4.1.2 Reduced numbers of participant work given to marker
4.1.3 Could lead to contract termination
4.2 Where conflict of interest is found and not declared, all of the marker’s work will be remarked by the assessment team.
This policy will be reviewed annually. Last reviewed 30/04/26
All reference to TEFL Society refers to Gotoco trading as TEFL Society
