How moderation works
— and what happens if you don’t meet the standard
The Enrichment Quality Mark is awarded on evidence, not payment. Your fee buys an independent expert review and a written report – not the badge. This page explains exactly how decisions are made, what the outcomes are, and where your money stands at every point.
What your fee buys
£395 per school per year for the founding cohort (standard price £495 from 31 October 2026) covers:
- A full review of your evidence against the published criteria by an experienced reviewer, within 10 working days of submission
- The reviewer’s written summary – yours to keep and use whatever the outcome
- One free resubmission within 90 days if your application is deferred
- On award: the Enrichment Quality Mark, year-dated, for your website, parent profile and evidence file
The three outcomes
Awarded.Your evidence meets the standard across all 8 benchmarks. You receive the Mark, valid for one year, plus the reviewer’s written summary.
Deferred.Most applications that don’t succeed first time land here. The reviewer tells you exactly which benchmarks need stronger evidence and why. You have 90 days to strengthen and resubmit at no extra cost. A deferral is a roadmap, not a rejection – and schools that are deferred and then awarded have earned exactly the same Mark as everyone else.
Not awarded.Rare, because eligibility (Securing or above on every benchmark in BenchMark) filters applications before payment. If after resubmission the evidence still does not meet the standard, the Mark is not awarded. You keep the reviewer’s report and your BenchMark action plan, and may reapply in a future year.
Refunds
- Before your review begins: full refund, no questions.
- After your review begins:no refund, because the thing you purchased – the independent review, the written report, and the resubmission window – is being delivered. The Mark itself was never for sale.
How we keep the judgement honest
You pay us, and we judge your application. We know how that looks, so the safeguards are structural:
- Published criteria.Every application is assessed against the same public rubric – [link] – not a reviewer’s mood.
- Reviewers are paid per review, never per award. A reviewer earns exactly the same for a deferral as for an award.
- Second-reviewer sampling.A proportion of all decisions – awards and deferrals – is independently re-checked each term.
- Published outcomes. We publish our award / defer / not-awarded rates annually. A Mark that everyone gets would be worthless; the defer rate is public proof this one is earned.
- Appeals. If you believe a decision misread your evidence, a different reviewer will re-assess it for £[50]; refunded in full if the appeal is upheld.
The small print, in plain English
- The Mark is valid for 12 months from award and is year-dated (e.g. “Enrichment Quality Mark 2026-27”). Renewal requires a fresh review of updated evidence – it is never automatic.
- The Enrichment Quality Mark is issued by After Hours Education Ltd (trading as rounded.education) and is not affiliated with, approved or endorsed by Ofsted or the Department for Education.
- Questions before you apply: hello@rounded.education – we would rather answer them now than after you’ve paid.
Draft. Bracketed items – the published-criteria link and the appeal fee – are still to be confirmed before wide release.