WSET Conflict of Interest Policy 

Definition of Conflict of Interest

A Conflict of Interest exists where an individual has interests or loyalties that could adversely influence their judgement, objectivity or loyalty to WSET when conducting activities associated with WSET qualifications.

Examples of Conflicts of Interest include:

·       The undertaking of any assessment of candidates by an individual who has a personal interest in the result of the assessment for any or all individuals concerned;

·       The undertaking of any moderation of assessment of candidates by an individual who has a personal interest in the result of the assessment for any or all individuals concerned;

·       The tutoring of candidates by an individual involved in the assessment process;

·       The undertaking of a WSET qualification by any individual employed by Commonwealth Wine School;

·       The undertaking of a WSET qualification by any individual employed by WSET;

·       The invigilation of a WSET assessment by any individual involved in the delivery of training leading to the assessment;

·       The coaching of candidates by any individual involved in the assessment of candidate scripts or the authoring of exam questions;

·       The employment by Commonwealth Wine School of individuals engaged in the delivery of taught programmes or in the role of Internal Assessor in another APP;

·       The investigation of a non-compliance incident by someone who is unable to act impartially.

Management of Conflicts of Interest

WSET has procedures in place to manage specific Conflicts of Interest (see below). These include the exclusive involvement of WSET staff in the creation of all assessment materials, moderation of all internal assessments conducted by Approved Program Providers and moderation of all written examinations not marked by optical mark readers. Other Conflicts of Interest will be managed on a case-by-case basis. Commonwealth Wine School will declare conflicts of interest to WSET Quality Assurance: QA@WSETGlobal.com. To report any conflicts of interest, please contact Adam Chase at wset@commonwealthwineschool.com. 

According to WSET policies, some Conflicts of Interest can be managed and are therefore acceptable. For example, the marking of WSET Level 3 tasting assessments by Internal Assessors is verified by WSET to mitigate the risk of a Conflict of Interest. Similarly, where an employee of the WSET or one of its APPs undertakes a WSET qualification, measures can be put in place to maintain the integrity of the assessment, provided this has been notified to WSET in advance.

Some Conflicts of Interest cannot be managed and are not acceptable. For example, it would be inappropriate for an individual involved in the authoring of exam questions or the compilation of exam papers to teach or coach students.

For other non-WSET qualifications that may be offered by Commonwealth Wine School, specific conflict of interest processes will be dictated by those awarding bodies.