Equal treatment policy

1. Commitment

The Council does not discriminate on the basis of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion or belief, sexual orientation, marital status, or socio-economic background — in admission to examination, in assessment, or in certification decisions.

2. How this is protected in practice

• Published criteria. Candidates are assessed against a published competency framework. Assessors mark against stated criteria, not impressions.
• Anonymised marking. Written responses are marked without the candidate's name, employer, or nationality visible to the assessor.
• Moderation. A sample of every marking round is second-marked, and systematic divergence between assessors is investigated.
• Scenario neutrality. Examination scenarios are reviewed to remove dependence on knowledge specific to one jurisdiction, sector, or company size that is not part of the competency being assessed.
• Adjustments. Reasonable adjustments are provided under the candidate support policy and are not recorded on the credential or the public register.

3. Accessibility of assessment

Examination materials are produced to be compatible with assistive technology. Where a format cannot be made accessible, an equivalent alternative assessment of the same competency is offered rather than the requirement being waived.

4. Cost as a barrier

Fees are a barrier to entry, and the Council treats that as a design problem rather than an externality. Any fee support arrangements will be published with the fee schedule, and are offered at the Council's discretion and subject to available capacity. Nothing in this policy creates an entitlement to a reduced or waived fee.

5. Raising a concern

Concerns that this policy has not been honoured should be raised under the appeals and complaints procedure, or directly to hello@aiassurancecouncil.org. Complaints of discrimination are reviewed by someone independent of the decision complained about.

6. Monitoring

The Council monitors pass rates for unexplained variation between candidate groups and reports findings to the Standards Committee annually. Where a pattern is identified and attributable to the assessment, the Council acts on it. Statistical variation between groups is not by itself evidence of discrimination in an individual case, and this policy does not create a right of action in respect of any particular result.

Contact

Questions about this policy should be addressed to hello@aiassurancecouncil.org.