i am sorry to inform this but my application was refused again!
I can NOT understand my timeline:
20 may Application received in Doncaster
24 may email received from hsmp costumer team confirming receipt
25 may decision made!! interesting to know it took my caseworker less than 24 hours to read 182 pages of my application...speed reading classes anyone?
15 june (today) email received from hsmp costumer team informing a decision has been made and documents were on their way
15 june (today) spoke for 32 minutes over the phone with my caseworker
well, i had written a LOOOONG post which someway got erased somewhere in cyberspace while trying to send it to the board ...so i have to write it again...i will summarize this time:
basically, i wrote that i went to call the hsmp team immediately after i received this email earlier today.
after some 20 tries, a nice girl answered the phone (00441142591894), confirmed my info and gave me the bad news...my decision had been refused again!Dear Jhonny
A decision has already been made on your application and a decision letter
has been despatched by airmail together with your documents.
i remained very calmed and very politely asked to be transfered to my caseworker. waited for one minute on hold and heard this nice woman's voice greeting me.
during the first 30 seconds, after introducing myself and building some positive rapport with her, i asked her to explain me the reasons why she had taken her decision. "you have only 45 points" she said.
5 age
25 work experience (they awarded me the points this time)
15 BA
0 Master (Naric does not consider my spanish masters comparable to british standars. full explanation below)
0 Significant Achievement ("my evidence was not sufficient and independent")
knowing how important this person is, i treated her as if she was an old girlfriend of mine. i kept a nice, positive, and polite tone of voice even with some inspired humour at some points!
well, the result was brilliant. she was tremendously cooperative and gave me some nice tips to include in my free review! she was also "very sorry for refusal"
regarding my NARIC problem:
on 12 april UK NARIC sent me a Comparability Information with the following info about my Master in Theory and Practice of the Creative Documentary awarded in 2003 by the Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona in Spain:
During this long conversation i managed to get some answers from her and gave her some possible solutions. one of them was "what if i have someone in UK NARIC call you and explain my 'special case'?" she said "we do what naric tell us!" i said "well, then i will call naric right after this. hopefully, i get some helpful person like you"Assessment: No comparability available
Additional information: This is a qualification awarded by the home university rather than a nationally awarded qualification, we are therefore unable to provide assessment for this qualification. I therefore recommend you present this qualification directly to potential employers or admitting institutions for their consideration.
so, dear people, it all depends if "some angel" in uk naric decides to help me or at least explain my caseworker the guidelines they work with: "UK Naric is only able to assess overseas awards which constitute national standars in the country of origin". well, that is a bit complicated in my case because according to a an email from Naric Spain (included in my application) "The masters degrees are not currently official degrees in spain (on the diplomas state "Home University degree"). However, these degrees are prestigious in the labor market"
now the question is, how can i make these people in uk naric explain this to my caseworker, since the Spanish educational system has not formally recognised "master qualifications"???
it seems like as long as i get some nice person tehre to help me, i would be fine with these further ten points!!
now, regarding the Significant Achievement documents:
this part of the conversation was revealing. she said "not too many people get the points here" i said "id like to see what kind of evidence you get from applicants" she said, almost laughing "if you saw what i receive for these points" i said "i guess you get some pictures of people standing in front of the big ben kind of evidence, right" she laughed...then she said "your evidence was quite strong, i remember. i went to double check with some of my managers" i thougth to myself"what the F... they did not even read what i wrote". how can any of you explain that she assessed my 182-pages long application in ONE day?
i wrorte a detailed cover letter for this section about all the documents provided under this section
as far as i can understand from the guidelines:
the ecuadorian short film award is:
A recognised artistic achievement (in my case by the two most important cultural institutions in Ecuador, and senior people in the field, along with the dean of my university and peers)
influential (it has been an "encouraging example" and "influential to his peers")
detailed below is a part of the Cover letter for this section:
This film award, artistic achievement, has been publicly recognised on a national level; my work has been acknowledged as “influential to his peers”(p.50) , and as “an encouraging example for his counterparts in Ecuador” (p.51) by the two most important cultural institutions in Ecuador, the “Ministry of Culture”(p.50) and the “Ecuadorian House of Culture”(p.51)
In order to support this achievement, I provided seven pieces of evidence:
1. Industry prize (Ecuadorian short film best director award)
2. Academic reference ( USFQ TV Dean)
3. Industry Reference x 3( Ministry of Culture, House of Culture, Sebastian Cordero -best filmmaker in my country- Letter)
4. Press article (El Comercio -most reputable newspaper in Ecuador)
5. Influential (Filmica)
so, if i manage to make them read about my achievement this time and someone in uk naric to help me, i would get the 70 points i need to qualify, if not i am a fried monkey!
well, friends, lets all hope this helps in any way to you.
all suggestions, critics, ideas, tips and telephones from your cousins, friends, uncles working in uk naric are MORE than welcome!!
will keep you updated
best for all
jhonny