Guidance about Making a Complaint to a School
We hope thatyou will be able to resolve any complaint concerning the school using local complaints procedures. All schools in England are required to have a complaints procedure and to publicise such a procedure.Some local authorities may also have a complaints procedure available. You can check on your local authority’s website to see if they offer this service.
Making a complaint to the Department for Education (DfE) should only happenafter other routes have been followed. The exception to this may include such matters as child protection, or where a child is missing education.
The guidance on the following pagesexplains how to complain about a school and how the Department will consider your complaint. It is not a comprehensive guide to the law.
You can getfree legal advice on matters relating tochildren's education at Coram Children's Legal Centre.:
Associated resources
- School complaints form
External link
- Coram Children's Legal Centre
Who can complain about a school?
The DfE will look at a complaint about a maintained school, academy or FreeSchool from anyone who is unhappy with the way in which a school is acting. This is most likely to relate to decisions your child’s school has made regarding your child’s education, but could also include welfare or other matters, for example:
- keeping an educational record
- recording the contact details of parents
- reportingeach year to parents
- providing an education to a child
- following the statutory exclusion review process
The aboveis not a definitive list. A list of maintained school governing body powers, duties and procedures is set out in the Governors’ Guide to the Law 2012 :.
The obligations upon academy governing bodies are generally set out in the academy’s funding agreement; though also include some statutory duties – such as those under the Education (Independent Schools Standards) Regulations 2010.
How to complain to the DfE
Making a complaint to the DfE should only happen once other routes have been followed. The exception to this may be where there is a child protection concern, or where a child is missing education.
- Your first step should be to make a complaint directly to the school following its complaints procedure. If your complaint remains unresolved by teaching staff or the headteacher, we anticipate that the complaint will go to the school’s governing body or trustees as part of the school complaints process. Details of how to complain to the school governors or trustees areavailableat Directgov.
- If you have already followed the school’s own complaints procedure or if there are reasons why you cannot use that procedure - forexample, you feel your complaint has not been or will not be given a fair consideration due to a conflict of interest - you can forward your complaint to the Department for Education, using the online school complaints form
Complaints about maintained schools
For the Secretary of State to intervene in a maintained school following a complaint, he needs to be sure either that:
- the school has acted or is proposing to act unreasonably in the exercise or performance of its functions under certain legislation;
or - the school has failed to discharge a duty at all under certain legislation. See Appendix 1 for more information.
Complaints about Free Schools and Academies
The Secretary of State will consider complaints similar to those made about maintained schools and may include where:
- There has been undue delay, or the complaints procedure does not comply with statutory requirements, or has not been followed. For example, there is no independent member involved at the final stage of the complaint.
- There is a breach of the funding agreement. For example, there is no religious education or requirements for provision of information are not being met.
- A statutory duty has not been met, unless another organisation is better placed to investigate. For example, child protection matters would be for the local authority; exam malpractice would be for Ofqual.
The Secretary of State is not required to intervene in every case that is brought to his attention but he must always consider whether, in light of the information provided to him by a complainant, he should exercise his powers.
The Secretary of State cannot intervene just because he would have made a different decision to that of the school and will only do so where he is of the view that there is some practical value or worth or purpose to be served in doing so.
The Secretary of State may consider other options to intervention to help you to resolve a complaint if appropriate, for example it may be possible to resolve the issue by agreement.
Sending your complaint
When making a complaint you should provide copies of any documentation you have about the complaint. This will help to investigate your case.
You cansend your complaint through our online form, or by post, or by email. The complaints form can be used to make a complaint about a maintained school, academy, FreeSchool, university technical school or studio school. If you don’t know what type of school you are complaining about, then please provide the full name and address of the school to help us identify its type.
If we believe that your complaint should be dealt with by another organisation or department, we will ask your permission to send your complaint to the relevant body. Complaints relating to academies will be handled by the Education Funding Agency (EFA) as part of the Department.Complaints that concern a child with special educational needs (SEN) will be handled by the specialist SEN team.
The process of making a complaint is summarised in a flow chart:
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What to expect after making a complaint to the DfE
We will review any complaints that raise child protection concerns within 24 hours of receipt.
For all other complaints, the Department will let you know within five working days that it has been received, and who will be handling your case on behalf of the Secretary of State.
You will be informed of the process and how long it could take. We aim to provide an initial response on most complaints within 15 working days.
The determination of some cases may take longer. If this is the case we will keep you informed at regular intervals.
We may need to write or speak to someone else about your complaint. We will check with you before sharing any of your information with another person, school or organisation.
You may be asked to submit further information to support your complaint.
We will let you know in writing of the outcome of our investigation into your complaint and the reasons.
If you are not happy with the outcome
The DfE will look at all the information that is gathered during the investigation of your complaint, and any decision that is made will be based on that information.
If you think we have not considered some information, please let us know within 10 working days of receiving the decision, providing the information you think has not been considered.
A review of all the information, including that which you provide, will be made to ensure that we have considered all information available regarding your complaint. This may not, however, result in a different decision being made.
If you are not happy with the way in which the DfE dealt with your complaint
If you are unhappy with the service you receivein processing your complaint, you can contact us using the Department’s own complaints procedure:
Complaints relating to children with special educational needs (SEN)
Complaints that concern a child with SEN will be handled by the specialist SEN team. As with other complaints, you will need to try and resolve concerns locally, before asking the Department to investigate. Usually, this would involve first discussing the concern informally with the class teacher and SENCO.
If theconcern remains, ask for a meeting with the head teacher. If your concern has still not been addressed, follow the school’s complaints procedure, through to its final stage.
If a complaint relates to the delivery of educational services specified on a statement of SEN, you would need to discuss this informally with the local authority's SEN service. Ifthe concern remains, follow the local authority’s complaints procedure, through to its final stage.
The law provides a route for parents to get certain matters resolved in ways that don’t involve making a complaint to the Department. The table below outlines circumstances in which parents should taketheir concerns to other bodies.
My child’s school is not providing for my child’s SEN. / In the first instance the parent should discuss with the school (and the local authority if the child has a statement of SEN).The parent might also wish to contact the local authority’s Parent Partnership service, which can provide support and advice to parents of children with SEN.
If the child does not have a statement, the parent may wish to ask the LA to undertake a statutory assessment of the child’s educational needs. There is recourse to the first-tier tribunal for special educational needs and disability if:
- the LA refuses to undertake an assessment; or
- if the LA decides not to issue a statement following an assessment; or
- if the parent disagrees with the educational provision or the name of the school contained on a finalised statement.
My LA won’t undertake an assessment for my child. / Parent has the right of appeal to the tribunal.
My LA won’t issue a statement for my child. / Parent has the right of appeal to the tribunal.
I have received a statement from my LA and I don’t agree with:
- the description of my child’s SEN; or
- the provision specified to meet their needs; or
- the school the LA has named.
The LA won’t name the school I want in my child’s statement. / Parent has a right of appeal to the tribunal.
My child has SEN and the school is discriminating against him/ her. / Parents should discuss the issues with their child’s school, and if necessary follow the school’s complaints procedures. If they remain dissatisfied they may have right of appeal to the tribunal under the Equality Act 2010 if their child is disabled within the meaning of that Act – not all children with SEN are disabled. There could be other ways of addressing this, depending on what the alleged discrimination entails (eg, if it breaches other statutory duties).
The school named in my child’s statement is refusing to admit him. / The parent should discuss with theLA maintaining their child’s statement, and if necessary theLA will refer the matter to the DfE.
An LA is adopting a blanket policy in terms of criteria for assessment or in the way they fund SEN. / If the complaint is from a parent, parental advocate or the child and the actions of the LA have caused injustice to an individual they may complain to the Local Government Ombudsman.
If it is a general complaint about an LAnot related to an individual, they may complain to the DfE.
Parent Partnership Services : are statutory services offering impartial advice to parents of children with SEN and disabled children. There is a Parent Partnership Service in every local authority and you can find details of local service in the associated resources section below.
IPSEA() offers advice to families who have children with special educational needs.
Coram Children's Legal Centre () specialises in law and policy affecting children and young people.
Associated resources
- Parent Partnership Services
External link
- IPSEA
External link
- Coram Children's Legal Centre
External link
Use of personal information
All information you send us about a complaint is treated as personal information and will be handled in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations and Data Protection Act. We will not forward any information to another person or body without your consent.
Transparency and accountability
We have standards that guide our service when dealing with your complaint.
We will publish an annual account on our handling of complaints. This will include the number of complaints received and considered, and how well we have done in meeting the deadlines in our published standards. This information will first be published after August 2013.
Powers to intervene under Education Act 1996
All maintained schools in England are required to have a complaints procedure. For maintained schools this legal requirement is set out under section 29 of the Education Act 2002. Where complaints cannot be resolved at a local level, it is intended that the complaint may be referred to the Secretary of State.
The Secretary of State has direction making powers where he has received a complaint, but also where he has not, under sections 496 or 497 of the Education Act 1996.
Section 496 provides that if the Secretary of State is satisfied that a local authority or governing body of a maintained school have acted, or propose to act, unreasonably with respect to the exercise of any power conferred, or the performance of any duty imposed by or under this Act, he may give such directions in relation to the exercise of any power conferred, or the performance of any duty imposed, as appear to him to be expedient.
‘Unreasonably’ for these purposes means that the school has acted so unreasonably that no reasonable school would act. This is a high threshold to overcome.
Section 497 provides that if the Secretary of State is satisfied that a local authority or governing body of a maintained school have failed to discharge any duty imposed on them by or for the purposes of this Act, he may give a declaration that the body is in default in respect of the duty and give such directions for the purpose of enforcing the performance of the duty as appear to him to be expedient.
The reference to ‘this Act’ in both sections applies to duties and powers under the Education Act 1996 and under other Acts read as if their provisions are contained in the 1996 Act.
In both cases the Secretary of State may act on a complaint from a third party or otherwise.
The Secretary of State is not under a duty to intervene in every case that is brought to his attention but he must always consider whether, in light of the information provided to him by a complainant, he should exercise his powers.
The term ‘expedient’ gives the Secretary of State wide discretion whether to give a direction. The term is interpreted by the Department as meaning of some practical value or worth; would a purpose be served; or would it be appropriate for the Secretary of State to give a direction in this particular case.
If the Secretary of State finds it expedient to give a direction then he can only direct the governing body or the local authority in relation to the exercise of any power conferred (in the case of section 496) and for the purpose of enforcing the performance of the duty (in the case of section 497).
Associated resources
- School complaints form
The role of the EFA in investigating complaints
Free Schools and academies are required to have complaints procedures meeting certain requirements by the Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2010 and to make the procedure available to parents of pupils and prospective parents.
The DfE will look at a complaint about a FreeSchool and academy from anyone who is unhappy with the way in which a school is carrying out a function.
The Department’s executive agency, the Education Funding Agency (EFA), will investigate complaints about FreeSchools and academies. EFA will investigate complaints about such things as:
- undue delay or non-compliance with a FreeSchool’s or academy’s own complaints procedure;
- a FreeSchool’s or academy’s failure to comply with a duty imposed on it under the funding agreement ; or
- a FreeSchool’s or academy’s failure to comply with any other legal obligation, unless there is another organisation better placed to consider the matter.
Complaints about any school (whether a maintained school, FreeSchool or an academy) should be made in the same way and the Department will ensure the correct team receives the complaint to investigate.
Associated resources
- School complaints form