School and academy complaints

Schools and academies deal with complaints themselves. These are not the responsibility of the council.

Each school and academy is required to have its own complaints procedure. Contact them directly or visit their website for further information. The complaints procedure will focus on resolving concerns as early as possible.

Complaints procedures may vary, however they generally include progression through the following stages:

Stage 1

Raise your complaint with a staff member (though not if they are the subject of the complaint).

Stage 2

Progress your complaint to the head teacher or Head of School if you are not satisfied with the first response.

Stage 3

Progress your complaint to the Chair of Governors.

Stage 4

Progress your complaint to the Governing Body’s complaints appeal panel.

If your complaint is about the headteacher write to the Chair of Governors for the school.

If you go through all four stages and are not happy with the response, write to the Secretary of State for Education about a maintained school or to the Education Funding Agency if you are dealing with an academy. You will need to list the steps you have already taken and the responses you have received.

For a complaint about a maintained school, complain about a school on GOV.UK or write to: