School and academy complaints policy and procedure - information for complainants
Contact your local council if you think a child has been harmed or call your local police on 101 if you think a child is in danger>
How to complain
You must complain directly to the school before you complain to any other organisation.
All state funded schools (including community, academy, voluntary aided, voluntary controlled, studio or free schools) must have a complaints procedure which can be easily accessed on the school's website.
If a school does not have a complaints procedure in place you can report it to the Department for Education (DfE) by filling in this school complaints form.
The county council does not have a statutory duty to deal with school complaints unless the concern is of a safeguarding nature.
Taking your complaint further
You can take your complaint further if you are not satisfied with a school's response or complaints procedure.
You can complain to Ofsted about a state school if there is a problem which affects the whole school - this includes problems with the quality of education or poor management.
Ofsted will not normally consider a complaint about a school until you have followed the school's own complaints procedure first.
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