Schools and academy trusts are receiving an increasing number of complaints from parents, both genuine and vexatious. It is important that complaints are treated with care when they arise and that the appropriate policies and procedures are followed, as well as any relevant guidance from organisations such as ACAS and the Department for Education (DfE). Schools should also ensure that their safeguarding policies and staff training are reviewed in light of the new Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE) 2026 guidance, which will come into force on 1 September 2026.
Following the school’s complaints policy
On receipt of a complaint from a parent, it is essential that the school or trust’s complaints policy is followed. Most complaints policies, in line with guidance from the DfE, will include three stages:
- Informal resolution – the school should initially attempt informal resolution with the parent if it is appropriate to do so. Ensuring open communication at this stage has the potential to prevent minor issues from escalating. However, if a parent wants to make a formal complaint, they should not be prevented from doing so.
- Formal resolution – parents may decide to submit their complaint in writing and initiate a formal complaint. The complaints policy should be clearly communicated to the parent from the outset. Such complaints will usually be investigated by the headteacher, unless the complaint concerns them in which case a suitably skilled member of the governing body should handle it. However, it may be appropriate to appoint an external independent investigator to handle the complaint on behalf of the school. An investigation report should be produced, detailing the complaint, the investigation process (including a list of the interviews conducted and evidence reviewed) and the recommendations, confirming which parts of the complaint have been upheld, partially upheld or dismissed. The decision should be communicated in writing to the parents.
- Appeal – if the parent is not happy with the outcome of the investigation, they may decide to appeal the decision. A panel of trustees or governors, who have no prior involvement with the complaint, will then consider the case and decide if the investigation has been conducted fairly.
To note, parents may choose to take their complaint externally at any point during this process and it may be appropriate to pause the internal complaints process to allow any external process to conclude.
Common issues when dealing with complaints
Schools may receive complaints from parents which are vexatious, in that, for example, they are obsessive, persistent, harassing, prolific and repetitious, pursued in an unreasonable manner or designed to cause disruption or annoyance. In such circumstances, schools should be careful to ensure that they only treat the complaint as vexatious and not the complainant themselves. Schools should not refuse to accept further correspondence or complaints from the parent; each complaint should be considered on its own merits to establish if it is vexatious.
Another common issue is a failure to follow the school’s complaints policy, whether that be inadvertent or because the policy is unclear. This can be avoided by periodically reviewing the complaints policy to ensure that it clearly outlines how the process will work and what can be expected at each stage.
There is also the risk that if mistakes are made during the course of an investigation, these errors can cause issues in later processes, such as a disciplinary or an exclusion, and may make the process subject to legal challenge. In particular, those involved in conducting investigations should take care to ensure that there are no errors in law which could lead to the outcome being challenged by the parents, particularly in relation to special educational needs as this may give rise to a claim for discrimination in the SEND Tribunal.
When to seek independent advice and assistance
The person appointed to investigate a complaint should have the requisite skills and time in order to conduct a fair and thorough investigation and they should not have had any prior involvement with the complaint. As such, in certain circumstances, it may be most appropriate to appoint an external independent investigator. The obvious time to do this will be when a complaint concerns the headteacher of the school, but it may also be appropriate in other circumstances, for example, if there are allegations of discrimination, concerns about safeguarding, conflicts of interest or where the complaint is particularly complex.
If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised in this article or require assistance with an investigation, please contact Ed Henderson or Reshma Derasari.