School Complaints Process

Most school complaints procedures have three stages:

Stage 1 — Informal: Raise the concern with the class teacher or form tutor. Many issues can be resolved quickly at this stage through a conversation or email. Keep a note of what was discussed and any agreed actions.

Stage 2 — Formal complaint to headteacher: If the informal stage does not resolve the issue, submit a formal written complaint to the headteacher. The school's policy will set out the expected response time — typically 5–10 school days.

Stage 3 — Governing body panel: If you remain unhappy after the headteacher's response, request a review by a panel of governors. The panel must include at least one governor who was not involved in the original complaint. The panel's decision is final within the school.

If you have exhausted the school's internal process:

• For maintained schools: Contact your local authority's school complaints team. The local authority can investigate procedural failures but generally cannot overturn the school's substantive decisions.
• For academies and free schools: Escalate to the Regional Director (previously Regional Schools Commissioner). They can investigate complaints about academies and free schools where the school has not followed its complaints procedure properly.
• LGSCO: The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman can investigate complaints about local authority education functions, including SEND provision and school transport. It does not generally investigate the merits of individual school decisions.

Certain school-related issues have their own statutory processes:

• School exclusions: If your child is permanently excluded or excluded for more than 5 days in a term, you have the right to a review by an Independent Review Panel. Request this within 15 school days of the exclusion decision.
• School admissions: If your child is refused a place, you have the right to appeal to an independent appeal panel. Appeal within the deadline specified in the refusal letter (usually 20 school days).
• SEND: Disputes about EHC plans are resolved through the SEND Tribunal — see our education complaints guide for more detail.
• Bullying: Schools have a legal duty to have an anti-bullying policy. If the school is failing to address bullying adequately, escalate through the formal complaints process and, if needed, to the local authority or Regional Director.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) is the independent body that investigates complaints about maintained schools and local education authorities in England. Understanding when and how to use the LGSCO — and how to engage it effectively — is an important part of the school complaints landscape.

When can the LGSCO help with school complaints? The LGSCO investigates complaints about administrative and procedural failings by local authorities and maintained schools (schools that are funded and governed by the local authority). The LGSCO can look at: a local authority's failure to provide support required by an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan; a school's failure to follow its published complaints procedure; failures in school transport arrangements; maladministration by the school admissions authority; and failures in exclusion procedures. The LGSCO does not reinvestigate the merits of decisions made by panels (admissions appeal panels, exclusion review panels) where those panels followed a correct process. For academies and free schools, the LGSCO has jurisdiction in some areas but the Regional Director has separate oversight powers.

LGSCO timelines for school complaints: The LGSCO expects complaints to be brought within 12 months of the event giving rise to the complaint, though it has discretion to accept later referrals in appropriate circumstances. Before the LGSCO will investigate, you must have exhausted the school's internal complaints procedure. Once the LGSCO accepts a complaint, it typically takes several months to investigate and issue a decision. The LGSCO can recommend remedies including apologies, improvements to procedures, and financial payments for injustice caused by maladministration.

Equality Act 2010 and school complaints: Schools are service providers under the Equality Act 2010 and have specific duties in relation to disability. Under the Equality Act and the SEND framework, schools must: not treat disabled pupils less favourably than other pupils; make reasonable adjustments to avoid substantial disadvantage to disabled pupils; and comply with the accessibility provisions of the Act. If your child has been treated less favourably, excluded more harshly, or denied reasonable adjustments because of a disability or another protected characteristic, raise the Equality Act argument explicitly in your complaint. The LGSCO can consider Equality Act arguments in its investigations. In serious cases, a county court claim for disability discrimination in education is available — the time limit is generally six months from the act complained of, so act promptly. The Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) provides free initial advice.

Building your evidence for a school complaint: Keep a contemporaneous record from the moment an issue arises. Your evidence file should contain: all written correspondence with the school (letters, emails, text messages); notes of meetings and telephone calls (including who was present, what was said, and what was agreed); copies of any policies the school has failed to follow (including the anti-bullying policy, SEND policy, complaints policy, and behaviour policy — these must be published on the school's website); medical or other professional evidence relevant to your child's needs; records of your child's attendance, exclusions, or disciplinary records; and any independent reports (for example, from your child's GP or an educational psychologist) confirming the impact of the school's failure. The LGSCO gives significant weight to contemporaneous documentary evidence over retrospective accounts.