Complaining to the school

Speak to the teacher

Speak to the relevant member of staff as soon as you have a concern. In a primary school, this may be the class teacher; in a secondary school it may be the form tutor or head of year.

This informal approach is nearly always the quickest and most effective way of resolving your concerns.

If your complaint is about school rules on uniform, body piercing or hairstyles, or about lateness, or about not being allowed to take your child out of school during term time, please see our notes on school rules.

Ask for the school's complaints procedure

If you feel that your concern has not been answered, ask the school for a copy of its complaints procedure. This will explain what you should do next.

Most schools' complaints procedures have three stages which should be followed in sequence.

• Stage 1.  Speak to or write to the headteacher (or, in some schools, a designated senior member of staff), who will look into your concern.
• Stage 2.  Write to the chair of governors if you are unhappy with the headteacher's response. Mark your letter 'Private and Confidential' and hand it in to the school.
• Stage 3.  The school's procedures may also offer an appeal to the governing body's complaints panel. This panel consists of three governors who have no prior knowledge of your complaint and will consider written and verbal submissions from you and the headteacher.

Taking your complaint further

For most complaints, you cannot take your appeal further than the governing body. (But see below for exceptions.)

Writing to the Secretary of State

If you feel in relation to your complaint that the school has acted unreasonably or not followed the correct procedures, you can write to the Secretary of State for Children, Schools & Families.

Exceptions - Complaints about the curriculum, religious matters or charging for extras

In general, the local authority cannot investigate school matters on a parent's behalf nor can it review how the school has dealt with your complaint. However, in relation to the exceptions listed below you can ask the local authority to become involved. This will only happen once the school’s own complaints procedure has been exhausted.

• The National Curriculum and how it is applied in the school
• Religious education and/or worship in the school
• The way the school charges for extra things such as school trips

See Complaints about curriculum, religion and related matters for more details.

If you are unsure about the process, you can ask for advice from the Children's Services Complaints team.