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School Complaints
Schools complaints
There are different ways to complain depending on if your child:
- attends a Kirklees Council school
- attends a private school / Academy school
- has special educational needs (SEN)
Complaints about a Kirklees Council school
Follow these steps in order.
Only move on to the next step if your complaint is not resolved.
- Follow the school's complaints procedure.
- If you feel this has not been resolved complain in writing to the headteacher.
- If you are still not happy complain in writing to the school's governing body.
- If you are not happy with the outcome complain to The Department for Education (opens link in new window)
Other types of complaint
| Complaint | Who to contact |
|---|---|
| Headteacher | Chair of Governors, in writing |
| Academies, free schools | Kirklees Council does not have any formal role in relation to academies complaints (unless it relates to a safeguarding issue). Full details of the academy's complaints procedures should be available from the school. If you are not happy with the outcome you can report this to Ofsted (opens link in new window) |
| Child protection | Kirklees Safeguarding Children Board (opens link in new window) |
| Exam malpractice or maladministration | Ofqual and the awarding body (opens link in new window) |
| Quality of education or leadership | Ofsted (opens link in new window) |
| Governing body or individual governor |
1. Contact the Chair of Governors who will investigate your concerns.
2. If the complaint is about the Chair of Governors you should contact a member of the complaints committee. 3. If the complaint about the governing body as a whole, you should contact the School Governor Service Team. 01484 414701 |
| Special educational needs | Kirklees Information Advice Support Service (KIAS) (opens link in new window) |
Help to make a complaint
If you feel worried about making a complaint about a school you may involve a friend, representative or interpreter to support you. There are also agencies who might be able to help:
- Advisory Council for Education (ACE) - How to contact ACE (opens link in new window)
- Complain about a school - GOV.UK (opens link in new window)
- School complaints policy (opens link in new window)
Legal advice
You can get free legal advice about schooling and education from Child Law Advice (opens link in new window)
IPSEA (Independent Provider of Special Education Advice) provides lots of advice on how to raise complaints about schools and other educational settings - more information can be found here - IPSEA, making a complaint about a school (opens link in new window).
Please see the Kirklees School Complaints page(opens link in new window)
en-GBLast updated: 21/12/2023
