School Complaints

Section 29 of the Education Act 2002 requires the governing bodies of all maintained schools in Wales to set up procedures to deal with complaints from “parents, pupils, members of staff, governors, members of the local community and others”.

This includes complaints about the school and any community facilities or services that the school provides. The law also requires governing bodies to publish their complaints procedures.

Welsh Government (WG) Guidance

The Welsh Government (WG) has issued the following Circulars:

• Circular no. 03/2004: School Governing Bodies Complaints Procedures
• Circular no. 39/2006: Guidance for School Governing Bodies on Procedures for Complaints involving Pupils

All governing bodies should consider the contents of these Circulars carefully and act upon the statutory requirements contained within them.

Recommended advice

Sensitive, swift and fair treatment in the early stages goes a long way to addressing issues when considering complaints. The nature of the complaint will determine the process in each case.

If a governing body is having difficulty in dealing with a complaint it should contact the Governor Support Unit (GSU) in the first instance for advice. The GSU has issued guidance:

• Dealing with Complaints

The publication includes model complaints procedures that may be adopted for use by individual governing bodies.