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England

Complaints procedure

Official wording, responsibilities and review duties.

Evidence link

Back to School Policy Checker

Requirement and scope

Choose the governance type; academy and maintained duties differ. Choose a phase; confirm age and provision conditions.

Maintained school

Procedure [2]

Must publish. Website publication within the stated scope. [2]

Source-established phases
Primary, Secondary, All-through, Special
Source-established school types
Mainstream school, Special school
EYFS condition
No separate EYFS condition stated
Accountable
not stated in the source
Approval
not stated in the source
Operational owner
not stated in the source
Review cycle
set by the school

Independent schools and pupil referral units are outside this catalogue’s supported governance mapping.

Academy or free school

Procedure [3]

not stated in the source. The procedure must be available to parents/carers. The reviewed clause does not require general website publication. SEN complaints arrangements must be published separately in the SEN information report.

Source-established phases
Primary, Secondary, All-through, Special
Source-established school types
Mainstream school, Special school
EYFS condition
No separate EYFS condition stated
Accountable
not stated in the source
Approval
not stated in the source
Operational owner
not stated in the source
Review cycle
set by the school

Source-established phase exclusions: 16–19.

16–19 academies are expressly excepted from this academy complaints-procedure requirement.

Source-established school-type exclusions: 16–19 academy.

The general procedure and SEN complaints publication must not share a single universal online badge. DfE complaints models require tailoring to the individual maintained school.

Official models and templates

Official wording

Complaints policy

Schools must publish their complaints policy to comply with section 29 of the Education Act 2002. The best practice guidance supports them to set up and review their complaints procedures.

What maintained schools must or should publish online · Reviewed 2026-10-26

Complaints policy

All academies and trusts (with the exception of 16-19 academies) must have a complaints procedure that meets the requirements in the standard at the Education (Independent School Standards (England) Regulations 2014 Schedule 1, Part 7. The complaints procedure must be available to parents and carers of children attending an academy.

What academies and further education colleges must or should publish online · Reviewed 2026-10-26

Model complaints procedure

We have published non-statutory model policies you may find helpful. The duty to establish procedures for dealing with complaints lies with the governing body. If you choose to adopt our model policies, you must tailor them to your school. We recommend that you incorporate a serial complaints policy into your complaints procedure. The difference between a concern and a complaint

Best practice guidance for school complaints procedures 2020 · Reviewed 2026-10-26

Sources and updates

Official evidence reviewed 2026-10-26. Check the source edition and conditions before acting.

  1. Best practice guidance for school complaints procedures 2020

    Reviewed edition matches. Source text matches the reviewed edition.

    Reviewed on
    2026-10-26
    Reviewed version
    2021-01-15T13:59:52+00:00
    Last checked
    2026-10-27T11:00:36.203Z
    Reviewed text digest (SHA-256)
    934162ff3cd03e18685d5e8fa353d0053b7b9b8f4d27182e22144b6128183fe9
    Official content identity
    3d2c24cd-5229-459e-b3fc-7cf33b729ddf
    Official content digest (SHA-256)
    990b4a17a401c4e56c5be7ac97786c302e42088a83908056fde400b322728dfd

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-complaints-procedures/best-practice-advice-for-school-complaints-procedures-2019

    Track updates in the Roundup

  2. What maintained schools must or should publish online

    Reviewed edition matches. Source text matches the reviewed edition.

    Reviewed on
    2026-10-26
    Reviewed version
    2024-10-24T13:22:43+01:00
    Last checked
    2026-10-27T11:00:36.203Z
    Reviewed text digest (SHA-256)
    b9b1f18649ff2aa39b0a9df87f62c3aeb29bb48753d2bb174e50a411ac33a1f0
    Official content identity
    601afc48-7631-11e4-a3cb-005056011aef
    Official content digest (SHA-256)
    b3b7c2dedfb7e1fe1d249c685ca0f56f901e00aef72bbc7fba327afd2ccf9596

    https://www.gov.uk/guidance/what-maintained-schools-must-publish-online

    Track updates in the Roundup

  3. What academies and further education colleges must or should publish online

    Reviewed edition matches. Source text matches the reviewed edition.

    Reviewed on
    2026-10-26
    Reviewed version
    2024-10-24T13:22:46+01:00
    Last checked
    2026-10-27T11:00:36.203Z
    Reviewed text digest (SHA-256)
    c97340181ef278fa159ebd90b83d1f974cfc65dd3107bfb3379793aec044b7df
    Official content identity
    805a09d7-7542-41b7-aefe-1b0935777e49
    Official content digest (SHA-256)
    48649d639b13916fb1950e252294ddcfb0016986359c01fe4842291a81faba96

    https://www.gov.uk/guidance/what-academies-free-schools-and-colleges-should-publish-online

    Track updates in the Roundup

  4. School complaints procedures: guidance for maintained schools

    Reviewed edition matches. Publication version matches the reviewed edition.

    Reviewed on
    2026-10-26
    Reviewed version
    2021-01-15T13:59:52+00:00
    Last checked
    2026-10-27T11:00:36.203Z
    Reviewed text digest (SHA-256)
    c053e5345d5954458c59f0e0a85e27492d7ac206a6f7efb88d6c8f9a3c5e8997
    Official content identity
    edc695cb-80f0-4f6e-88a5-c6b33ded1427
    Official content digest (SHA-256)
    ab78b8458a1f291dfc4a0c26a8f33775ac1c2e6f3a3011aeaf4ca54e3b3fb001

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-complaints-procedures

    Track updates in the Roundup

Guidance, not legal advice. Local checks are not a compliance judgement; other duties may apply.