Complain about a school to the Department for Education

Use this service to complain about a local authority maintained school or an academy school if:

  • you’re not happy with the way the school handled your complaint
  • the school is stopping you from completing their complaints procedure
  • a child is not getting an education
  • a child has been exposed to harm

You can also use the service if you’ve already complained to the Department for Education (DfE) and are not happy with the way the complaint was handled.

Before you start

If you’re complaining about a school, you’ll need:

  • the school’s details
  • the local authority name (if the school’s a maintained school)
  • a summary of what the complaint was about
  • the dates of when you made your complaint to the school
  • the dates of when the school last contacted you

You’ll also need evidence that you’ve completed the school’s complaints procedure. You can upload or post copies of: 

  • any written communication between you and the school
  • decision letters sent from the school
  • notes taken at meetings

If the school stopped you from completing the complaints procedure, you may be asked what stage you finished and how you’ve tried to continue.

You can upload evidence in the service or post it afterwards.

Start now

After you’ve submitted your complaint to DfE

You can send additional information and evidence by post to:

Ministerial and Public Communication Division
Department for Education
Piccadilly Gate
Store Street
Manchester
M1 2WD

Send copies rather than original documents, as they cannot be sent back to you.