Complaints: NGA Research

The National Governance Association (NGA) has published their latest research on school complaints.

Their research highlights the following points:

• 82% of governors and trustees say that complaints have increased in their setting over the past 3 to 5 years, with half (50%) reporting significant increases
• The rising volume of complaints over the past 3 to 5 years is more prevalent for secondary phase settings (where 93% of respondents reported a rise) compared to primary (79%)
• Main topics of complaint relate to special educational needs and disability (SEND), teacher interaction, bullying, school management, and attendance
• Schools and trusts are also receiving a notable amount of vexatious and unreasonable complaints.

The NGA advise that the top 3 actions governors and trustees think schools/trusts could take to reduce complaints include:

• To have strong parental/stakeholder engagement and communication (42%)
• To take early intervention to prevent escalation (16%)
• To have more effective complaints management processes (11%).

The top 3 actions governors and trustees think the DfE could take to reduce complaints include:

• To provide more SEND funding (15%)
• To design more robust complaints procedures (13%)
• To manage parents’ expectations of schools (11%).

The report by the NGA recommends that the Department for Education (DfE) include routine professional development for school staff on fostering good relations with parents and streamlining school processes.