New parental complaints guidance published

New complaints guidance has been published to encourage calmer, more constructive dialogue between parents and schools.

The guidance has been published by Parentkind and developed in collaboration with the Department for Education, Ofsted and 13 education bodies, including National Governance Association (NGA), in response to growing concerns about escalating disputes and abuse directed at school staff.

The guidance provides a five-step process to help parents raise concerns respectfully and at the appropriate level. It urges families to reflect on whether an issue is feedback, a concern or a formal complaint and discourages aggressive behaviour, personal accusations, unnecessary escalation and the use of AI to generate complaints.

The guidance aims to help “reset the relationship” between parents and schools ahead of the upcoming Schools White Paper which will include planned improvements to the complaints system.