Complaints about exclusion from school

This fact sheet is aimed primarily at parents whose child has been permanently excluded from school and who may be considering making a complaint to the Ombudsman.

My child has been excluded from school. Can I complain to the Ombudsman?

• In some cases, yes. We cannot look at the school’s decision to exclude your child, or the governors’ decision to confirm it.
• Once your child has been excluded you have the right to appeal to an independent appeal panel set up by the council. You can complain to us about the way the appeal panel dealt with your appeal.
• We cannot look at any aspect of an exclusion prior to an appeal.
• We can look at complaints about permanent exclusions from council community, foundation, voluntary controlled and voluntary aided schools.
• We cannot look at complaints against academies, city technology colleges or independent (private) schools.
• Once your child has been permanently excluded the council has a duty to provide alternative education, and we can look into how the council has carried out this duty.

How do I complain?

• We normally look into complaints about school exclusions even if you have not been through the council’s complaints procedure. But we would need to be satisfied that your complaint is one we can consider (see above).
• You should normally make your complaint to us within 12 months of realising that the council has done something wrong.
• To complain to the Ombudsman phone our Advice Team on 0300 061 0614 or 0845 602 1983 (8.30am to 5.00pm, Mondays to Fridays). You will be able to discuss your complaint with one of our advisers. You can text us on 0762 480 4299.
• You can complete an online complaint form at www.lgo.org.uk/making-a-complaint, or you can email us at advice@lgo.org.uk.

If you can consider my complaint what will the Ombudsman look for?

If you are complaining about an independent appeal panel hearing we can consider whether the appeal panel has done something wrong in the way it dealt with your appeal which has caused you problems. Some of the things we can look into are:

• the way the hearing was carried out;
• the procedures the panel used; and
• whether you had a fair hearing.

If you are complaining about the education provided for your child after he or she was excluded, some of the things we can consider are:

• whether the provision the council made met the requirements of the law; and
• any delay, for example in placing your child in a new school or in providing alternative help.

What happens if the Ombudsman finds that the council was at fault?

• We cannot overturn the decision of an independent appeal panel. But if we find there was something wrong in the way the panel dealt with your appeal we normally ask the council to set up a fresh panel to hear your appeal again in a fair way.
• We can also ask it to review its procedures or the training it gives the people on the panel.

 If we find problems with the way the council dealt with you or your child after he or she was excluded from school we ask the council to correct what went wrong. For example:

• If the council has delayed in finding another school place we can ask it to offer your child a place.
• If the council has delayed in providing alternative education (for example in a pupil referral unit), or has not provided teaching for as many hours as the law says it should, we can ask the council to make extra provision to compensate for the shortfall.
• If your child has been without any education for a significant period of time we can ask the council to pay compensation.
• We can ask the council to review the arrangements it makes for excluded children to prevent similar problems happening to someone else.

Examples of some complaints we have considered

Other sources of information

• The Advisory Centre for Education (ACE) runs an exclusion information line on 020 7704 9822 and an exclusion advice line on 0808 800 0327. Its website is www.ace-ed.org.uk
• Go to the Department for Education - teachernet website at www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/behaviour/exclusion/

Our fact sheets give some general information about the most common type of complaints we receive but they cannot cover every situation. If you are not sure whether we can look into your complaint, please phone 0300 061 0614.

Date Updated: 02/11/09