91����

There is a narrative in education that schools are seeing a surge in parent complaints, driven in large part by AI, and this is causing friction.

Yet the reality is far more nuanced, according to a recent survey that we conducted with more than 6,000 parents as part of our .

In total, 52 per cent of parents said they had never made a complaint, and, of these, 35 per cent had never even considered doing so. The second most common answer from parents was that they had submitted just one complaint.

Different parent groups

However, when segregating this survey data according to different types of parents - The Disengaged, The Quiet Middle, The Super Involved - there is a clear divergence.

We grouped parents into these categories based on how often they engaged with school on a raft of common events and activities - say, attending a play or a parents’ evening - and if they had spoken to staff or the headteacher.

When we looked at the data on these different groups, we could see notable differences in terms of who had never complained, who had complained once and who had made multiple complaints.

Source: Parent Voice Project, How Parents Engage with Schools

Taken together, this analysis shows that schools may be seeing complaints from certain parents more than others, and so it is important to remember this when considering the parent community opinions.

A satisfactory system - for some

It is also worth noting that most parents have a positive view of how schools handle complaints: in our survey, 34 per cent said they were very confident that a complaint would be taken seriously, and 44 per cent were confident that it would be taken somewhat seriously.

In our focus groups. parents spoke of headteachers having a “very open-door policy”, and knowing that “you can go and speak to any of the staff” if there is an issue.

Clearly, then, many parents do not see schools as adversarial places, and complaints can reflect a strong relationship where there is a sense that issues will be heard.

But there is a corollary. Different social groups of parents do feel different levels of confidence that their concerns will be treated with respect.

For example, 42 per cent of professional and managerial parents feel “very confident” that a school would take their complaint seriously, and only 9 per cent feel “not that confident” it would be taken seriously.

Conversely, just 26 per cent of white, working-class mums and dads are “very confident” that when they raise an issue with a school, it will be taken seriously. This proportion is markedly lower than for other groups.

Meanwhile, 18 per cent of disadvantaged parents are “not that confident” that a complaint would be taken seriously - a proportion twice as high as for the managerial group.

Similarly, the disadvantaged group is much less likely to report that they have been asked for feedback from their children’s school than their wealthier counterparts. 

Complaints can be positive

There is a national debate on the breakdown in the relationship between white, working-class communities and schools.

However, our survey should make schools reflect on how well they engage with different groups of parents - and how engagement, raising an issue and formal complaints intersect.

That may sound counterintuitive when many schools feel under siege by just the sheer number of complaints.

But the data shows that most parents don’t actually need or want to complain, most only do so once - and most feel schools will listen and act, too.

The reality is that when parents raise an issue, it can be positive, demonstrating a strong relationship, a willingness to work with schools to stop perceived problems and hopefully drive improvements. The challenge, then, is to ensure that everyone feels heard.

Fiona Forbes is the founder of the Parent Voice Project