Education Scotland is committed to providing high-quality services. Occasionally things go wrong and when this happens it is important that we act quickly to resolve the situation. The Education Scotland complaints handling procedure (attached below) covers concerns and formal complaints about our work and the work of our staff. It also details how to complain and how we use your feedback to identify what we need to do to improve. If you wish to complain, or raise concerns about the services we offer, please contact +44 (0)131 244 4330, write to us, or email: complaints@educationscotland.gov.scot.

What can’t I complain about?

There are some things we can’t deal with through our complaints handling procedure. These include:

• a routine first-time request for a service
• a request for compensation only
• issues that are in court or have already been heard by a court or a tribunal (if you decide to take legal action, you should let us know as the complaint cannot then be considered under this process)
• disagreement with a decision where there is a statutory procedure for challenging that decision (such as for freedom of information and subject access requests), or an established appeals process followed throughout the sector
• a request for information under the Data Protection or Freedom of Information (Scotland) Acts
• a grievance by a staff member or a grievance relating to employment or staff recruitment
• a concern raised internally by a member of staff (which was not about a service they received, such as a whistleblowing concern)
• a concern about a child or an adult’s safety
• an attempt to reopen a previously concluded complaint or to have a complaint reconsidered where we have already given our final decision
• abuse or unsubstantiated allegations about our organisation or staff where such actions would be covered by our Unacceptable Actions Policy
• a concern about the actions or service of a different organisation, where we have no involvement in the issue (except where the other organisation is delivering services on our behalf).
• A concern raised about the findings or evaluations made about an establishment, setting or service as part of inspection or review after the inspection or review has been completed. This is because during an inspection or review the establishment setting or service has the opportunity to provide all of the evidence needed for the inspection team to reach its findings and evaluations.

PDF file: Complaints process - customer guide (305 KB)

PDF file: Complaints process - customer guide (Gaelic version) (290 KB)

PDF file: Complaints handling procedure - Unacceptable Actions Policy (276 KB)

PDF file: Complaints handling procedure - Unacceptable Actions Policy (Gaelic version) (447 KB)