You can complain to the Information Commissioner if you have problems accessing school records, minutes of governors’ meetings, school policies or other public documents, or if you believe your child's or young person's records have been disclosed unlawfully, are incorrect or out of date.
You should first use the school or council complaints procedure. There are different timescales for schools to reply to your requests.
Timescales for requests
- a copy of a child's educational record must be supplied within 15 school days (The Education [Pupil Information] [England] Regulations, 2005 [SI 1437])
- other personal information must be supplied within 40 days of your written request (Section 7 of the Data Protection Act, 1998)
- documents such as the school special educational needs policy, school accessibility plan or governing body minutes must be provided within 20 working days (excluding school holidays) of your written request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
Freedom of information and data protection complaints can be reported via the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) report a concern page.