This webinar took place on Thursday 17 September 2026 and is now available on-demand.
The current approach to handling parental complaints isn't working, often due to factors outside a school's control.
Most schools know it, but few know how to change it or positively influence it.
September is the moment to do something about it.
Browne Jacobson, the Confederation of School Trusts (CST) and PLMR have come together to host a frank, practical conversation about one of the most pressing challenges facing schools today: how to handle parental complaints better.
We were joined by a cross-disciplinary panel of specialists in education law, school governance, data protection and communications.
You'll be left with a clearer sense of what to do differently.
What this session is about:
The new academic year represents a genuine opportunity to reset, to adopt fresh habits and build a culture that stops complaints from escalating in the first place.
Where complaints do arise, this session explored how understanding the type of complainant and what they're actually seeking determines the right approach.
In most cases, a relational mindset that seeks resolution will be most effective. However, where a complainant isn't seeking resolution, a more process-driven and forensic approach is required – one that minimises the drain on staff time while ensuring statutory obligations are met.
The session also addressed the growing challenge of AI-generated complaints: how AI can mask the nature of the complainant, create disproportionate burdens for schools and what schools can lawfully and proportionately do in response.
The format was case-study-focused, with each section anchored to a realistic scenario that brings the issues to life.
Three things you'll leave with:
- A clearer start to the year: The beginning of the academic year is the right moment to invest in the relational and communicative foundations that prevent complaints from arising and escalating.
- A framework for knowing your complainant: Understanding why someone is complaining, what they're complaining about and what outcome they're seeking is the essential first step. That understanding determines whether you adopt a relational or a process mindset. Getting it wrong wastes time, damages relationships and rarely resolves anything.
- Confidence with AI-generated complaints: Schools aren't obliged to respond to every point an AI-generated complaint raises, nor to interpret vague or excessively long.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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