The government has been urged to boost support for teachers facing rising parental complaints, amid a spike in public referrals to the teaching regulations body.
Parents should also have to “provide evidence that they have been through an internal complaint system” before making a formal referral to the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA), according to Alistair Wood, chief executive of education legal support organisation Edapt.
Mr Wood’s comments come as the TRA revealed it had seen an increased number of referrals last year, which were “largely driven” by referrals from members of the public.
The TRA, a government agency responsible for regulating the teaching profession, also revealed it failed to meet its 52-week target for concluding teaching misconduct case hearings, with the average case taking just under two years (102 weeks) to resolve.
The findings, shared in the agency’s annual report and accounts for the 2023-24 financial year, come after Tes revealed that the majority of school leaders had seen a rise in “vexatious” complaints over the past three years.
A further 94 per cent of school leaders reported an increase in parental complaints over the same time frame.
Uncertainty can have ‘devastating’ impact on teachers
“The impact on educators being investigated and awaiting hearings cannot be overstated,” Mr Wood said.
“Prolonged uncertainty can be immensely stressful, affecting their professional and personal lives”, he continued, adding that he has witnessed the “devastating effect this can have on teachers’ mental health” through his role at Edapt.
Given Labour’s stated aim to reset the relationship between government and the teaching profession, “it will be interesting to see what steps it may take in the coming months to provide protection and support for teachers and school staff from these rising complaints”, particularly in light of recruitment and retention challenges, he adds.
The TRA has warned that the rise in live misconduct cases presents a “principal risk”, potentially “causing delays to concluding cases within reasonable timescales”.
It has carried out 625 investigations into cases of alleged serious misconduct this year, compared with 482 in 2022-23.
It has also held 244 professional conduct panels, rising from 207 in the previous year.
The rise in live misconduct cases could “impact on the reputation of the TRA and DfE and its ability to regulate the profession effectively,” the report continued.
‘We can do more to safeguard teachers and their careers’
The government has committed to extending the remit of the TRA, as set out in the King’s Speech earlier this month.
It announced plans to “enable serious teacher misconduct to be investigated, regardless of when the misconduct occurred, the setting the teacher is employed in and how the misconduct is uncovered”.
Mr Wood told Tes that the professional standards expected in education “are exceptionally high” and “the increasing trend of allegations, especially from parents, is concerning”.
He believes the new government has an opportunity with Labour’s Employment Rights Bill, which was part of the King’s Speech earlier this month, to enhance teacher protections.
“This could include ensuring all teachers have the right to be accompanied by suitably experienced companions at disciplinary hearings,” he suggested.
“While unfounded allegations are an occupational risk, we can do more to safeguard teachers and their careers,” he added.
Heads left to manage ‘in a vacuum’
Sara Tanton, deputy director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders, also expressed concern over the rise in the number of TRA referrals.
She called for cases to be dealt with in a “timely manner” as a “priority”, and for clarity over which cases the TRA should investigate and which should go through a school’s own complaints policy.
“It’s unacceptable that teachers are experiencing years of uncertainty while waiting for their case to be heard,” Ms Tanton added.
School leaders “are often left waiting for a decision and have to manage in a vacuum in the interim,” she warned.
Leora Cruddas, chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts (CST), said she is becoming “increasingly impatient” and added that it is “absolute nonsense that the TRA...accepts ‘complaints’ from the general public”.
Tes revealed earlier this year that the CST had called for the DfE to create a single front door for triaging complaints.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU teaching union, said the union has seen an increase in members reporting allegations from the public concerning school policy rather than individual misconduct.
He warned that some members have been “so stressed” they have considered leaving the profession before the TRA has concluded its investigation.
“We have made the TRA aware that opening its procedures up to parental complaints that could be handled more appropriately by other regulatory authorities is doing nothing to help resolve the problem of teacher retention,” Mr Kebede added.
The DfE has been contacted for comment.
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