Complaints Procedure

A Clear Process for Raising Concerns, Resolving Issues, and Improving Thoth.School

Thoth.School is committed to listening to learners, parents, guardians, staff, and stakeholders. This complaints procedure explains how concerns may be raised, reviewed, escalated, resolved, and used to improve the academy’s learning environment, support services, safeguarding, communication, and operations.

Purpose of the Complaints Procedure

A clear complaints procedure helps maintain trust, accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement. Thoth.School aims to address concerns fairly, respectfully, and promptly while protecting learner safety, privacy, academic integrity, and professional standards.

Complaints may relate to teaching quality, course materials, communication, learner support, assessment, feedback, technology access, online conduct, safeguarding, privacy, accessibility, billing, enrolment, or any other matter connected to Thoth.School programmes or services.

Who May Raise a Complaint

Complaints may be raised by:

Students and learners.
Parents or guardians of school-age learners.
Adult learners.
Teachers, tutors, instructors, or staff.
Prospective learners or families.
External stakeholders, partners, or provider representatives.

Types of Concerns Covered

This procedure may be used for concerns involving:

Course quality, structure, or delivery.
Assessment, grading, feedback, or progress reporting.
Teacher, staff, learner, or participant conduct.
Online communication, forums, live sessions, or collaboration spaces.
Safeguarding, eSafety, privacy, or learner wellbeing concerns.
Accessibility, inclusion, language support, or technology access.
External provider or examination guidance.
Billing, payment, enrolment, cancellation, or service issues.
Policy implementation or operational decisions.

Safeguarding and Urgent Concerns

Safeguarding concerns, child protection concerns, threats, abuse, exploitation, serious bullying, unsafe contact, self-harm concerns, or immediate danger should be treated as urgent. Such concerns should be reported promptly through official Thoth.School channels and, where required, to the appropriate local emergency service, law enforcement authority, child-protection agency, or safeguarding authority.

Safeguarding matters may be handled separately from ordinary service complaints where learner protection requires immediate action, confidentiality, escalation, external referral, or restricted access to records.

Informal Resolution

Where appropriate, learners, parents, guardians, or adult participants are encouraged to raise minor questions or concerns first through the relevant teacher, support contact, or programme contact. Many issues can be resolved quickly through clarification, guidance, correction, or practical support.

Informal resolution may be suitable for simple issues such as unclear instructions, access problems, minor communication delays, assignment clarification, or general support needs.

Formal Complaint Submission

If a concern is serious, unresolved, repeated, or requires formal review, a formal complaint may be submitted through the official Thoth.School contact or support channel.

A formal complaint should include:

Name and contact details of the person raising the complaint.
Name of the learner, if applicable.
Programme or course involved.
Description of the issue.
Relevant dates, times, messages, files, screenshots, or evidence.
Names of people involved, where appropriate.
Steps already taken to resolve the matter.
Desired outcome or remedy, if known.

Complaint Review Process

Thoth.School will review formal complaints according to the nature and seriousness of the issue. The review may include checking records, speaking with relevant staff, reviewing course activity, examining communication records, considering policies, and identifying whether safeguarding, privacy, academic, technical, or operational escalation is needed.

Complaints will be handled as fairly and objectively as possible. Individuals involved in a complaint should be treated respectfully and given an appropriate opportunity to provide relevant information.

Complaint Stages

Stage	Purpose	Typical Action
Stage 1: Informal Resolution	Resolve simple or early-stage concerns quickly and directly.	Clarification, support, correction, communication, or guidance by the relevant teacher or support contact.
Stage 2: Formal Review	Review unresolved, repeated, or serious complaints in a documented way.	Complaint record opened, information reviewed, response prepared, and corrective action considered.
Stage 3: Escalation	Escalate matters requiring senior, safeguarding, privacy, academic, technical, or external review.	Review by appropriate leadership or responsible officer, with additional action where required.
Stage 4: Outcome and Improvement	Communicate the outcome and identify improvements where needed.	Written response, corrective action, policy review, course improvement, or other reasonable resolution.

Possible Outcomes

Depending on the complaint, possible outcomes may include:

Explanation or clarification.
Correction of an error.
Additional learner support.
Review of assessment or feedback.
Improvement to course materials or instructions.
Technical support or access correction.
Parent/guardian communication.
Staff guidance, training, or supervision.
Policy clarification or revision.
Safeguarding escalation or referral.
Privacy or data-protection response.
Access restriction or conduct action where necessary.

Academic Complaints and Assessment Concerns

Complaints about assessment, grading, feedback, or academic progress should identify the course, assessment item, date, teacher feedback, and reason for concern. Thoth.School may review the assessment evidence, marking criteria, feedback, learner submission, and relevant course instructions.

Where an external examination, certification, or provider-controlled assessment is involved, the rules of the relevant provider, examination centre, or awarding body may also apply.

Conduct Complaints

Complaints about learner, staff, teacher, or adult participant conduct should include relevant details and evidence where available. Conduct complaints may involve communication, online behaviour, harassment, bullying, inappropriate content, privacy breaches, academic dishonesty, or misuse of technology.

Conduct complaints involving school-age learners will be reviewed with attention to safeguarding, parent/guardian involvement, learner wellbeing, privacy, and age-appropriate response.

Privacy and Data Complaints

Complaints involving privacy, data access, incorrect records, unauthorised disclosure, account access, data retention, or misuse of personal information should be raised promptly. Thoth.School may review user records, access logs, communication records, system settings, and data-handling procedures where appropriate.

Accessibility and Inclusion Complaints

Learners, parents, guardians, and adult participants may raise concerns about accessibility, language support, device access, usability, learning barriers, or reasonable support needs. Thoth.School will review such concerns according to programme requirements, available resources, learner needs, and any external provider rules.

Confidentiality

Complaints will be handled with appropriate confidentiality. Information will be shared only with individuals who need it to review, respond to, resolve, or escalate the complaint.

Confidentiality may be limited where information must be shared to protect a learner, investigate serious misconduct, respond to safeguarding concerns, comply with legal obligations, or involve appropriate authorities.

Record Keeping

Thoth.School will maintain appropriate records of formal complaints, review steps, evidence, decisions, outcomes, and improvement actions. Complaint records are used for accountability, quality assurance, policy review, safeguarding, legal compliance, and continuous improvement.

Protection from Retaliation

Learners, parents, guardians, staff, and stakeholders should be able to raise genuine concerns without fear of retaliation. Thoth.School does not accept intimidation, punishment, harassment, or unfair treatment because a person raised a concern or participated in a complaint review in good faith.

False or Malicious Complaints

Complaints should be raised honestly and responsibly. Deliberately false, malicious, abusive, or knowingly misleading complaints may be treated as misconduct. This does not prevent users from raising concerns in good faith, even if a complaint is not upheld after review.

Continuous Improvement

Complaints and concerns can help improve Thoth.School. The academy will use complaint patterns, stakeholder feedback, learner outcomes, teacher review, and operational evidence to strengthen courses, communication, safeguarding, accessibility, technology, policies, and support services.

How to Raise a Complaint

Complaints should be submitted through the official Thoth.School contact or support channel. The academy will publish and maintain appropriate contact information for complaints, safeguarding concerns, privacy concerns, and general support.

When submitting a complaint, provide clear details and relevant evidence so the matter can be reviewed effectively.