Complaints policy.

1. Purpose, scope and legal framework

Open Learning resolves concerns and complaints quickly, fairly and at the lowest possible level, through a two-stage procedure with fixed timescales. This policy follows the good-practice model used by Cambridge International Schools and meets the Spanish and Comunitat Valenciana legal duties.

Who can use it: parents, carers and legal guardians of current pupils; pupils (directly or through a parent); former pupils and families, within 3 months of leaving; and any other person who has received a service from the school.

What it covers: teaching and learning, pastoral care, communication, fees and contracts, school services (transport, extracurricular activities), facilities, and the conduct of staff.

What it does not cover (these follow their own procedures, linked to this policy):

Matter	Procedure that applies
Child protection or safeguarding concerns	Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy, under LOPIVI. Report at once to the Coordinador/a de Bienestar y Protección, Marie Daries (pastoral@gcs-open.com).
Cambridge exam results	Cambridge Enquiries about Results and Appeals, made through the school's Exams Officer
Decisions on internally assessed work (coursework, endorsed components)	Internal Appeals Procedure (Appendix B)
Exclusions and serious behaviour sanctions	Behaviour Policy, including its own review stage
Staff grievances and discipline	Staff handbook and Spanish employment law
Reports of legal breaches or fraud by staff	Internal Information System (Canal de denuncias), Ley 2/2023, where applicable
Admissions decisions	Admissions Policy

Legal and regulatory framework

Source	What it requires of this policy
Real Decreto Legislativo 1/2007 (TRLGDCU), consumer protection	Families are consumers of a paid service. Complaints must get a reply within one month at most (art. 21.3), with a record the family can keep.
Ley 1/2011, Estatuto de las Personas Consumidoras y Usuarias de la Comunitat Valenciana	Regional consumer rights apply alongside the national law, including access to consumer arbitration.
Decreto 77/1994 and Orden 4/2013, hojas de reclamaciones (list of regional rules)	Official Generalitat Valenciana complaint forms must be available on request, with a visible notice saying so.
Ley 10/2025, customer service	Binding only on businesses over 250 staff or €50 million turnover. The school adopts its 15-working-day reply target and its rule of replying in the co-official language requested (Valencian) as good practice.
Ley Orgánica 8/2021 (LOPIVI), child protection	A Coordinador/a de Bienestar y Protección, safe channels for pupils to report, and regional protocols on abuse and bullying (guide).
Ley 26/2018, rights and guarantees of children and adolescents (Comunitat Valenciana), and Orden 62/2014, school coexistence protocols	Valencian child-protection duties and the Conselleria's protocols for bullying, abuse and other incidents. Safeguarding complaints follow these protocols, not this policy.
Ley 2/2023, whistleblower protection	An internal reporting channel if the school has 50 or more employees.
GDPR and Ley Orgánica 3/2018 (LOPDGDD)	Complaint records are personal data: lawful basis, limited access, set retention.
Ley Orgánica 1/2025, efficiency of justice	Before a civil claim, parties must try an out-of-court solution. Stage 2 of this policy counts as that attempt.
Cambridge Handbook, Cambridge International	A published internal appeals procedure for internal assessment; exam results challenged only through the Cambridge Enquiries about Results and Appeals process.

2. Principles and definitions

Every complaint is taken seriously, handled impartially and kept confidential, and no pupil is treated less favourably because a family has complained.

• Concern: an expression of worry or doubt that can usually be settled by a conversation. Most concerns are handled at Stage 1.
• Complaint: an expression of dissatisfaction about an action, or a failure to act, that needs a formal response.
• Working days: Monday to Friday during term time, excluding Spanish national, regional and local public holidays. Complaints received in school holidays are treated as received on the first working day of the next term, except fee and contract complaints, which keep the one-month legal limit.
• Complainant: the person making the complaint.

The school commits to:

1. Acknowledge every written complaint within 2 working days, with a reference number.
2. Reply in English or Spanish, whichever the complainant used (and in Valencian on request).
3. Make sure no one investigates a complaint about their own actions.
4. Give written reasons for every Stage 2 decision, and say what the complainant can do next.
5. Accept complaints in person, by email to administration@gcs-open.com, by post, or on the form in Appendix A, free of charge.
6. Make reasonable adjustments for complainants with a disability or other needs, including meetings by video call and an interpreter.
7. Keep the pupil's welfare central throughout. Any safeguarding issue that emerges is passed at once to the Coordinador/a de Bienestar y Protección, Marie Daries (pastoral@gcs-open.com), and the complaint process pauses for that part.

3. Stage 1: Informal resolution

Most concerns are settled within 5 working days by talking to the member of staff closest to the issue.

1. Raise the concern with the class teacher, form tutor or relevant member of staff, in person, by phone or by email.
2. If the concern is about how another member of staff handled the matter, raise it with the Centre Director. If it is about the Centre Director, go straight to Stage 2.
3. The staff member listens, agrees what outcome is wanted, and responds within 5 working days.
4. The staff member makes a brief note of the concern and the outcome in the school's complaints log.

If the matter is not resolved, the complainant can move to Stage 2 within 10 working days of the Stage 1 response. A complainant can go straight to Stage 2 when the issue is serious or Stage 1 is plainly unsuitable.

Hojas de reclamaciones: a family may ask for the official complaint form at any stage. Reception hands it over on request, without delay or conditions, and a notice at reception says the forms are available. Submitting one does not replace this procedure; the school answers it within the legal time limit and normally treats it as a Stage 2 complaint.

4. Stage 2: Formal written complaint

A formal complaint goes in writing to the Centre Director, who investigates and sends a written decision within 15 working days.

1. Submit: use the form in Appendix A, an email to administration@gcs-open.com or an official hoja de reclamaciones. Say what happened, when, who was involved, what has been done so far and what outcome is wanted.
2. Acknowledge: the school confirms receipt within 2 working days, gives a reference number, names the investigator and confirms the deadline for a reply.
3. Investigate: the investigator reviews documents, speaks to the people involved and may invite the complainant to a meeting. The complainant may bring one companion (family member or friend). Lawyers do not attend Stage 2 meetings unless the school agrees.
4. Decide: the Centre Director sends a written response stating the findings, whether the complaint is upheld (in full, in part or not), any action taken and the external routes in section 5. This decision closes the school's internal procedure.

If the 15-day deadline cannot be met because the matter is complex, the school writes to explain why and gives a new date. The total time never exceeds one month from receipt, the legal limit for consumer complaints.

If the complaint is about the Centre Director, Open Learning appoints an independent reviewer with no link to the centre (for example, a head or senior leader from another school, or an education consultant) to investigate and decide at Stage 2. The complainant is told who the reviewer is and may object once, with reasons, before the review starts.

5. External routes

Complainants can go outside the school at any time; the school asks that they first use this procedure so it has the chance to put things right.

Body	When to contact it	Contact
Consumer services of the Generalitat Valenciana, or the OMIC of Alicante	Fees, contracts, billing and other consumer matters; receives the copy of the hoja de reclamaciones	C/ Llauradors, 14, 03002 Alicante
Junta Arbitral de Consumo de la Comunitat Valenciana	Free, voluntary arbitration of consumer disputes. Open Learning is not a member of the Consumer Arbitration System, so arbitration can go ahead only if both sides agree to it for a specific dispute.	Through the OMIC of Alicante
Servicios sociales municipales, Policía Nacional or Guardia Civil	Any risk to a child's safety; the centre reports these itself under LOPIVI and Ley 26/2018	112 in an emergency
Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (AEPD)	Complaints about the handling of personal data	aepd.es
Cambridge International Education	Exam results (only through the centre's Enquiries about Results and Appeals, supported by the Centre Director) and suspected malpractice in Cambridge assessments	Via the Exams Officer

Cambridge does not handle general complaints about a school's management or day-to-day running; these stay with the school and the Spanish authorities above.

6. Timescales, records and data protection

Every written complaint is logged, answered within one month at most, and its records kept securely for a set period.

Step	Time limit
Stage 1 response	5 working days
Request to move to Stage 2	10 working days after the Stage 1 response
Stage 2 acknowledgement	2 working days
Stage 2 written decision	15 working days; never more than one month from receipt
Reply to a hoja de reclamaciones	As set by Decreto 77/1994 (Comunitat Valenciana), and within one month at most

Complaints log: the school records each written complaint, its stage, whether it was resolved at Stage 1 or Stage 2, and any action taken. The Centre Director reviews the log each term to spot patterns and improve practice. The log shows how many complaints were registered in the previous school year and is available to parents on request.

Confidentiality: correspondence, statements and records are confidential. They are shared only with the people who need them to handle the complaint, or where Spanish law or an authority requires it.

Data protection: the school processes complaint data under GDPR and Ley Orgánica 3/2018, to meet its legal duties and its contract with families. Records are kept for 5 years after the complaint closes, then securely destroyed. Complainants can exercise their data rights through the Data Protection Contact at administration@gcs-open.com.

7. Unreasonable complaints and policy review

The school may limit contact with a complainant whose behaviour is abusive, threatening or persistently repetitive, but it still answers any new issue they raise.

Examples include refusing to accept a final Stage 2 decision and raising the same matter again, or abusive language towards staff. The Centre Director writes to explain any limits (for example, one named contact, or written contact only) and reviews them after 3 months. Anonymous complaints are considered where enough detail is given, especially if they suggest a risk to a pupil.

Review: the Centre Director reviews this policy every year, and sooner if the law changes. Next review: Sep 1, 2027. The policy is published on the school website and available in English and Spanish from reception, and in Valencian on request.

Appendix A: Formal complaint form

Field	Details
Your name
Pupil's name and year group (if applicable)
Relationship to pupil
Address, email and phone
Preferred language (English / Español / other)
What is your complaint about?
Dates and people involved
What have you done so far to resolve it (Stage 1)?
What outcome would you like?
Documents attached
Signature and date

School use: date received · reference number · acknowledged on · investigator · response due.

Appendix B: Internal appeals procedure (internal assessment)

Candidates may appeal a decision about internally assessed Cambridge components before marks go to Cambridge, as the Cambridge Handbook requires.

1. The school tells candidates their internal marks and the deadline for submitting them to Cambridge, leaving time to appeal.
2. The candidate (or parent) writes to the Exams Officer within 5 working days of being told the mark.
3. A senior teacher not involved in the marking checks that the work was assessed by the published criteria and that the school's procedures were followed. This reviews the process; it does not re-mark from scratch.
4. The candidate receives a written outcome before the Cambridge deadline. Cambridge's external moderation may still change the final mark.

Appeals on final exam results use the Cambridge Enquiries about Results and Appeals service, through the Exams Officer and with the Centre Director's support.