Education Training Foundation Complaints Policy
1. Policy statement
At the Education Training Foundation (‘ETF’ which includes SET, the Society for Education and Training), we strive for excellence in everything we do. We are conscious of our need to make sure that all our activities pursue our charitable purposes and the public benefit.
Occasionally, we may fall short of the high expectations that members, customers and partners have of us. When that happens, we want to know. This allows us to understand the situation and gives us an opportunity to put things right, make improvements and learn from what has happened. A thorough and transparent complaints policy and supporting procedure help us do this.
We aim to:
• provide a fair complaints procedure which is clear and easy to use for anyone wishing to make a complaint
• make sure people know how to contact us to make a complaint
• make sure everyone at ETF knows what to do if a complaint is received
• make sure all complaints are investigated fairly and in a timely way
• make sure that complaints are, wherever possible, resolved and that relationships are repaired
• gather information that helps us to improve what we do.
As part of our complaints procedure, we track and review complaints on a regular basis in order to identify opportunities for improvement across our operations.
2. Definition
A complaint is a clear expression of dissatisfaction about the standards of service provided by ETF.
3. Scope
This policy and procedure covers:
• all services and products that we deliver directly
• all services and products delivered by contracted third parties on our behalf (‘partners’ or ‘suppliers’)
• the behaviour and conduct of ETF staff, Board members, contracted third parties and advisory groups representing ETF.
This policy does not cover complaints from ETF staff, who should use ETF’s Grievance Policy and Procedure.
3.3 This policy cannot be used to complain or appeal against:
• a decision not to award Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) Status, Advanced Teacher Status (ATS) or any other status (see instead the Membership & Statuses Eligibility and Award Appeals Policy)
• a decision to remove membership following an investigation (see instead the Investigations and Disciplinary Policy)
• support allocation outcomes following an application for reasonable adjustments (see instead the Statuses Reasonable Adjustments Policy and Procedure).
4. Procedure: Informal complaints
In many cases, an issue is best resolved informally. The process for this is to raise your issue with an ETF member of staff, either directly or via a commissioned supplier.
The ETF member of staff, or a nominated colleague will respond to you within five working days of receiving the complaint. You will then have a further five working days to confirm that you are satisfied with the resolution or to escalate the matter to a formal complaint. If we do not hear from you, we will close the case.
Timeframe: Same day to within 10 working days.
Method: verbal or via email
5. Procedure: Formal complaints
If your complaint cannot be resolved informally, the formal complaints procedure has three stages of handling and escalation:
Stage One. Review by the Head of Department for the area concerned or an alternative Head in their absence
Stage Two. Review by the Associate Director for the area concerned or another appropriate Associate Director in their absence
Stage Three. Review by the relevant Executive Director or another Executive Director in their absence
All formal complaints should proceed through Stages One and Two before they proceed further (unless they relate to the Head of Department, the Associate or Executive Director concerned or the CEO, in which case they will automatically be escalated to the next level). If a formal complaint relates to the CEO or a Board member, the next escalation level is to the Chair of the ETF Board.
All complaints will be logged and the outcome of each stage will be recorded. We will endeavour to share information only with relevant members of staff and/or third-party suppliers as required.
Please be aware that, while we will try to resolve matters following the stages and timelines outlined below, we reserve the right to vary this process as required by specific circumstances. If this is necessary, we will notify you in writing of any changes.
Stage One: Review by the relevant Head of Department
Please email your complaint to us at complaints@etfoundation.co.uk.
We will log and acknowledge your complaint within five working days and ensure it is allocated to the appropriate member of staff to deal with. If the complaint is regarding the Head of Department who would normally handle a complaint at this stage, it will be escalated to the Associate Director, or an alternative Associate Director where appropriate.
All complaints will be considered objectively and on their merits. ETF will endeavour to resolve the matter in a fair, mutual and consistent way. Following ETF’s review, you will receive a response from ETF within 10 working days from the date of acknowledgement.
You will then have five working days from the date of ETF’s formal response to confirm that you are satisfied with the resolution or to request the complaint be escalated further. If we do not hear from you, we will close the case.
Timeframe: Between five working days and, at the latest, 20 working days after we receive your complaint.
Method: email
Stage Two: Review by the Associate Director of the area concerned
If you feel that the issue has not been satisfactorily resolved at Stage One, let us know within five working days and we will organise a review by the relevant Associate Director. We aim to acknowledge all requests within five working days and may ask for some further information at this point. We will then aim to respond within 10 working days of receiving any additional information from you. Again, you have a further five days to confirm the matter is resolved to your satisfaction or escalate further.
Timeframe: Between five working days and, at the latest, 35 working days after the date of the request to stage two escalation is requested.
Method: email
Stage Three: Review by an Executive Director
If you remain dissatisfied with our response, you can escalate your complaint within five working days and we will organise a review by an executive director or the CEO, depending on the nature of the complaint. If the complaint relates to the CEO, it will automatically be escalated to an ETF Board member.
We will acknowledge your request within five working days and aim to reply to your request within a further ten working days. This will be our final response to any matters raised.
Timeframe: Between five working days and, at the latest, 15 working days after escalation to stage three complaint.
Method: email
6. Vexatious complaints
We consider a vexatious complaint is one that is pursued regardless of its merits and is therefore unreasonable or burdensome.
We may consider a complaint to be vexatious where an individual:
• persists in pursuing a complaint which has already been investigated by an ETF staff member, providing no new or material information
• seeks to prolong contact by continually changing the substance of a complaint or by continually raising further concerns or questions while the complaint is being addressed
• fails to clearly identify the substance of a complaint, or the precise issues which may need to be investigated despite reasonable efforts by the ETF staff member to assist them
• complains solely about trivial matters to an extent that is out of proportion to their significance
• seeks to impose unreasonable demands or expectations on resources, such as requiring that responses are provided more urgently than is reasonable or necessary
• persists in pursuing a complaint and /or seeks to impose unreasonable demands on resources where they have already been informed that the complaint is outside of ETF’s remit or charitable purpose (eg requesting we act as an FE regulatory body; requesting we investigate complaints against HE providers, etc.).
The decision as to whether a complaint is considered to be vexatious rests with the CEO, with guidance from the Chief of Staff. ETF will cease to investigate any complaint as soon as it considered to be vexatious and will notify you accordingly.
Updated September 2025