the GTC how to

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Anyone who has received, or has asked for, any GTC services, can make a complaint. We hope that we can sort out most complaints when they are first made.

The GTC will treat any information you, or someone dealing with the complaint on your behalf, give us in the strictest confidence and in line with the conditions of the Data Protection Act 1998. We will only use the information to deal with your complaint and to monitor our complaints procedure.

Stage 1: First step in making a complaint
Speak or write to the person who first dealt with the issue, or contact their manager. If you do not know the name of their manager, ask our Teacher Enquiry Service (TES), email info@gtce.org.uk or phone 0370 0010308. Lines are open weekdays only, at these times:

Monday - Thursday: 8.30am to 6pm
Friday: 8.30am to 5pm

In your complaint you must include :

• your full name
• your address
• your date of birth.

If you are a registered teacher, please also provide:

• your teacher reference number (TRN); or
• your national insurance (NI) number.

You must make the complaint initially, but you can ask that someone else follows it through for you. You will need to give us their full name and contact details.

Let us know if you need an interpreter to make your complaint or if you need help of any other kind. We will try to provide this within seven working days.

Set out why you want to complain, and include as much detail aspossible. The manager will investigate the complaint and will try to sort the problem out as quickly as possible. We will let you know how long the investigation is likely to take.

Stage 2: Contact the complaints officer
If your complaint cannot be sorted out at stage 1, you will need to write to the GTC complaints officer at:
The Complaints Officer
General Teaching Council for England
Victoria Square House
Victoria Square
Birmingham
B2 4AJ

You must include:

• your full name
• your address
• your phone number
• your email address
• the main aspects of your complaint
• the name of the GTC staff member who dealt with stage 1
• details of why you believe the complaint wasn’t dealt with satisfactorily
• any other information you believe will help the complaints officer

If you are a registered teacher, please also provide:

• your teacher reference number (TRN)
• or your national insurance (NI) number.

The complaints officer will acknowledge your complaint within three working days. They will try to send you a full response within 20 working days.

If your complaint is complicated, the complaints officer may not be able to fully examine your complaint within 20 working days. Instead they will send you a response showing why there is a delay, what has been done so far, and the next steps, including when you can expect a full reply.

The decision of the complaints officer will tell you what the GTC plansto do about the issues raised in your complaint. We hope you will be happy with this decision. However, if you are not happy, you can take your complaint to stage 3.

Stage 3: Involving the GTC chief executive
If you are unhappy with the stage 2 decision, you can send a copy of the complaints officer’s decision to the GTC chief executive and say why you are not happy with it. Write to:
The Chief Executive
General Teaching Council for England
Whittington House
19-30 Alfred Place
London
WC1E 7EA

The chief executive will acknowledge your complaint within three working days and try to send you a full response within 20 working days.

If your complaint is particularly complicated, the chief executive may not be able to fully examine your complaint within 20 working days. Instead you will be sent a response showing why there is a delay, what has been done so far, and the next steps, including when you can expect a full reply.

The chief executive's decision is final.