Should I file for discrimination and victimisation? Given how the school is now trying to remove my child after i made a complaint.
School failed to follow complaint procedure and concluded my complaint without sending me an outcome letter. I have requested the complaint be reviewed at stage 2 which they are obstructing. I have sent the stage 2 escalation to the school admin team to foward to the Clerk to the governing body as the Clerk contact details are not publicly available, but the admin have refused to forward my stage 2 request. Should I escalate to DFE since the chair of governor has been inbolved and concluded my complaint without sending me an outcome of the investigation and denying me access to stage 2 process
Should i file for discrimination and victimisation?
Suddenly, they called an ehcp review last week and said they cant meet my childd needs on the basis pf limited progress and lack of engagement. They said my child requires a provision for children with severe learning needs. I disagreed because my daughter does not have severe learning needs. She has made some progress at her own pace. Limited progress is not a valid reason to say a school cannot meet needs. The techer said my daughter does not respond to her name. I disagreed because my daughter responds to her name all the time
The teacher then tried to argue that my daughter doesnt transfer her abilities/skill across a range of different setting even though she is able to perform the task. As an autistic child. I feel that she learns differently and as long as she is able to perform a specific task in one setting, that should count as an achievement . She needs to build confidence to be able to transfer that skill to another setting
During one meeting i had with the head teacher last year when i raised concerns a obout recurring injuries, she mentioned that staff find me difficult and they are worried that i might accuse them of harming my child despite i have never accussed anyone.
My concerns were regarding lack of supervision due to the frequency of injuries and school not being able to tell me how the child sustained the injuries.
During the same meeting with the head teacher last year, she suggested that i remove my child from the school i told her it was my childs first year in school and she should give her a chance and all i was asking was enhanced supervision.
A: SenseCheck
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- 14 May 2026
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Too fact specific, I can't generalise.:
Please note, this is a general comment only, not legal advice.
You may not wish to rush into filing a claim before working out exactly what the claim would be and what evidence supports it. From what you have described, disability discrimination and victimisation are issues worth exploring, particularly if the school’s current position is linked to your earlier complaint and/or to your child’s autistic presentation.
It may help to separate the complaint-handling issue from any possible Equality Act issue. A badly handled complaint is not automatically discrimination or victimisation.
Victimisation has a specific meaning under the Equality Act. It depends on whether your complaint was a protected act, or whether the school believed you had done or might do a protected act, and whether your child is now being subjected to a detriment because of it. A protected act can include making an allegation that someone has breached the Equality Act, bringing Equality Act proceedings, giving evidence or information in connection with such proceedings, or doing something in connection with the Equality Act.
A complaint about injuries, supervision, safeguarding, or poor complaint handling may be serious, but it is not automatically a protected act for victimisation purposes. The position may be stronger if your complaint expressly or implicitly raised disability discrimination, failure to make reasonable adjustments, or disability-related disadvantage. The key question is whether there is evidence linking the later treatment of your child to that protected act. Timing may be relevant, but it is unlikely to be enough on its own.
Disability discrimination may be worth considering if the school is seeking to remove your child because of autistic presentation, slower progress, communication differences, or difficulty generalising skills, rather than first asking whether the special educational provision specified in Section F is being properly delivered, whether it remains sufficient to meet your child’s identified needs, and whether reasonable adjustments have been made.
You may wish to put everything in writing. Ask the school to confirm the status of the Stage 2 complaint, provide the missing outcome letter, and forward the escalation to the Clerk or governing body. At the same time, ask for the EHCP review paperwork, the evidence relied on, current progress data, incident or injury records, details of what Section F provision has been delivered, what adjustments have been tried, and what specialist advice supports the view that the school cannot meet needs.
If the school still refuses to progress the complaint, you may also wish to check the school’s complaints policy and the relevant external complaints route, which may include escalation to the Department for Education depending on the type of school.
Also keep an eye on time limits and the correct route. If you are considering a disability discrimination claim against the school, including victimisation linked to a protected act under the Equality Act where the alleged detriment is suffered by your child as a pupil, the usual route in England is the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability), often called the SEND Tribunal, and there is usually a six-month time limit. Using the school complaints process does not stop that time running.
If the school is trying to change placement through the EHCP process, the local authority needs to be involved. The school cannot simply rewrite Section I. Needs, provision and placement should be considered in that order.
Given the issues involved, including possible Equality Act claims, EHCP placement issues and time limits, it may be worth seeking specialist legal advice if you are able to do so.
14 May 2026
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