Blowing the whistle to the Department for Education
How to make a whistleblowing disclosure about an academy or post-16 provider.
Applies to England
What whistleblowing is
You can make a whistleblowing disclosure to report any wrongdoing that’s in the public interest.
Read whistleblowing for employees to find out about:
- what counts as whistleblowing
- how you will be protected by law if you make a disclosure
Who can make a disclosure
You can make a disclosure direct to the Department for Education (DfE) if you are:
- an employee
- a volunteer who has knowledge of the academy or post-16 provider – for example, if you are a trustee in an academy trust
Only employees are protected by law if they make a disclosure directly to their employer. Disclosures made to DfE by volunteers may not receive the same protections. However, DfE will always protect the identity of any whistleblower.
More information on how we handle whistleblowing disclosures is available.
What to include in a disclosure
Give us the full details of your academy or post-16 provider, so we can investigate. Make sure you provide us with its:
- full name, especially if it’s a common name, such as ‘St Mary’s’
- address and postcode
Make a disclosure
You can either make:
- a disclosure direct to your academy or post-16 provider
- a disclosure to DfE
Make a disclosure about an academy
To make a disclosure about an academy, with the option to remain anonymous, use the customer help portal. If you wish to submit a complaint anonymously, use the ‘guest’ option.
Make a disclosure about a post-16 provider
To make a disclosure about a post-16 provider, either:
- use the customer help portal – if you wish to do so anonymously, use the ‘guest’ option
- write to:
Customer Service Team
Department for Education
Cheylesmore House
Quinton Road
Coventry CV1 2WT
What happens after you make a disclosure to DfE
Once we receive your disclosure, we’ll:
- send you an acknowledgement, if you shared your contact details
- confirm that we’ll not contact you unless we need further information for any investigation
We’ll not enter into a conversation with you once we’ve started a formal investigation. This is to ensure we:
- protect your confidentiality and anonymity
- do nothing that could potentially undermine the legitimacy of the outcome of any investigation
Updates to this page
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Updated the ways to contact an academy or post-16 provider to make a whistleblowing disclosure.
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First published.