Privacy Notice
How we use Student Information
Why do we collect and use student information?
We collect and use student information under the Education Act 1996. The EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR) took effect on May 25th 2018 including Article 6 ‘lawfulness of processing’ and Article 9 ‘Processing of Special Categories of Personal Data’.
https://www.gov.uk/education/data-collection-and-censuses-for-schools
We use the student data:
- to support student learning
- to monitor and report on student progress
- to provide appropriate pastoral care
- to assess the quality of our services
- to comply with the law regarding data sharing
The categories of student information that we collect, hold and share include:
- Personal information (such as name, unique pupil number and address)
- Any relevant medical information
- Special educational needs
- Exclusions and behavioural information
- Assessment information
- Post 16 learning information
- Characteristics (such as ethnicity, language, nationality, country of birth and free school meal eligibility)
- Attendance information (such as sessions attended, number of absences and absence reasons)
Collecting student information
Whilst the majority of student information you provide to us is mandatory, some of it is provided to us on a voluntary basis. In order to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation, we will inform you whether you are required to provide certain student information to us or if you have a choice in this.
Storing student data
We hold student data for 5 years following a student’s last entry which would be when they reach 24 years of age.
Who do we share student information with?
We routinely share student information with:
- schools that the student attends after leaving us
- our local authority
- JCQ examination awarding bodies
- the Department for Education (DfE)
- School Nurse
Why we share student information
We do not share information about our students with anyone without consent unless the law and our policies allow us to do so.
We share students’ data with the Department for Education (DfE) on a statutory basis. This data sharing underpins school funding and educational attainment policy and monitoring.
We are required to share information about our students with the (DfE) under regulation 5 of The Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2013.
Youth Support Services
What is different about students aged 13+?
Once our students reach the age of 13, we also pass student information to our local authority and / or provider of youth support services as they have responsibilities in relation to the education or training of 13-19 year olds under section 507B of the Education Act 1996.
This enables them to provide services as follows:
- youth support services
- careers advisers
A parent/carer can request that only their child’s name, address and date of birth is passed to their local authority or provider of youth support services by informing us. This right is transferred to the child / student once he/she reaches the age 16.
Our students aged 16+
We will also share certain information about students aged 16+ with our local authority and / or provider of youth support services as they have responsibilities in relation to the education or training of 13-19 year olds under Section 507B of the Education Act 1996.
This enables them to provide services as follows:
- post-16 education and training providers
- youth support services
- careers advisers
For more information about services for young people, please visit our local authority website.
The National Pupil Database (NPD)
The NPD is owned and managed by the Department for Education and contains information about students in schools in England. It provides invaluable evidence on educational performance to inform independent research, as well as studies commissioned by the Department. It is held in electronic format for statistical purposes. This information is securely collected from a range of sources including schools, local authorities and awarding bodies.
We are required by law, to provide information about our students to the DfE as part of statutory data collections such as the school census and early years’ census. Some of this information is then stored in the NPD. The law that allows this is the Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2013.
To find out more about the student information we share with the department, for the purpose of data collections, go to https://www.gov.uk/education/data-collection-and-censuses-for-schools.
To find out more about the NPD, go to https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-pupil-database-user-guide-and-supporting-information.
The department may share information about our students from the NPD with third parties who promote the education or well-being of children in England by:
- conducting research or analysis
- producing statistics
- providing information, advice or guidance
The Department has robust processes in place to ensure the confidentiality of our data is maintained and there are stringent controls in place regarding access and use of the data. Decisions on whether DfE releases data to third parties are subject to a strict approval process and based on a detailed assessment of:
- who is requesting the data
- the purpose for which it is required
- the level and sensitivity of data requested: and
- the arrangements in place to store and handle the data
To be granted access to student information, organisations must comply with strict terms and conditions covering the confidentiality and handling of the data, security arrangements and retention and use of the data.
For more information about the department’s data sharing process, please visit:
https://www.gov.uk/data-protection-how-we-collect-and-share-research-data
For information about which organisations the department has provided student information, (and for which project), please visit the following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-pupil-database-requests-received
To contact DfE: https://www.gov.uk/contact-dfe
Examining and awarding qualifications
Student information (such as name, date of birth, gender) will be transferred to the awarding bodies (eg. AQA, Pearson, OCR) for the purpose of examining and awarding qualifications. This data, together with the examination results and outcomes of any reviews of marking, reviews of moderation and appeals may be shared within the JCQ consortium.
Awarding bodies may be required to provide a candidate’s personal data to educational agencies such as DfE, WG, DE, The Skills Finding Agency, regulators, HESA, UCAS, Local Authorities, EFA and Learning Records Service (LRS). Additionally, candidates’ personal data may be provided to a central record of qualifications approved by the awarding bodies for statistical and policy development purposes.
Awarding bodies maintain a comprehensive archive record of candidates’ examination results. The purpose is to provide an audit trail of the results certificated and to maintain and accurate record of an individual’s achievements.
JCQ Awarding Bodies - Information for Candidates - Privacy Notice
Requesting access to your personal data
Under data protection legislation, parents and students have the right to request access to information about them that we hold. To make a request for your personal information, or be given access to your child’s educational record, please contact Communications Manager, Mrs S Cooper at sco@salegrammar.co.uk.
You also have the right to:
- object to processing of personal data that is likely to cause, or is causing, damage or distress
- prevent processing for the purpose of direct marketing
- object to decisions being taken by automated means
- in certain circumstances, have inaccurate personal data rectified, blocked, erased or destroyed; and
- claim compensation for damages caused by a breach of the Data Protection regulations
If you have a concern about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, you should raise your concern with us in the first instance or directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/
Contact:
If you would like to discuss anything in this privacy notice, please contact Communications Manager, Mrs S Cooper at sco@salegrammar.co.uk.