Guidance

Data sharing between the National Careers Service and Jobcentre Plus

Published 20 January 2025

Applies to England

Data sharing between the National Careers Service and Jobcentre Plus (JCP) will result in closer co-operation in the delivery of employment and careers guidance for adults. Shared knowledge to support National Careers Service and JCP customers will support an understanding of customer needs and improve support offered.

Data to be shared 

Interactions between the National Careers Service, JCP and customers will result in the collection of a wide range of data. This will depend upon the personal circumstance of a customer.

Data items that could be shared between the National Careers Service and JCP, in either direction and at any point in the customer journey are relevant to employment, skills and training. Data shared should be in connection with advice, support and assistance to support customers to acquire or enhance skills and qualifications to help find and retain employment.

Data items could include:

• name
• date of birth
• email address
• telephone number
• Universal Credit identifier
• gender
• ESOL status
• confirmation of appointment times
• confirmation of attendance at appointment
• reason for referral to National Careers Service
• benefit status or type
• referrals to learning, training or employment support
• length of unemployment
• job search restrictions
• qualifications achieved
• level of qualifications achieved
• employment status
• previous employment (roles)
• previous employment (sectors)
• barriers and challenges
• work, learning or skills aspirations
• skills knowledge gaps
• skills assessment
• labour market information
• careers goals
• work goals
• learning goals
• outcomes
• National Careers Service priority group status: 18 to 24 year olds not in education
• employment or training (NEETs)
• low-skilled adults without a Level 3 qualification
• adults who have been unemployed or economically inactive for more than 12 months
• single parents with at least one dependent child living in the same household
• adults with special educational needs or disabilities (by self-declaration)
• adults aged 50 years and over who are unemployed or at demonstrable risk of unemployment

For the National Careers Service, it is recommended to use the careers and skills action plan to share data with JCP.

National Careers Service prime contractors and JCP can work together at a local level to decide the most useful data items to be shared in supporting customers on their employment and careers journeys.  

Data that can be shared must be related to employment and training in connection with advice, support and assistance to support customers to acquire or enhance skills and qualifications towards finding and retaining employment.

Data security 

The sharing of data between the National Careers Service and JCP should uphold principles of data security and should adhere to the UK Data Protection legislation at all times.

National Careers Service prime contractors should ensure:

• compliance with their contractual obligations at all times
• sub-contractors working with JCP adhere to this operational guidance

Guidance for the National Careers Service when sharing data with JCP

There are different rules to remember when sharing data using different methods.

Booking or referral system 

Booking or referral systems can be used to transfer data between JCP and the National Careers Service. The specifics of how data will be shared will depend upon the nature of the system. 

Any booking or referral system used for data sharing must comply with UK Data Protection legislation.

National Careers Service prime contractors must ensure the use of any booking or referral system complies with National Careers Service contracts.

Email 

The National Careers Service can send up to a maximum of 10 customer careers and skills action plans in a single email by unencrypted email. If there is a need to share more than 10 careers and skills action plans, they must be sent over more than one email.

Emails must be sent from a work email address to a DWP email address only (@dwp.gov.uk). 

Careers and skills action plans must not be shared as live links that allow real-time collaboration on a shared document.

File names of the careers and skills action plan, as well as email subject lines, must only include the customer’s name and no other personal data.

The careers and skills action plan should clearly identify the National Careers Service careers adviser working with the customer. This ensures that any information shared by JCP can identify the correct point of contact.

The National Careers Service can also share data over email that is not in a careers and skills action plan. If sharing data with JCP over unencrypted email outside of a careers and skills action plan, it must be for individual customers only, one email for one customer.

By telephone

The National Careers Service can share customer data with JCP over the telephone.

Only make telephone contact with JCP via a recognised JCP telephone line. Only share data over the telephone with a known JCP contact.

When sharing data over telephone, it must take place in a private place so as not be heard by other individuals in the vicinity. For example a private room.

By hand 

Data sharing with JCP can also take place by sharing of physical copies of documents by hand. 

Hand the careers and skills action plan to a JCP work coach who is working with the JCP customer, or a nominated point of contact within JCP. This is the responsibility of the National Careers Service careers adviser.

The recipient of the document is responsible for its secure storage. If the document is given to a nominated point of contact in JCP, it is their responsibility to ensure that it is given to a JCP work coach who is supporting the customer. Securely store it in the meantime (for example, in a locked cabinet). 

National Careers Service careers advisers should explain to their JCP counterpart what the document is, identify the customer to which it relates, and explain the need to ensure the document is stored securely at all times. 

By post or courier 

Up to 10 careers and skills action plans can be sent by Royal Mail special delivery or recorded delivery only. Royal Mail first or second class shall not be used.

Only share physical copies of documents. Do not share data on USB sticks. 

For non-Royal Mail services, use a secure courier service, with a signature obtained upon delivery. 

State the recipient clearly on the parcel or envelope. The documents should be securely packaged. 

The recipient (a JCP work coach or an agreed JCP point of contact) should be told in advance that the sender is sending the document.

The recipient shall confirm safe receipt with the sender as soon as is practicable. 

Informing National Careers Service customers of data sharing

Under the terms of the DfE and DWP data sharing agreement and with reference to UK GDPR, customer consent is not required to share data between the National Careers Service and JCP.

In the interest of fostering positive working relationships, customers engaging with the support of both services should be informed that their data will be shared with JCP and the benefits of doing so should be explained. This is important to uphold the UK GDPR principle of transparency. National Careers Service prime contractors can decide locally how best to inform customers of data sharing with JCP.

Retention and destruction of data

Retention of data will vary according to how it is received and used.

Retention of data received by email 

Incorporate data received from JCP via email into customer record systems for the respective National Careers Service customer within 30 working days of the email being sent. National Careers Service prime contractors can decide how they wish to incorporate customer data into customer record systems.

Once the data shared via email has been incorporated into customer record systems, the email should be deleted within 30 working days. 

Deleted items email inboxes should be regularly cleansed. 

Retention of data received by hand, by post or courier 

Incorporate data received from JCP by hand, by post or courier into customer record systems for the respective customer within 30 working days of receipt. National Careers Service prime contractors can decide how they wish to incorporate customer data into customer record systems.

Once the data has been incorporated into customer record systems the hard copy of the data should be securely disposed of within 30 working days of receipt and stored securely in the interim period.

Retention of data for customers who are referred from JCP, but fail to attend an appointment with a careers adviser

For customers who fail to attend a National Careers Service appointment after a JCP referral with shared data, prime contractors should establish a justified and reasonable local retention period in line with contractual requirements. Consideration of local referral processes between JCP and the National Careers Service should inform how long to keep customer data whilst attempts are made to engage with the customer.

Retention of received data once incorporated into prime contractors customer relationship management (CRM) systems

Once incorporated into customer record systems, keep data received from JCP for up to 7 years, in line with the retention periods for the National Careers Service.

Destruction of received data once incorporated into prime contractors CRM systems

DfE will issue instructions on destruction of the data at the end of contract term.

This includes any data received from JCP that is still held. 

Identifying where data has been received from or shared with JCP 

National Careers Service prime contractors should ensure that their customer record systems allow identification of customers whose data has been shared with JCP. As a minimum, record this at an individual customer record level. 

This will ensure that DfE can follow provisions of UK Data Protection legislation in response to subject access requests.