Transparency data

Requesting your personal information

Published 3 October 2023

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2023

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/requesting-your-personal-information/requesting-your-personal-information

This document gives details of the types of information the Department for Education (DfE) holds and how you can request the information. The DfE is the data controller for your personal information. This includes when the information is collected or processed by third parties on our behalf.

We may change this document and we encourage you to check it from time to time.

The DfE personal information charter gives more information on how we use your personal information and your rights.

Your rights

You’re entitled to ask us, or any of our executive agencies:

  • for a copy of your personal data and details of its source
  • if we’re processing your personal data and how long we’ll store it for
  • for a description of the data we hold about you
  • the reasons we’re holding it and anyone we may share it with, for example, Ofsted
  • your right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office or another supervisory authority
  • about automated decision-making (including profiling) and information about the logic involved. These may have significance and potential consequences of the processing for the individual
  • about the processes in place to protect your data if it is transferred to a third country or international organisation

The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) gives you certain rights about how your information is collected and used. These include:

  • the right to be informed about the collection and use of your personal data – this is called ’right to be informed’
  • the right to see the personal information we have about you – this is called ’right of access’, this is also known as a subject access request (SAR), data subject access request (DSAR) or right of access request (RAR)
  • the right to ask us to change any information you think is not accurate or complete – this is called ‘right to rectification’
  • the right to ask us to delete your personal information – this is called ‘right to erasure’
  • the right to ask us to stop using your information – this is called ‘right to restriction of processing’, and
  • your ‘right to object to processing’ of your information, in certain circumstances
  • rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling
  • the right to withdraw consent at any time (where relevant)
  • the right to complain to the Information Commissioner if you feel we have not used your information in the right way

The DfE privacy notices provide details of your rights for each processing activity.

For more information on your rights, see the DfE data protection policy or the ICO website.

Request your personal information

You have the right to ask for access to your own personal information. This is known as a subject access request (SAR).

To make a SAR, the quickest way is to use the DfE contact form.

Or you can post your request to the Data Protection Office.

Include as much information as you can about the information you need and the years you need the information for. If possible, tell us which part of the department holds the information. This will help us to identify the information you want more quickly. You’ll also need to tell us your telephone number and address, in case we need to contact you.

We may need to check your identity and your right to access the information you’re requesting. To check your identify, we may ask for a copy of your passport, photo driving licence or proof of your address.

We’ll try to respond to your request within 1 calendar month. But, if your request is complex, this could take a further 2 months, but we’ll tell you if this is the case.

Request personal information about your learning

You can request information about your learning, such as:

  • further education and work-based learning data collected in the individualised learner record (ILR)
  • higher education records collected by the Higher Education Statistics Authority
  • pupil attainment and pupil characteristics (including address information) and some social service information is collected in the National Pupil Database (NPD), the majority of data available in the NPD relates to children who attended school in England from the 2001 to 2002 academic year onwards - full details of all data available in the NPD can be found within the Find and explore data in the NPD digital service or the NPD data tables

We do not cover all educational establishments and do not cover Welsh schools.

Request a copy of your personal learning record (PLR)

Your PLR documents general and vocational qualifications. This includes Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) , A levels, GCSEs, BTEC, diplomas and functional skills. If you want to view a copy of your PLR, it’s usually quickest to approach your learning provider first.

If your learning provider cannot help you, you can request a copy of your PLR from DfE. You must make this request by email, see accessing your personal learning record for details.

Requests from children

Children have the same data rights as adults, but we may have to assess a child’s competency to act independently if they are under the age of 12.

Requests from parents

If your child is under the age of 12 or is deemed not to be competent, you can make a request on their behalf. You’ll be asked to confirm your parental responsibility.

Request personal information as a teacher

If you are a teacher, you can ask for any personal information that we hold about you, such as:

  • your qualified teacher status (QTS)
  • teacher misconduct outcomes
  • teacher pensions data

Request personal information after raising a complaint

If you’ve made a complaint about a school or further education setting, you can request a copy of your case file.

You can also request a copy of your case file if you’ve made a service complaint about the department or any of its executive agencies.

Request other personal information

You can also ask for personal information relating to:

  • funding of your learning
  • complaints about schools or academies
  • complaints about the ESFA

How to contact us and how to make a complaint

How to contact us

Contact the Data Protection Team with questions about how we use your information by:

Emma Wharram
Data Protection Officer
Department for Education (B2.28)
7 & 8 Wellington Place
Wellington Street
Leeds
LS1 4AW

Email: dataprotection.office@education.gov.uk

If you need to contact us for anything else, use the contact form.

If you are unable to complete the contact form, write to:

Department for Education
Piccadilly Gate
Store Street
Manchester
M1 2WD

How to make a complaint

If you have any concerns about how we use your personal information, you can make a complaint in writing to the Data Protection Officer:

Emma Wharram
Data Protection Officer
Department for Education (B2.28)
7 & 8 Wellington Place
Wellington Street
Leeds
LS1 4AW

You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data by writing to:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Contact the ICO
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

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