Information is provided below regarding the personal data held by schools about their pupils and their school workforce, including the types of data held, why it is held and to whom it may be passed.

For the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998, schools are known as Data Controllers. They collect, receive and hold personal data about their pupils and their school workforce.

Under the Act, the information held by schools about their pupils and their workforce must only be used for specific purposes. Schools are required to write to parents/pupils and their workforce to tell them about the types of data held, why it is held and to whom it may be passed. This is referred to as a 'Privacy Notice'. Privacy Notices for pupils and the school workforce can be accessed on the right-hand side of this page.

The Data Protection Act imposes obligations on those responsible for processing personal data. It gives individuals rights to access their personal information, with parents exercising this right on behalf of their children if the children are too young to do so themselves.

For further information relating to Privacy Notices and the Data Protection Act 1998 generally please visit Information Commissioner (opens in a new window)  website.

Schools are required by law to pass certain pupil and school workforce information to the Local Authority (LA) and to the Department for Education (DfE).

Personal Data : Pupils

The personal data held by a school about its pupils is used to support pupils' teaching and learning, to monitor and report on pupils' progress, to provide appropriate pastoral care and to assess how well the school is doing.

The information held includes pupils' contact details, national curriculum assessment results, attendance information (for pupils aged 5 and over at maintained schools), characteristics such as ethnic group, special educational needs and any relevant medical information.

The Local Authority uses information about children for whom it provides services, to enable it to carry out specific functions for which it is responsible, such as the assessment of any special educational needs the child may have. It also uses the information to derive statistics to inform decisions on (for example) the funding of schools, and to assess the performance of schools and set targets for them. The statistics are used in such a way that individual children cannot be identified from them.

Under Section 11 of the Childcare Act 2006, the Local Authority has a statutory duty to assess, every three years, the demand for childcare places against the supply of places in order to identify and address gaps in the market.  This process involves parental consultation and the Local Authority will use address information to randomly stratify a sample of parents.

For pupils aged 13 years and over, the school is legally required to pass on certain information to the provider of youth support services in their area.  This is the local authority support service for young people aged 13 to 19 in England.  The school must provide the name and address of the pupil and their parents and any further information relevant to the support services' role.  In addition, the date of birth of the pupil is supplied.

Until the pupils are aged 16 or older, their parent(s) can ask that no information beyond their child's name, address and date of birth (and their own name and address) be passed to the youth support services provider.  This right transfers to the pupil on their 16th birthday.  Pupils and/or parents will need to inform the school if this is what they wish.

Online information, advice and support on a range of issues affecting young people can be found on the Directgov Young People page at  DirectGov - Young People (opens in a new window)   with access to trained helpline advisers, via SMS text message, telephone, webchat and email.

The Primary Care Trust (PCT)uses information about pupils for research and statistical purposes, to monitor the performance of local health services and to evaluate and develop them. The statistics are used in such a way that individual pupils cannot be identified from them. Information on the height and weight of individual pupils may however be provided to the child and its parents and this will require the PCTs to maintain details of pupils' names for this purpose for a period designated by the Department of Health following the weighing and measuring process. PCTs may also provide individual schools and LAs with aggregate information on pupils' height and weight.

For information regarding what the DfE does with pupils' data, please visit DfE - Privacy Notices (opens in a new window)

If pupils wish to access the personal data held on them (or their parents are to do so on their behalf), the relevant organisation should be contacted. Some postal addresses of relevant organisations are provided below with links to websites given on the right-hand side of this page.

Dorset County Council Data Protection Officer, Modern Record Management, Dorset County Council, Colliton Park, DORCHESTER, Dorset, DT1 1XJ

Trust Records Manager, Dorset PCT, Forston Clinic, Near Charminster, DORCHESTER, Dorset, DT2 9TB

Personal Data : School Workforce

The personal data held by a school about those employed or otherwise engaged to work at the school is used to assist in the smooth running of the school and/or to enable individuals to be paid.

The information held includes some or all of the following: identifiers such as name, National Insurance Number; characteristics such as ethnic group; employment contract and remuneration details; post 'A' Level qualifications; absence information.

The Local Authority will use information about its school workforce for research and statistical purposes, and to evaluate and develop education policy and strategies. The statistics are used in such a way that individual staff cannot be identified from them. The LA may also use information to support and monitor schools regarding sickness and recruitment of staff.

For information regarding what the DfE does with school workforce data, please visit DfE - Privacy Notices (opens in a new window)

If members of the school workforce wish to access the personal data held on them, they should contact their employer in the first instance or the relevant organisation.