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The Data Protection Act
Schools, local education authorities and the Department for
Education and Skills (the government department which deals with education)
all hold information on pupils in order to run the education system, and
in doing so have to follow the Data Protection Act l998. This means, among
other things, that the data held about pupils must only be used for specific
purposes allowed by law.
We are therefore writing to tell you about the types of
data held, why that data is held, and to whom it may be passed on.
The school holds information on pupils in order to support their teaching
and learning, to monitor and report on their progress, to provide appropriate
pastoral care, and to assess who well the school as whole is doing.
This information includes contact details, National Curriculum
assessment results, attendance information, characteristics such as
ethnic group, special educational needs and any relevant medical information.
From time to time we are required to pass on some of this data to the
Local Education Authority (LEA), to another school to which the pupil
is transferring, to the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), and
to Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) which is responsible
for the National Curriculum and associated assessment arrangements.
The Local Education Authority (LEA) uses information about pupils to carry
out specific functions for which it is responsible.
Information about individual pupils is used for:
• The assessment of any special educational needs the pupil may
have.
• The provision of LEA services supporting individual pupils.
• The processing of preferences for school admissions and the
allocation of school places.
• Assisting inn the transfer of information when pupils move between
schools.
The LEA also uses statistical information aggregated from individual
pupil records to monitor pupil performance and progress, and to allocate
funding to schools. Statistics are used in such a way that individual
pupils cannot be identified.
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority uses information about pupils
to administer the National Curriculum tests and assessments for Key Stages
1 to 3. The results of these are passed onto DfES in order for it to compile
statistics on trends and patterns in levels of achievement.
The QCA uses the information to evaluate the effectiveness of the National
Curriculum and the associated arrangements, and to ensure that these are
continually improved.
The Department for Education and Skills uses information about pupils
for statistical purposes, to evaluate and develop education policy and
to monitor the performance of the education service as a whole.
The statistics (including those based on information provided
by the QCA) are used in such a way that individual pupils cannot be
identified form them. The DfES will feedback to LEA’s and schools
information about their pupils where they are lacking this information
because it was not passed on by a former school.
On occasion information may be shared with other Government
departments or agencies strictly for statistical or research purposes
only.
Pupils, as data subjects, have certain rights under the Data Protection
Act, including a general right of access to personal data held on them,
with parents exercising this right on their behalf if they are too young
to do so themselves.
If your child wishes to access the personal data, or you
wish to do so on their behalf, then please contact the school or the
appropriate organisation in writing. Contacts for other organisations
are:
The LEA’s Data Protection Officer at PO Box 4, County Hall, St.
Anne’s Crescent, Lewes, BN7 1SG
The QCA’s Data Protection Officer, at QCA, 83 Piccadilly, London,
W1J 8QA
The DfES’s Data Protection Officer at DfES, Caxton House, Tothill
Street, London. SW1H 9NA
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