Details
- Name of Service - Educational Effectiveness
- Directorate - Children, Families, Lifelong Learning and Culture
- Date of Issue - 17 September 2019
- Date of current issue - 30 November 2021
- Review Date - 24 September 2024
The reasons why we use your personal data
Purpose / function of the service
This privacy notice applies to Surrey County Council's statutory duty to track and report on young people's participation in education, training and employment aged 16 to 19 and young adults with a current Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan up to the age of 25. It also applies to the Council's statutory duty to encourage, enable and assist young people that are residents in the county aged up to 19 years (and up to 25 years in respect of young people with a current EHC plan), to participate in education, employment or training and to mitigate against the risk of becoming Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET).
The categories of this information that we collect, process, hold and share include:
- Personal information (such as name, age, date of birth, unique pupil number, telephone number, e-mail address and home address)
- Characteristics (such as ethnicity and sexuality)
- Physical and mental health information, any special educational needs or disabilities
- Whether you are looked after
- Whether you are a carer
- Whether you are currently supervised by the Youth Offending Team.
- Qualification type and level currently studying
- The type of education, training and employment you are involved in
- Attendance and exclusion information
Why we collect and use this information
We have statutory obligations in relation to young people aged 16-18 (and those up to 25 with a current EHC plan). We are expected to make arrangements to establish the identities of all relevant young people who are resident and/or attended school in Surrey; and
- whether they are participating; and
- where they are in education or training, the level at which they are studying and the programme type; or
- where they are in employment, whether the employment is with or without training and the name of the employer.
- Identify and support children and young people who are NEET and those at risk of becoming NEET.
In order to fulfil our tracking obligations, we need to know where our young people go initially in September and then who drops out before completing their studies so that we can then follow up with them and offer our support to get them into an alternative provision.
We also use the data to derive statistics which can inform strategic decisions and to monitor trends and performance.
How we are allowed to use your personal data
We collect and use your information because of a legal obligation or public task under various UK legislation including but not limited to:
- Education and Skills Act 2008
- Apprenticeship, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 - to assist, encourage and enable young people aged 13-19 (and young adults with a current EHC plan up to the age of 25) to participate in education or training
- Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2013 - this data sharing underpins school funding, educational attainment policy and monitoring and enables them to produce statistics, assess our performance, determine the destinations of young people after they have left school or college and to evaluate Government funded programmes
- Department for Education Statutory Guidance on the Participation of Young People in Education, Employment or Training September 2014
Consent
Where we do use consent to process your personal data, we will explain to you what we are asking you to agree to and why. If we have consent to use your personal data, you have the right to remove it at any time. If you want to remove your consent, please contact us at the following email address: childinfogovernance@surreycc.gov.uk and we will deal with your request.
Who we share this information with
We will only share your information with organisations where it is necessary, appropriate and legal to do so. Organisations we may share with include:
- the Department for Education (DfE) - on a statutory basis under section 3 of The Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2013
- Education settings - to provide support and training to children and young people and to reduce the risk of children and young people becoming NEET
- Youth Support Services and Training Providers – under section 507B of the Education Act 1996 and Part 2 Education and Skills Act 2008, to enable them to provide information regarding training and careers as part of the education or training of 13 to 19 year olds
- Other Local Authorities to comply with the Education and Skills Act 2008
- Ofsted (in the event of a local authority inspection of children's services)
- Partner organisations, where necessary, which may include health visitors, midwives, district councils, housing providers, Police, school nurses, doctors and mental health workers
- Teams within SCC working to improve outcomes for children and young people
Education and training
Surrey County Council holds information about young people living or attending education in our area, including about their education and training history. This is to support the provision of their education up to the age of 19 (and beyond this age for those with a current EHC plan). Under parts 1 and 2 of the Education and Skills Act 2008, education institutions and other public bodies (including the DfE, police, probation and health services) may pass information to us to help us to support these provisions.
Under section 77 of the above Act, Surrey County Council is permitted to share young people's information with those EFA/SFA funded post-16 providers who we have made arrangements with in Surrey, so that the providers can encourage, enable or assist the effective participation of those young people in education or training.
Pupils aged 16+
We will also share relevant information about pupils not in education, training or employment (such as their contact details) aged 16+ with the provider of youth support services as they have responsibilities in relation to the education or training of 13 to 19 year olds under section 507B of the Education Act 1996.
This enables them to provide the following services:
- post-16 education and training
- youth support services
- careers advice
For more information about services for young people, please visit your local authority website.
Retention of data
We hold children and young person's data until the end of year 15 (or aged 25 years for those with an EHC plan)
Data will be retained in accordance with the countywide data retention schedule.
Other information
As part of our statutory duty to identify children and young people at risk of NEET we carry out a regular profiling exercise to identify those who may be at risk of NEET. A Risk of NEET Indicator (RONI) is the tool used to identify learners at risk of becoming NEET.
The RONI pulls together information from several SCC data sources in order to help the relevant team identify young people who may be at risk of NEET. This automated process draws together an initial cohort of young people who may be at risk of NEET. The team then work with the relevant professionals within Surrey County Council and external to Surrey County Council, who are involved with those young people's care and education, to identify if those individuals identified through the RONI are at risk of NEET. If they are, then the appropriate support can be offered or put in place.
There is no automated decision making as the information relating to individuals who are identified by the RONI is then considered by professionals who determine whether they are or are not at risk of NEET.
Data collection requirements
Further information about the data collection requirements placed on us by the DfE can be found online.
The National Pupil Database (NPD)
The NPD is owned and managed by the DfE and contains information about pupils in schools in England. It provides invaluable evidence on educational performance to inform independent research, as well as studies commissioned by the DfE. 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.
The law requires us to provide information about our pupils to the DfE as part of statutory data collections. Some of this information is then stored in the NPD. The legislation that requires this is the Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2013.
Further information about the NPD can be found on their website.
The DfE may share information about our pupils 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 DfE 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 the 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 pupil 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.
Further information about the DfE's data sharing process and details of organisations with whom the DfE has provided pupil information, and for which project, can be found online.
For further information on our privacy notices, please see information and privacy.
