The national pupil data-
base
Data request application form
Introduction
National pupil database data
This application form should be used for requesting extracts of data from the National Pupil Data-
base (NPD). Before making an application, please make sure that you have read all the accompa-
nying information on the
GOV.UK NPD webpages including the
NPD User Guide.
Please note that we will
NOT consider applications for data more than three months in advance of
the NPD data being required by the “Requester” or applications for the NPD data more than three
months in advance of its release on the NPD (see ‘Timetables’ worksheet in
NPD Data Tables).
Additionally, only forms that are
completed in full will be considered so please ensure every ques-
tion is answered in full in order to avoid unnecessary delays.
This form and the
Information Security Questionnaire should be filled in electronically and
emailed back to the NPD Data Request team
(xxx.xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xxx.xx).
Linked data
If you are applying for Linked data you need to apply using a different form which can be found on
the
GOV.UK NPD webpages.
Linked data is any combination of the following:
• NPD data linked to Individualised Learner Record (ILR) data;
• NPD data linked to Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data;
• NPD data linked to ILR and HESA data; or
• ILR data linked to HESA data.
Who can request access to the data?
There is specific legislation which allows the Department for Education (DfE) to share individual
pupil data with persons named in the
Education (Individual Pupil Information) (Prescribed
Persons) (England) Regulations 2009. This includes schools, local authorities and some
named agencies. These regulations also allow the department to disclose individual pupil data to
persons who, for the purpose of promoting the education or well-being of children in England are
conducting research or analysis, producing statistics, or providing information, advice or guidance.
To be granted access to extracts of the NPD requesters must comply with strict terms and condi-
tions covering the confidentiality and handling of data, security arrangements, and retention and
2
use of the data. They will have to demonstrate that they comply with all relevant requirements of
the
Data Protection Act 1998, including that they:
• Are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office to process personal data or fall
within an exemption;
• Have appropriate security arrangements in place to process the data (by completing the In-
formation Security Questionnaire);
• Intend to use the data only for the specified purpose in their request;
• Will keep the data only for the specified length of time;
• Will not further disclose, publish or pass on the data without the prior written approval of the
Department for Education.
Requesters will need to sign an agreement to confirm this.
Any reports, papers, statistical tables, or other products published or released, must fully protect
the identity of individuals.
Processing of NPD data request applications
When you make a request for NPD data it will be considered for approval by the Data Requests
team with the exception of tier 1 data requests which will be assessed by the department’s Data
Management Advisory Panel. The Data Requests team will inform you of the outcome of the deci-
sion.
Where it is agreed to provide you with data, you will be provided with a
Schedule to the agree-
ment for the supply of NPD data, which you will be required to sign and return. By signing this
you will be agreeing to the terms and conditions set out in the
Agreement for the supply of NPD
data. Alongside this, an
NPD individual declaration form will need to be signed and returned for
each permitted user.
Please keep a copy of all the documents, including completed forms, for your own records.
Publication of details of requests
DfE has a policy of publishing details of all requests it receives for NPD data on the
GOV.UK NPD
webpages. The information published will include the following:
• Name of the requesting organisation;
• A summary of the aims of the project or research being carried out;
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• Tier of data requested (recorded from 1 August 2012 onwards)
• Whether or not it is a Linked Data request; and
• Details of the outcome of the application.
For the avoidance of doubt, no personal data will be published by the DfE.
4
5
Application Form
1
Contact details
Contact Name (only one contact name to be provided)
E-mail Address
Please tick here if you do not want your E-mail Address to be shared with the
Pupil Level User Group (PLUG) or
carefully selected third parties (for the purposes of promoting research relating to education and child wellbeing).
☑
Telephone
Name of organisation (including Department)
Behavioural Insights Team, Research Team
Position in organisation
If you are a student, please specify your supervising tutor and their telephone number and e-mail address
Not applicable
Name of organisation (or person) who will be entering into the Agreement for the supply of NPD data (the “Re-
quester”)
The “Requester” will be the organisation (or person) who will be entering into the Agreement for the supply of data and to
whom it will be agreed to supply the NPD data under this agreement.
Behavioural Insights Team
Address of Requester (including postcode)
6
Name of organisation (or person) who will be responsible for processing the data (the “Processor”)
(only required if different from “Requester” organisation (or person) above)
The “Processor” will be any organisation (or person) other than an employee of the “Requester” who will be processing the
data on behalf of the “Requester”.
Address at which the data will be processed (only required if different from “Requester” address above)
2
Details of DfE involvement
a
Have you discussed your request in advance with DfE? (Please insert X if ‘No’)
Yes – provide details of the member(s) of staff who
when we originally submitted the application
have assisted you.
in May 2016.
No
b
Has the project or research been sponsored / commissioned by DfE? (Please insert X if ‘No’)
Yes, by the DfE Children Social Care Innovation Fund lead by
Yes - provide details of the DfE project sponsor(s) and
from Children’s Social Care Analysis & Research
their involvement in the project or research.
Team
No
c
Has the project or research been sponsored / commissioned by another organisation? (Please insert X if ‘No’)
Yes - provide details of the project sponsor(s), their or-
ganisation and their involvement in the project or re-
search.
No
X
7
8
3
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) Registration
ICO Registration Number or Exemption Ground
a
It is mandatory to provide a registration number unless you have a valid exemption.
ZA038649
ICO Registration Expiry Date
b
It is mandatory to provide this where an ICO Registration Number has been provided above. Where your ICO Regis-
tration is due to expire within the next 3 months, please give details of what plans you have to renew this.
Our registration expires on 28/01/17
4
Previous applications to use or access NPD data
Do you (or your organisation) currently have access to NPD or Linked Data? (Please insert X if ‘No’)
a
To add an additional row to the table below, click to the right of the bottom row in the table and press ‘
Enter’.
DR Reference
NPD/Linked Name of contact (respon-
Summary of data provided
request
sible for submitting re-
Yes - provide details (as
quest)
shown) of previous appli-
cations.
No
X
b Are you requesting approval to reuse any of the NPD data you have previously been granted access to as part
of this request? (Please insert X if ‘No / Not applicable’)
Yes - provide full details of what NPD data you wish
to re-use (including the DR Reference(s) under
which you were granted access to the data).
No / Not applicable
X
c Are you requesting any additional NPD data to that you currently have access to? (Please insert X where rele-
vant)
9
Yes – Please insert an X and go on to
section 5
(Enquiry details).
X
No – Please insert an X and move straight onto
sec-
tion 6 (Intended use of NPD data).
5
Enquiry details
a
Specify the level(s) of data you require (Please insert an X for any that apply)
Pupil level data
X
School level data
NPD - Specify which datasets, academic years and versions are required along with any specific require-
b
ments relating to data linking and coverage.
Please refer to the
NPD user guide and
NPD data tables for what is available from NPD.
Examples:
1.
Autumn School Census 2013/14 for Year 7 pupils linked to their prior KS2 attainment
2.
KS4 Candidate, Indicators and Exam level files 2008/09-2012/13 linked to Spring Census for corresponding year
3. For a list of pupils which we will provide (as outlined in section 5d below): KS4 Candidate/Indicators 2007/08
linked to Spring School Census 2007/08
1. Absence data for terms between September 2015-July 2016 (the entire academic year), by pupil, for a list of pupils
which we will provide (as outlined in section 5d below).
2. 2015/2016 attainment data for the same selected cohort of pupils. This group will include students of different age
groups, so for some we will be looking at Key Stage results whereas for others at Early Years Foundation Stage results.
Specify which Tier 1 and/or Tier 2 NPD fields are required, explaining on a field by field basis why each item
is required and why the same research outcome cannot be achieved by using less sensitive or disclosive
c
data.
Please refer to the
NPD user guide and
NPD data tables for further details of what Tier 1 and Tier 2 fields are avail-
able.
To add an additional row to the table below, click to the right of the bottom row in the table and press ‘
Enter’.
Data item
Tier (1 or 2) Reason data item required
10
Personal data required as we would need to match it to social
care data from Cheshire East Council using name and address
(these would be provided to DfE as part of this application to
identify the cohort of children whose data we would request to
AuthorisedAbsence_Autumn_ab[2015]
1
access). Absenteeism rates are an outcome measure for an
evaluation of a children social care programme. We need data
for the school year 2015/2016. We need term rather than
yearly data, to ensure more power in our impact analysis.
AuthorisedAbsence_Spring_ab[2016]
1
As above
AuthorisedAbsence_Summer_ab[2016]
1
As above
UnauthorisedAbsence_Autumn_ab[2015]
1
As above
UnauthorisedAbsence_Spring_ab[2016]
1
As above
UnauthorisedAbsence_Summer_ab[2016]
1
As above
OverallAbsence_Autumn_ab[2015]
1
As above
OverallAbsence_Spring_ab[2016]
1
As above
OverallAbsence_Summer_ab[2016]
1
As above
SessionsPossible_Autumn_ab[2015]
1
As above
SessionsPossible_Spring_ab[2016]
1
As above
SessionsPossible_Summer_ab[2016]
1
As above
PersistentAbsen-
tee_5HalfTerms_aab[2015/16]
1
As above
TermlyReasonI_Autumn_ab[2015]
1
As above
TermlyReasonI_Spring_ab[2016]
1
As above
TermlyReasonI_Summer_ab[2016]
1
As above
Personal data required as we would need to match it to social
care data from Cheshire East Council using name and address
(these would be provided to DfE as part of this application to
identify the cohort of children whose data we would request to
FSP_PSE_TOTAL [2015-16]
1
access). Attainment data is another outcome measure of the
evaluation. The cohort of children will be between the ages of
3-18 and thus different measures of attainment, for the rele-
vant tests at different ages, are being sought.
FSP_EYFSP_TOTAL [2015-16]
1
As above
PHONICS_PHONICS_MARK [2015-16]
1
As above
PHONICS_PHONICS_OUTCOME [2015-
16]
1
As above
KS1_APSRWM [2015-16]
1
As above
11
KS1_MATHS –[2015-16]
1
As above
KS1_READWRIT [2015-2016]
1
As above
KS2_APS [2015-16]
1
As above
KS2_ENGLEVTA
KS2_MATTALEV
KS3_ENGTALEV [2015-16]
1
As above
KS3_MATTALEV [2015-16]
1
As above
KS4_INCLUDE [2015-16]
1
As above
KS4_LEVEL2_EM_PTQ_EE
1
As above
KS4_LEVEL1_EM_PTQ_EE
1
As above
KS4_VAPTSC_PTQ_EE
1
As above
KS5_POINTS [2015-16]
1
As above
d
Do you require the NPD data you are requesting be matched with any other personal data you hold? (Please
insert X if ‘No’)
Yes, we propose to provide personal level data that would in-
clude the first name, last name and address of the cohort of
children we are requesting NPD data for. These are CIN from
Yes - Please give details of the personal data you hold
Cheshire East Council, so the Council may be able to provide
and propose to match to the NPD data. Additionally,
further data as held by their children services software (Liquid
please signify whether (and if so when) you will be able to Logic) to identify these individuals to enable matching.
provide any data to the department to enable us to match We are also keen to investigate whether the NPD matching
the data you hold to the NPD data, or whether you intend could be done by DfE if we provided the CIN code used by the
to match the data yourself.
Council, which would decrease the sensitivity of this data.
The data would be provided in October 2016 or after this date.
We would request to receive data as soon as possible.
No
6 Intended use of NPD data
a What are the aims of your project or research? Is there a specific question you are seeking to answer?
12
BIT is working with the Department for Education, Cheshire East Council, and Catch22 to evaluate the impact of the
Catch22 model of social care services on the outcomes of “low risk” children in need in Crewe.
The evaluation of Project Crewe is centered around a randomised control trial (RCT), which will run from August
2015, finishing in either March or July 2016 (to be confirmed with Catch22). Over this time, we expect that around
240-280 cases will be eligible for the trial, around half of these being allocated to the Catch 22 model. The other half
will be allocated to the Cheshire East Council (CE) BAU social care model. The RCT will be cluster-randomised to
ensure that all children within a family are allocated to the same service.
Three of the outcomes of interest are absence rates at school, re-referral rates and attainment. These will be com-
pared for children supported by CE Council and by Catch22.
Why do you need the NPD data requested to complete the aims of your project or research? You must
ensure you specify whether you are conducting research or analysis, producing statistics or providing
b information, advice or guidance and how this work will promote the education or well-being of children
in England.
The NPD data will enable the evaluation of the innovative model of social care for CIN provided by Catch22. These
findings will feed into the research funded by the DfE children social care innovation fund aimed at evaluating what
works in children social care. We feel this aligns us persons named in the Education (Individual Pupil Information)
(Prescribed Persons) (England) Regulations 2009 (Amended) as persons who, for the purpose of promoting the
education or well-being of children in England are conducting research or analysis.
For processing of personal data, you must inform us of the condition(s) for processing on which you
intend to rely on from Schedule 2 of the DPA. Where you also intend to process sensitive personal
data, you must also inform us of the condition(s) for processing on which you intend to rely on from
Schedule 3 of the DPA.
Please note: If you require the NPD data you are requesting be matched with any personal data you
hold (section 5d), you must specifically reference how the condition(s) for processing on which you in-
tend to rely extend to cover this.
c
The Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998 requires that data controllers have a fair and lawful basis for processing
personal data. As existing controller of the data, DfE require an understanding of the basis on which the re-
quester considers their processing will be fair and lawful. Part of that includes the requester explaining the con-
dition(s) for processing on which they intend to rely. For the purposes of the NPD data process, sensitive per-
sonal data is personal data consisting of information as to the racial or ethnic origin of the data subject, or their
physical or mental health or condition.
13
In line with Schedule 2 of the DPA, we believe our research meets the initial criteria 1.
Condition 1 of processing personal data in Schedule 2 of the DPA is that the data subject has given his consent
to processing. A valid and common interpretation is that this includes passive (opt-out) consent, because the consent
does not need to be ‘explicit’. Opt-out individual consent has been gained in the form of a letter to parents at the begin-
ning of the trial before randomisation.
The guardians and parents of the subjects (minors), about whom we are accessing the data, have been informed about
the project; of our request to access their child’s data and the purposes of it. They have each had the opportunity to pro-
vide opt-out consent to us accessing the data.
We believe the data we are requesting does not fall under 'sensitive' DPA (Part 1, Section 2) as we are not requiring eth-
nicity (a) or disability status (e). Therefore we feel our request falls under Schedule 2 Condition 1.
We are requesting NPD absenteeism and attainment data to be matched with DOB, name and address of the CIN in the
study. We feel the nature of the study catergorises as being for the exercise of any other functions of a public nature exer-
cised in the public interest by any person, as it is for the measurement of an innovative social care model which may lead to im-
proved outcomes for young people and families.
To summarise, we feel we meet at least one condition is schedule 2 of the Data Protection Act which therefore qualifies us
to process data fairly and lawfully.
Furthermore, BIT has signed a framework agreement with DfE, titled “Framework Agreement: evaluation of the children’s
social care innovation programme”, under which the contract to carry out this research was awarded. The obligations that
we will be complying to are set out in section 9, on "data protection". In terms of what actions we will be taking to comply
with this agreement, BIT will ensure that:
• Any Personal Data will be transferred using password protected files;
• The Data will only be accessed by:
;
• All BIT analysts working on this project will have a cleared Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check in place;
• Unauthorised staff and other individuals will be prevented from gaining access to the Data provided;
• Data security risk assessments are performed for all data systems on a regular basis in order to identify
key data risks and determine the actions required to keep those risks within acceptable limits;
• All the Data is kept secure, not only from unauthorised access, but from fire and other hazards;
• All computer systems and other data storage devices that contain personal or sensitive personal data are pass-
word protected;
• All datasets and do-files, for STATA or any other statistical software package, are stored on an encrypted, regu-
larly backed up, team hard-drive;
• All members of staff adhere to these procedures and standards;
• Sufficient training is provided to all staff members to ensure they understand the importance of data security and,
in particular, exercise appropriate care when handling personal and sensitive information;
• Any and all breaches and foreseeable risks to data security will be reported to the Local Authority immediately;
• The local authority originally supplying the data will be notified immediately of any breach of confidentiality or inci-
dent involving a risk or breach of the security of the Data. Full details of the breach and action taken to remedy
the breach will be forwarded to the key contact person within the local authority; and
• Failure to adhere to this above procedures and standards by any individual BIT staff member may lead to action
under BIT’s formal Disciplinary Procedure.
d Who is the intended audience?
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DfE and Catch22; we will also apply to academic journals for the publication of the report.
e If the data is to be published or reproduced (where agreed disclosure control measures (see section j
below) have been applied) what format will this be in? (Please insert an X for all that apply)
Academic research paper
X
Internal publication or report
X
Commercial publication for which no charge will be made
Commercial publication for which a charge will be made
Website general access
Website with restricted access for which no charge will be
made
Website with restricted access for which a charge will be
made
Other (please give details)
DfE has a policy of publishing details of all requests it receives for NPD data on the GOV.UK NPD
f
webpages, including a summary of the aims of the project or research being carried out. Please sum-
marise your responses to 6a and 6b above (in no more than 150 words) for inclusion in this publication.
BIT is working with the Department for Education, Cheshire East Council, and Catch22 to evaluate the impact of the
Catch22 model of social care services on the outcomes of children in need. The innovations of this programme in-
clude delivery of care by non-social work qualified family practitioners trained in solution focused therapy, who are
organised in teams for knowledge sharing. The evaluation of Project Crewe is centered on a randomised control
trial (RCT).
15
Details of all individuals who you propose to have access to the NPD data extracts including their
name, job title, organisation and why it is necessary for them to have access. Individuals only seeing
the aggregated results of any analysis (where agreed disclosure control measures (see section j be-
low) have been applied) do not need to be listed.
g Please note that for all NPD data requests which include Tier 1 or Tier 2 NPD fields, a valid ‘basic disclosure’
certificate is required for each individual listed. This can be requested online from the
Disclosure Scotland website (you don’t have to be from Scotland to do this). Each individual listed will be required to sign and return
an
individual declaration and a valid ‘basic disclosure’ certificate upon approval of a request.
To add an additional row to the table below, click to the right of the bottom row in the table and press ‘
Enter’.
Name
Job Title
Organisation
Reason for access to NPD data
Behavioural Insights Team
Analysis of data
Behavioural Insights Team
Quality assurance of analysis of data
Where the individuals listed in “g” are from a different organisation to the “Requester” organisation, is
there a contract in writing between the “Requester” organisation and the “Processor” organisation(s)
and does this cover data protection and information security arrangements? (Please insert X if ‘Not appli-
h cable’)
All organisations responsible for processing the NPD data will be required to a complete the
Information Secu-
rity Questionnaire.
Yes - Provide a summary of the contractual relationship and
the data protection and information security arrangements in
place.
No - Explain why no written contract is required and provide
us with a summary of the data protection and information se-
curity arrangements in place?
Not applicable - No additional organisations are listed in “g”.
When will you commence using the NPD data? How long are you seeking to retain the NPD data for?
Why is this period necessary?
i
Please note: The maximum licence period we permit is 3 years. Should you wish to retain the data for a longer
period, you can apply for an extension at the earliest a period of 3 months before the Licence End Date and this
may be extended at the discretion of the Disclosing Parties.
We would request access in October 2016 and would retain data for up to 3 years.
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j
Are you proposing to use the Standard Disclosure Control as set out in the NPD User Guide? (Please
insert X if ‘Yes’)
Yes
X
No - How will you ensure that the confidentiality of individuals
is preserved in any outputs arising from your use of the NPD
data?
7
Format of NPD data extracts
What is your preferred file format for any NPD data extracts that you may receive? (Please insert X against your
a
preference)
SPSS
Tab-delimited text file
X
SQL database
Which decryption / zip tool will you be using for any NPD data extracts you may receive? (e.g. WinZip, 7-zip)
b
Please be aware that any NPD data extracts that are provided will be encrypted and zipped using WinZip in a
.zipx file format. If this will be an issue then specify whether
.zip would be a suitable alternative.
We would use a trial version of WinZip
Name and e-mail address of individual responsible for picking up NPD data extracts (Must be a named individ-
ual in section 6g)
c
Please be aware that once any NPD data extracts are created, they are uploaded to DfE’s secure web transfer system
where individuals are then set up with the relevant permissions to gain access to these extracts.
17
© Crown copyright 2015
This publication (not including logos) is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence
v3.0 except where otherwise stated. Where we have identified any third party copyright infor-
mation you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
To view this licence:
visit
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3
email
xxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xxx.xx
write to
Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London, TW9 4DU
Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at NPD.REQUESTS@educa-
tion.gsi.gov.uk
This document is also available from our GOV.UK NPD webpages
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