Thank you for contacting the Department for Education.

Exam Results

If your enquiry is about 2021 exam results, we will endeavour to get a
response to you as soon as possible.

If your enquiry is related to exam appeals or priority appeals, we
recommend that students should discuss the appeals process with their
school or college in the first instance. JCQ have also published a student
guide to appeals which can be found here:
[1]https://www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/upload....
If a student wishes to appeal a VTQ result they should refer to the
guidance on their specific Awarding Organisation’s website.

Students can also contact the National Careers Service helpline for advice
and support regarding their results, including for advice on appeals, on
0800 100 900. 

Other enquiries

Thank you for contacting the Department for Education. If you are
contacting us about coronavirus (COVID-19) you can find advice and
guidance on [2]GOV.UK. This includes [3]guidance for educational settings
in England. You can also contact our coronavirus helpline on 0800 046
8687. Lines are open Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm and weekends 10am to
4pm.

For emails and other written enquiries you will usually receive a reply
within 15 working days. You can find out how the department processes your
personal information by reading our [4]Privacy Notice.

References

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2. https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
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Dear  Pippa King 

Thank you for your recent enquiry which was received on 2 September.

A reply will be sent to you as soon as possible. For information; the
departmental standard for correspondence received is that responses should
be sent within 20 working days as you are requesting information under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. Your correspondence has been allocated
reference number 2021-0039933.

Department for Education

Ministerial and Public Communications Division

Tel: 0370 000 2288

Web: [1]https://www.education.gov.uk
Twitter: [2]https://www.twitter.com/educationgovuk
Facebook: [3]https://www.facebook.com/educationgovuk

References

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1. https://www.education.gov.uk/
2. https://www.twitter.com/educationgovuk
3. https://www.facebook.com/educationgovuk

Dear Ms Pippa King

Thank you for your request for information, which was received on 02
September 2021. I have dealt with your request under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

You requested:
1) Please provide a list of educational establishments using facial
recognition for students 18 and under.
2) Please provide your advice to companies which are providers to schools
and schools/educational establishments wishing to use facial recognition
technology.
3) Please advise if you have been approached by any companies wishing to
supply facial recognition to schools and provide all communications you
have had with them, this includes all communications, i.e. minutes of
meetings, letters, emails, video calls, etc.
4) Please advise if your office has examined or have any details of
standards any facial recognition hardware and software to be used in
educational establishments.

As you are aware from the Department’s responses to your previous requests
for information ref: 2021-0033572 which we received on 02 July 2021,
2018-0046919 on 29 Nov 2018, and 2017-0051071 on 23 October 2017, schools
and colleges are autonomous and have the freedom to make their own
decisions on whether or not to make use of biometric technology. If a
school or college does choose to implement automated biometric recognition
systems the information must be managed in line and within the Protection
of Freedoms Act 2012 and the Data Protection Act 1998.

The department does not retain details of any educational establishment
that uses biometric systems. 

The department does not hold information relating to the use of facial, or
standards of, recognition technology in educational establishments and do
not know of any other department which might hold such information. Nor do
we provide advice to providers of such technology. The department's
publication [1]Protection of children's biometric information in
schools explains the legal duties schools and colleges have if they wish
to use biometric information about pupils.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled, you should
make a complaint to the Department by writing to me within two calendar
months of the date of this letter.  Your complaint will be considered by
an independent review panel, which were not involved in the original
consideration of your request. 

Yours sincerely
 
Richard Bunting
Teacher Regulation, School Safeguarding and Safety Team
 
 
 

References

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