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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
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For emails and other written enquiries you will usually receive a reply
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personal information by reading our [4]Privacy Notice.

References

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2. https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
3. https://www.gov.uk/government/collection...
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4. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
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Dear Alison,
 
Thank you for your email of 15 February 2023 requesting information about
retention of records.  We have responded to your questions below.
 
1. How long do schools have to keep a child's records on their file before
they can destroy them if the child has moved to a different school?
 
The Department for Education (DfE) does not publish any specific retention
guidance relating to a child’s education record. A school or academy trust
is a data controller in its own right and is therefore entirely
responsible for determining any retention periods. Schools and academies
must comply with the UK GDPR.

In the first instance, if a pupil moves to another school, the school or
academy trust should transfer the pupil’s records to the new school. We
have published some guidance on this in the Sharing data with other
schools section of the [1]data protection in schools guidance.

The school or academy trust may determine that they need to retain some
information after the pupil has transferred. The school or academy trust
would determine this retention period and the business justification for
retaining the information.
 
2. How long does a school have to keep a child's records after they have
left that school due to finishing Year 11
 
A school or academy trust is a data controller in its own right and is
therefore entirely responsible for determining retention periods. We have
published some guidance on this in the data protection in schools
guidance.
 
3. Please advise who would hold a child's records if they left a school at
the end of Year 11 (in 2015) but since then, the school has converted to
an academy?
 
Even if the school has converted its status to an academy trust, it would
maintain the same records it held before converting to an academy within
the time limits set out by the organisations retention policy.
 
 
4. Please advise if a parent can obtain via SAR their child's school
file/records if they are aged over 13 but below 16 and they have parental
responsibility?
 
If the child is at a maintained school, the parent can request a copy of
the educational request in a process separate to a subject access request.
The Information Commissioner’s Office has more information
about [2]accessing pupils’ information. This includes guidance on making
requests for viewing a child’s educational record.
 
A Subject Access Request (SAR) gives an individual the right to access the
personal information held about them by an organisation. It is a child’s
right to access personal information held about them.  The [3]Information
Commissioner's Office (ICO) suggest a child can usually understand and
exercise their right of access by age 12. 
 
You may allow the parent or guardian to exercise the child's rights on
their behalf if the child authorises it or if it is evidenced as in the
best interests of the child. If a parent or guardian, or someone
authorised by the child, makes a SAR on the child’s behalf, the school or
trust should also take into account:

• any court orders relating to parental access or responsibility.
• any duty of confidence owed to the child or young person.
• any consequences of allowing those with parental responsibility or
those authorised to act on their behalf access to the child or young
person’s information.
• any detriment to the child or young person if individuals with
parental responsibility, or their authorised representatives, cannot
access this information; and
• any views the child or young person has on whether their parents,
guardians or authorised representatives should have access to
information about them.

The schools or academy would need to assess these types of requests on a
case-by-case basis, as well as considering other legislation which may be
relevant to their decision.

Responses to SARs should be made directly to children aged over 12, unless
they:

• do not have the maturity or competence to act independently.
• have a health condition that limits their understanding.
• give consent for a representative or someone with parental
responsibility to act on their behalf.

Where a child is either too young or has a health condition that limits
their understanding or mental capacity, a person with parental
responsibility for the child, can make a subject access request (SAR) on
their behalf.

You can find more information in the [4]right to access guidance on the
ICO website.
We have published some guidance on subject access requests  in the
Information rights requests relating to personal data section of the
[5]data protection in schools guidance.
 
We hope this answers your questions in full.
Kind regards,
Departmental Data Protection Office
Department for Education

References

Visible links
1. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/data-protect...
2. https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/sch...
3. https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/gui...
4. https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/gui...
5. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/data-protect...