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School Research Requests

Introduction

This section of the website provides information for researchers (internal and external) looking to conduct research within East Lothian Council (ELC) schools and settings. The sections below advise on:

Priorities - the areas of focus and interest for ELC Education Department
Process - what is required to make a request and how requests are considered
Ethics and Consent - the legislative and ethical context and requirements

Whilst we wish to support research being carried in our priority areas (outlined below), we also need to be mindful of the number of requests we receive. We need to consider the potential impact on teaching and learning within our schools and the wellbeing of our children, young people and staff. Children and young people are in school to learn and we would ask that you also consider alternative spaces where research could be carried out.

Researchers - Internal & External

If you are an internal researcher (ELC member of staff or student on placement within ELC) and you are looking to conduct research that is part of everyday practice in the school or setting in which you are based a submission to the research panel is not required. However, approval must be sought directly from the head of establishment. This also holds if you are a university student on placement within ELC and the research, to be carried out in the placement school/setting, is part of your undergraduate programme whilst on placement in ELC.

Requests to the Research Panel are required if:

You are employed by ELC and are looking to carry out research in a school or setting in which you are not employed.
You are employed by ELC or on placement in ELC and undertaking doctoral studies.
You are an external researcher.

ELC Priorities

All requests will be considered in the context of the priority areas within Education. These come from our Council Plan and Education Service Improvement Plan.

They are as follows:

Learning and Teaching
Raising Attainment (particularly for those affected by poverty, who are care experienced, or have ASN)
Early Intervention
Inclusive Practice (building capacity at the universal level)
GIRFEC
UNCRC
Trauma Informed Practice

However, please note that alignment with these priorities and ethical approval does not ensure consent will be provided.

Process

Before making a request to the Research Panel please note:

The decision to grant approval for research to be carried out within ELC schools and settings sits with the Education Department. There is no legislative or policy based requirement for research to be agreed. The decision of the Research Panel is final and there is no process of appeal.
Individual schools and settings should not be approached by external researchers regarding potential research projects until an application has been completed and approval granted.
Whilst the panel can approve research to be conducted within ELC, the final decision sits with the head of establishment for individual schools and settings.
Successful applicants will be required to meet the appropriate Disclosure Scotland PVG Scheme criteria ELC PVG. If you are an ELC employee and have a current PVG with ELC this will suffice, but you will be required to confirm this with the Council's Disclosure Team. External researchers involved in unsupervised contact with children and young people require an ELC PVG.
Successful applicants will be required to adhere to GDPR requirements, including the ELC rules on consent (outlined below).

Research Panel

The Research Panel is managed by the Educational Psychology Service. It is chaired by the Principal Educational Psychologist and comprises members of the Education Department and wider council, reflecting the content of the agenda.

Panel Dates and Deadlines

The Panel sits at regular intervals throughout the year. Please see below for the dates and submission deadlines.

28 August 2025 (deadline for papers 14th August 2025)
30th October 2025 (deadline for papers 16th October 2025)
18th December 2025 (deadline for papers 4th December 2025)
1 2th February 2026 (deadline for papers 29th January 2026)
30th April 2026 (deadline for papers 16th April 2026)
18th June 2026 (deadline for papers 4th June 2026)

Research Request Form

If you would like to submit a request to carry out research in our schools and settings please read this page of the website and download and complete the form below.

ELC Education Research Request Form August 2025 FINAL.docx

All completed forms and accompanying documentation should be sent to educationalpsychologyservice@eastlothian.gov.uk

ELC Rules of Consent.docx

Ethics & Consent

Research submissions will not be accepted until ethical approval has been obtained from the relevant organisation's/university's ethics committee. Approval received from your organisation/university does not guarantee approval from the Education Department to carry out research.

For specifics around ELC requirements on consent please refer to the document on the left.

Privacy Notice

Section 1: Our contact details

Your personal information is being collected by:

East Lothian Council

Educational Psychology Service

John Muir House

Haddington

EH41 3HA

01620 827827

Data Controller

East Lothian Council

John Muir House

Haddington

EH41 3HA

Data Protection Officer

East Lothian Council

John Muir House

Haddington

EH41 3HA

Telephone: 01620 827827

Email: dpo@eastlothian.gov.uk

Section 2: Why we need your personal information

It will be used by the Educational Psychology Service in order to process your request to conduct research in East Lothian Council schools and settings and manage our records.

To fulfil your request for approval to conduct research in East Lothian Council schools and settings

East Lothian Council is legally required to protect the public funds it administers. For this reason, your information may also be used to prevent and detect fraud, and we may share your information with other organisations responsible for auditing and administering public funds. For more information, please visit: http://www.eastlothian.gov.uk/privacy

Section 3: Legal Information

In order for us to collect and use your information, we have to have a 'legal basis' for doing so. The legal basis for processing your personal information is:

To fulfil your request for approval to conduct research in East Lothian Council schools and settings

The personal information we collect includes:

name
contact number
email address
workplace information - name of your organisation & address

Section 4: Sharing and transfer

We will be sharing your personal information with :

other internal Education Staff who are invited onto the panel, dependent on the nature of the research request.

Your personal information will not be transferred outside of the EU.

Section 5: How long will we keep your personal information?

We keep your personal data in line with our data retention policy, called a Retention Schedule. For a downloadable copy of the Council's Retention Schedule, please visit our website at www.eastlothian.gov.uk and search for 'Retention Schedule'.

Section 6: Your rights

You have the right to be informed about how your information will be used.
You have the right to access your personal information - normally this is done by placing a Subject Access Request with the council - read more about placing Subject Access Requests
you have the right to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information
in certain circumstances, you have the right to have your personal information erased
in certain circumstances, you have the right to ask us to limit the ways we use or share your information
in certain circumstances, you have the right to ask us to move, copy or transfer your information to another organisation in an electronic format
in certain circumstances, you have the right to object to the ways we process your information
in circumstances where your data is processed automatically, without human intervention, you have the right to certain protections

You can find more information about data protection and your rights on the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) website at https://www.ico.org.uk.

Section 7: Complaints

We take your privacy seriously, and would like to know about your concerns so that we can address them as soon as possible. If you wish to make a complaint, we recommend that you contact the Council's Data Protection Officer using the contact details at the start of this Privacy Notice.

If we are unable to resolve the issue to your satisfaction, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). You can find further information about raising a concern with the ICO on their website: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/.

You can contact the ICO by post at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113 / 01625 545 745

Section 8: Information about other people

If you have provided anyone else’s personal information, please make sure that you have told them that you have given their information to East Lothian Council. We will only use this information to:

to fulfil your requests for services or information
for administration purposes
to comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal process or government request

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