Data Protection

Data Protection Legislation

Information on pupils, parent and guardians is stored on a computer system and may be used for teaching, registration, assessment and other administrative duties.  The information is protected by data protection legislation and may only be disclosed in accordance with the codes of practice. 

Transferring Educational data about pupils

The Scottish Government and its partners collect and use information about pupils through the Pupil Census to help to improve education across Scotland. This note explains why we need this information, how we use it and what we do to protect the information supplied to us. Further information can be obtained from http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/ScotXed. 

Data about pupil preferred routes, preferred occupations and anticipated school leaving date is also collected from S3/S4 to support planning for leaving school.  This information is shared with Skills Development Scotland.  Further information about 16+ Data can be found here:

https://hi-hope.org/directory/listing/16plus-planning

Data policy

Information about pupils’ education is collected through our statistical surveys in partnership between the Scottish Government and Local Authorities through the ScotXed Programme which aims to help schools and Local Authorities by supporting efficient collection, processing and dissemination of statistical information.  The Scottish Government then provides analysis of the data to support research, planning, management and monitoring of education services as well as to produce National Statistics publications.

Education data within Scottish Government is managed effectively by secure systems and is exploited as a valuable corporate resource, subject to confidentiality restraints.  As part of its data policy, Scottish Government will not publish or make publicly available any information that allows individual pupils to be identified, nor will data be used by Scottish Government to take any actions in respect of individuals. Data is held securely and no information on individual pupils can or would be made publicly available by Scottish Government. 

The individual data collected by Scottish Government through the Pupil Census is used for statistical and research purposes only. 

Information on why we collect data about pupils and who we share this data with can be found in Highland Council’s Privacy Notice which is available here:  https://www.highland.gov.uk/directory_record/1095920/enrol_your_child_at_a_school

Why do we need your data?

In order to make the best decisions about how to improve our education service, Scottish Government, education authorities and other partners such as the SQA and Skills Development Scotland need accurate, up-to-date data about our pupils.   We are keen to help all our pupils do well in all aspects of school life and achieve better examination results.  Accurate and up-to-date data allows us to:

·        Plan and deliver better policies for the benefit of all pupils.

·        Plan and deliver better policies for the benefit of specific groups of pupils.

·        Better understand some of the factors which influence pupil attainment and achievement.

·        Share good practice.

·        Target resources better.

·        Enhance the quality of research to improve the lives of young people in Scotland.

Your data protection rights

The collection, transfer, processing and sharing of ScotXed data is done in accordance with data protection legislation. We also comply with the National Statistics Code of Practice requirements and other legislation related to safeguarding the confidentiality of data. Data protection legislation gives you the right to know how we will use your data.  This note can give only a brief description of how we use data.  Fuller details of each individual ScotXed survey, including the purpose of each and the published data, can be found on the ScotXed website  http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/ScotXed/SchoolEducation

Scottish Government works with a range of partners including Education Scotland, Skills Development Scotland and the SQA. On occasion, in order to help meet our aim of improving the life of young people in Scotland, we may make individual data available to partners such as the National Registers of Scotland to carry out research relating to the national population census and also academic institutions and organisations to carry out additional research and statistical analysis to meet their own official responsibilities. Any sharing of data will be done under the strict control of Scottish Government, and will be consistent with our data policy. This will ensure that no individual level data will be made public as a result of the data sharing and that these data will not be used to take any actions in respect of an individual. Decisions on the sharing of data will be taken in consultation with relevant colleagues and individuals within and outwith Scottish Government. At all times pupils’ rights under the Data Protection Act and other relevant legislation will be ensured.

Concerns

If you have any concerns about the ScotXed data collections you can email the Head of Schools Analysis at ScotXed@scotland.gsi.gov.uk or write to The ScotXed Support Office, Area 2D, Victoria Quay, Leith, EH6 6QQ. Alternative versions of this page are available, on request from the ScotXed Support Office, in other languages, audio tape, Braille and large print.