Student Application Privacy Notice

Who is collecting the information?

Edinburgh College is the Data Controller. We have an appointed Data Protection Officer (DPO), who can be contacted by emailing: DataProtection@edinburghcollege.ac.uk.

Why are we collecting it, and what are we doing with it (Purpose)?

We collect your personal data for the following purposes:

To process your application to study one of our courses

This will include reviewing your application to see if you have met the entry criteria for a course and, where appropriate, offering a place on an Edinburgh College course (some courses will require you to attend an interview).

When you accept an offer of a place on an Edinburgh College course, we will use your information to provide you with a timetable, provide you with other essential information required to begin your studies, and invite you to a registration event.

If your course requires a Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) check, we will use the information you have supplied to arrange it directly with you.

To review your student funding and childcare funding eligibility

When you have been offered a place on an Edinburgh College course, if you choose to apply for funding, the college’s Student Funding Team will review your course and funding applications, and use the information provided about your education, location and personal circumstances to consider whether you are eligible for student funding support.

When you accept an offer of a place on a Further Education (FE) course at Edinburgh College, you will have the opportunity to apply for student funding on the EMA/Bursary and Childcare funding sections of the application website. If you choose to apply for funding, you will receive an email asking you for documentary evidence to support your application. This email will give you instructions on how to supply this and what will happen next. (Please note childcare funding can only be awarded for registered childcare costs whilst you are attending classes).

If you accept a place on a Higher Education (HE) course, you will have the opportunity to apply for childcare funding on the funding application website. If you choose to apply for funding, you will receive an email asking you for documentary evidence to support your application. This email will give you instructions on how to supply this and what will happen next. (Please note childcare funding can only be awarded for registered childcare costs whilst you are attending classes).

To arrange payment of course fees

If you or your employer is paying for your course of study, the college will contact you separately to request further information, including bank details (for example).

Suppose you are eligible for a fee waiver and have been offered a place on an Edinburgh College course. In that case, the college will collect further information and evidence from you separately – this will either be through the course application system or directly from you.

If you have applied for an Individual Training Account to part-pay your course fees, you will be asked to provide the college with proof of income in the form of a P60 or your last three months’ payslips.

To review any additional support needs you may have

This application form allows you to tell the college about any additional support needs you may have. The Learning Support Team contacts applicants who indicate an additional support need to provide them with information about learning support at college. This information is not used in any selection or allocation process.

To analyse student applications for business, planning and equal opportunities purposes

The college analyses student applications, including by key protected characteristic groups (age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, gender, and sexual orientation), to plan and improve its services and curriculum offering. Analysing applications by key protected characteristic groups is part of the college’s responsibilities under the Public Sector Equality Duty, as set out in the Equality Act 2010. This information (where you choose to supply it) will not be used in any selection or allocation process.

To keep in touch with you about wider college activities (for marketing purposes)

The college will provide the essential information you need to begin your course. However, the college would also like to keep in touch with you, before you start your course, about wider events and activities across the college beyond your course of study – we will always ask for your consent to send you this additional information. If you consent, you can withdraw this at any time by emailing Marketing@edinburghcollege.ac.uk.

To meet our responsibilities in relation to your school, local authority, and Skills Development Scotland

If you are a “school leaver” (you are due to leave school and are applying for a college place whilst still at school), we will share basic information about the status of your application with Skills Development Scotland and, in some instances, with school guidance teachers. This will be limited to the status/progress of your application.

If you have been referred to the college by a local authority or a local authority support service, we will share basic information about the status of your application with that local authority or support service. This will be limited to the status/progress of your application.

We will share your personal data with other third parties (for example, a parent or guardian if you are 16 or over) only with your consent.

The college is required to provide certain information on “young people” (individuals aged 15 to 25) to Skills Development Scotland (SDS), to enable SDS to a). monitor that young person’s involvement in education or training; b) provide advice or support concerning that young person’s training. This is explained in our information-sharing section below.

What personal data do we collect?

Personal data

Name, primary and term address, telephone number, email address
Date of birth
Nationality
Next of kin and emergency contact details
Method of course payment (if applicable)
National Insurance Number (Modern Apprentices; ESF-funded students; ITA-funded students only)
Previous education (including Scottish Candidate Number), qualifications and employment history
Employment status (e.g. jobseeker) and history
Skills and experience (personal statement)
UK Visa status
Your IP Address (your unique online identifier when browsing the internet)
Method of payment
If you are a carer or have caring responsibilities
Care experienced/looked after background status (if applicable)
First/preferred language
Residency information/date & reason of entry to the UK/EU
Veteran status

Special category data (only where you provide this, or it is required by law*)

Gender (and gender identity)
Sexual orientation
Religion or religious denomination
Ethnicity
Disability and health data (including mental health)
Pregnancy and maternity information
Special interest group status (e.g. asylum seeker; refugee; stateless person; person with profound or complex needs)
*Offences and alleged offences (for PVG checks where required)
*Criminal proceedings, outcomes and sentences (for PVG checks where required)

How are we collecting this information? What is the source?

We collect this information directly from you through the college’s application form (or directly from you, after you have submitted your application, in the circumstances explained below):

If your course of study requires you to undergo a PVG check, we will collect further details directly from you after you submit your application.

If you apply for student funding, we will use information from your application (name, date of birth, gender, address, and course details) and collect additional information from you through the Student Funding Application Form – we will explain how we use that information in a separate privacy notice provided to you at that time.

Where we need further information regarding the payment of your course fees or your exemption from paying them, we will collect this information from you separately. (Please note, fee-waiver evidence will be collected through the college’s application form for specific courses.)

Suppose you enrol on an Edinburgh College course. In that case, we will confirm the information you have provided via our self-enrolment form (you will be provided with a link to our enrolled students’ privacy notice at that point).

The lawful basis for the processing

For processing of your personal data to process your application, the lawful basis is GDPR Article 6(1)(e) “processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller”. The specific law authorising this is the Post-16 Education (Scotland) Act 2013.

Where your special category personal data are processed, the lawful basis is GDPR Article 9(2)(g) “processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest, based on Union or Member State law which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued, respect the essence of the right to data protection and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject”.

Where the college processes your special category data specifically to provide learning support, the relevant law is the Post-16 Education (Scotland) Act 2013.

Where applicants’ special category demographic information (gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity) is processed for analysis to advance equality of opportunity and treatment for all student groups, the specific law authorising this is the Equality Act 2010 (but only where you’ve chosen to supply this information).

Where your personal data is shared with your school or local authority for the purposes of updating them on your application status, the specific law authorising this is the Education (Scotland) Act 1980.

Where your personal data is shared with Skills Development Scotland, the specific law authorising this is the Post-16 Education (Scotland) Act 2013 and specifically the Young People's Involvement in Education and Training (Provision of Information) (Scotland) Order 2014.

Who we share the information with

The college shares your information with the following data controllers:

Your local authorities and/or school (where you are a school leaver, or have been referred to the college via a local authority department or support service)

Skills Development Scotland: if you are aged 15-25, the college is required to provide the following information to Skills Development Scotland via a secure data hub: your name, address, telephone number, date of birth, Scottish Candidate Number; course information (including start and end date); application/enrolment status; course withdrawal or completion information.

Data processors: The college uses the following data processors to process your personal information:

Unit-E and CAMS are provided by third-party suppliers to process student applications and student funding applications. Microsoft (Reporting functions) is used to report on the supplied data. Edinburgh College hosts these and sits within the college’s technical controls.

How long do we hold the personal data?

Application data will be deleted from our systems after 7 years.

Individuals’ rights in relation to this processing

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights; some of these rights only apply if certain conditions are met. Your rights are: right to be informed (e.g. privacy notice), right of access, right of rectification, right of erasure (commonly known as the right to be forgotten), right to restrict processing, right to object, right to data portability and the right to know of any automated decision making (including profiling). It’s worth noting that you can exercise your rights either verbally or in writing, and the College would be required to process your request within one month.

The rights that apply to this particular processing are:

Right to be Informed – i.e. a privacy notice.
Right of Access – this means you have the right to access your personal information.
Right to Rectification – this means you have the right to correct inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
Right to Erasure – commonly known as the Right to be Forgotten (RTBF) – this means you can request that your personal data be deleted.
Right to Data Portability – this means you have the right to request your information in a machine-readable format (e.g. a .csv file) to be provided to you or transferred in that format to another organisation.
Right to Restriction – this means you can restrict the processing of your information and links with some of the other rights.
Right to Object – this means you can object to how your data is used.
Right to be informed of automated individual decision-making (including profiling) – we do not use this for OH purposes, and therefore this does not apply.

Some of the rights above have caveats and only apply in certain circumstances. You can exercise your rights at any time, and the College would be required to answer within a month upon receipt of your request. If you wish to exercise your rights or have any queries in relation to this, please contact the Data Protection Team at DataProtection@edinburghcollege.ac.uk.

Complaints to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)

If you are concerned about how your personal data is being used by the College, in the first instance, please contact the College Data Protection Officer (DPO) at DataProtection@edinburghcollege.ac.uk. If you are not satisfied with the outcome, then you can complain to the regulator of data protection, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO guides on the ICO website.

You can email them at casework@ico.org.uk, call them on 0303-123-113, or you can send a letter to them at the following address:

Customer Contact
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
SK9 5AF