Making it REAL evaluation: Privacy notice

In line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), we need to let you know how your information will be processed. In this privacy notice, we explain: 

  • the legal basis for data processing;
  • who will have access to your personal data;
  • how your data will be used, stored and deleted; and 
  • who you can contact with a query or a complaint.

Who’s who?

The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) have funded the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) to carry out the independent evaluation of the Making it REAL programme. The National Children’s Bureau (NCB) developed Making it REAL and will support the delivery of the programme by nursery settings and primary schools. 

You can find out more about these organisations using the following links:

Education Endowment Foundation: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/ 

NatCen Social Research: https://www.natcen.ac.uk/ 

National Children’s Bureau: https://www.ncb.org.uk/

What is the legal basis for processing data?

The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) is the data controller and data processer for this project. This means that we are responsible for deciding the purpose and legal basis for processing data.

Our legal basis for processing the data is ‘legitimate interest’. This means that we believe that there is a genuine reason for us to process this data (to evaluate the impact of Making it REAL), that this data is needed to fulfil this purpose (we could not evaluate Making it REAL without this information), and that using this data will not interfere with individuals’ interests, rights or freedoms. 

You can contact NatCen with any questions about the evaluation and the processing of data at MakingitREAL@natcen.ac.uk.

Who will have access to personal data?

NatCen is carrying out this research and will have access to information on early years settings, practitioners, children, and parents taking part in Making it REAL.

For children, we will collect Unique Pupil Numbers (UPN), dates of birth, home post codes, first names and last names, sex and eligibility for Early Years Pupil Premium. This data will be securely transferred by early years settings and schools to the NatCen research team.

For practitioners, we will collect their contact details as well as those of the setting manager or headteacher. The delivery organisation (NCB) will collect details from settings and share them with NatCen through a secure server.

In addition, NatCen will collect, process and analyse:

  1. interview recordings, transcripts, and survey data collected from parents and practitioners
  2. child assessment data, collected by Speech and Language Therapists using standardised tests
  3. data collected from practitioners during home visits and literacy events, including attendance and content covered.

McGowan Transcriptions (https://www.mcgowantranscriptions.co.uk/) is the transcription service we use to transcribe our interview data. They will have access to recordings and transcriptions from all interviews with practitioners and parents. McGowan Transcriptions is on our approved supplier list and compliant with all of our information security (IS) policies.

Simmons Printers (http://www.simmonsprinters.com/) is the printing agency we use to print record forms to be used as part of child assessments. They will have access to child names and dates of birth as well as setting names when printing labels for record forms. Simmons Printers is also on our approved supplier list and is compliant with our IS policies.

Registered Speech and Language therapists will be recruited by NatCen to visit nurseries and schools and conduct two language-based assessments with children. They will have access to child names, dates of birth and child assessment scores, but only for the settings where they will conduct the assessments in.

How will the data be used?

During the study

The data we collect will be used for research purposes only. NatCen will store and handle all data securely and confidentially in line with UK GDPR.

Assessment data from the language-based assessments will be used to inform the impact evaluation of Making it REAL. Data collected from interviews, surveys, observations and compliance spreadsheets will be used to inform the process evaluation. Data will be anonymised and treated with the strictest confidence.

For children who are shortlisted but not selected to take part in the evaluation, we will securely destroy their data by December 2023 (for Year 1 of the evaluation) and December 2024 (for Year 2).

After the study

All personal information, and any other data held on the project, will be securely deleted within twelve months of the project’s completion in March 2027. 

Reports and publications arising from this research will not identify any individual research participant or setting.

This evaluation is funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF). Data collected as part of all EEF evaluations are archived for research purposes. The EEF are the data controller for the data archive which is managed by FFT Education as a data processor working on EEF’s behalf. At the end of the evaluation, NatCen will submit the data from the evaluation (child assessment scores and some personal data of children, like full names, dates of birth, home post codes, Unique Pupil Numbers) directly to FFT through a secure portal.

In the future, researchers might link the data deposited in the EEF’s data archive to information held in the Department for Education’s (DfE) National Pupil Database and other datasets. To do so, FFT Education would use the direct identifiers of children (like names, dates of birth) to request Pupil Matching References (PMR) from the DfE, who would transfer PMRs directly to the Office for National Statistics’ Secure Research Space (SRS). FFT Education would use the SRS to match the data from the evaluation (i.e., child assessment scores) with the PMRs. This process ensures that future researchers will be able to link data from the evaluation to the National Pupil Database and other datasets without accessing direct identifiers of the children.

For further information, see the EEF’s archive privacy notice.

Who can I contact with a query or a complaint?

If you have any questions about how your personal information will be processed, or about the evaluation, please contact the NatCen research team at MakingitREAL@natcen.ac.uk or by calling 0808 168 2792.

If you have any questions about how your data will be used, please contact NatCen’s Data Protection Officer at dpo@natcen.ac.uk

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office. Please go to www.ico.gov.uk for more information.