ASCE Privacy notice

This webpage shows the privacy notice for the ASCE scoping phase and impact evaluation activities taking place from March 2024 onwards.

For the privacy notice concerning interviews and focus groups that took place before March 2024, please click here: https://natcen.ac.uk/asce-privacy-notice-2023 

How your data will be used

In line with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), there are certain things that we need to let you know about how your information will be looked after. A privacy notice explains how the data we collect for this research will be used. 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) and the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) have commissioned the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) and a team from University College London (UCL) to evaluate the impact of school behavioural policies on non-attendance and exclusion rates on a cohort of Year 7 to Year 9 pupils.

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

Education Endowment Foundation (EEF)

Youth Endowment Fund (YEF)

National Centre for Social Research (NatCen)

As a first step, the study is in a scoping phase to identify a framework for classifying school behaviour policies. Activities in the scoping phase involve a survey of headteachers asking questions about their school’s behaviour policy.

If the study progresses to an impact evaluation, we may get back in touch to find out more about your school and invite your staff to complete surveys.

As part of the impact evaluation NatCen will apply for pupil-level National Pupil Database (NPD) data for schools taking part in the study and will link your survey data to this NPD data to assess the impact of school behaviour policy type on school absences and exclusions.

Participation in each element of the study is entirely voluntary and you can opt out of the study at any time by contacting a member of the research team via ASCE@natcen.ac.uk. 

What is the legal basis for processing data?

NatCen is the data controller for this project. In order for the use of personal data to be lawful, we need to meet one (or more) conditions in the data protection legislation, as set out in Article 6(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For the purpose of this project, the relevant condition that we are meeting is ‘legitimate interests’. This means that we believe that there is a genuine reason for us to process this data (to evaluate the impact of school behavioural policies), that this data is needed to fulfil this purpose (we could not evaluate 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 study and the processing of data at ASCE@natcen.ac.uk. 

What data will be accessed as part of this research?

As part of the scoping phase the following data will be collected:

  • school and headteacher contact information.
  • headteacher survey responses about their school’s behaviour policies and school characteristics.

If the study progresses to an impact evaluation, the NatCen research team will:

  • access pupil-level National Pupil Database (NPD) data on attendance, exclusions and school/pupil characteristics.
  • collect survey data, including contact information, from teachers.

Who will have access to my personal data?

Members of the NatCen research team carrying out the scoping phase and impact evaluation will have access to the data listed above.

How will the data be used, stored and deleted?

The data collected will only be used for research purposes, to help us to understand variation in types of behaviour policies across schools and how school behaviour policy type effects pupil outcomes such as school absences and exclusion. NatCen will store and handle all data securely and confidentially in line with the GDPR. Reports and publications arising from this research will not identify any individual participant or school. The purpose of NatCen’s research during the scoping phase is to determine whether it is feasible to group school behaviour policies into different types, including those that enable an authoritative school climate. If the study progresses to an impact evaluation, the purpose will be to understand the impact of this type of policy on non-attendance and exclusion rates. To this end, responses from the headteacher survey (with personal details removed) will be linked to pupil-level NPD data on attendance, exclusions and school/pupil characteristics.

The data will be used to contribute to policy making and scholarly discourses in the field of education. Contact information collected as part of this study will only be used to contact participants about the research (e.g. sending out the headteacher survey) and re-contacting participants if the study progresses to an impact evaluation.

No personal data will be transferred outside of the European Economic Area (EEA).

NatCen will delete all personal information, and any other data held on the project, within one year of the end of the project.  

At the end of the scoping phase, responses from the headteacher survey (with personal details removed) may be transferred to and stored in the EEF data archive for research purposes. If the study progresses to an impact evaluation, headteacher survey responses and the other data accessed/collected as part of the impact evaluation (see above), will be archived for research purposes once the study has come to an end. The EEF becomes the data controller once data is transferred to the EEF data archive, which is managed by FFT Education (data processor) and hosted on the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) Secure Research Service (SRS). The archived data will not contain direct identifiers like student name and date of birth, but does hold a Pupil Matching Reference (PMR) to enable further linking to the NPD and other administrative data sources for future research. For further information, see the privacy notice for the EEF data archive.

What are your rights under GDPR?

Under certain circumstances, by law you have the right to:

  • Be informed about the collection and use of your personal data. We must provide this privacy notice to explain the purpose for processing your personal data, retention periods for your personal data, and who it will be shared with.
  • Request access to your personal information (commonly known as a “data subject access request”). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal information we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
  • Request correction of the personal information that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate information we hold about you corrected.
  • Request erasure of your personal information. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal information where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it.  You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal information where you have exercised your right to object to processing (see below).
  • Object to processing of your personal information where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation that makes you want to object to processing on this ground.
  • Request the restriction of processing of your personal information. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of personal information about you, for example if you want us to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it.
  • Request the transfer of your personal information to another party.
  • Rights in relation to automated decision-making and profiling. We will not use your data for automated decision making or profiling in any way.

If you want to review, verify, correct, or request erasure of your personal information; object to the processing of your personal data; or request that we transfer a copy of your personal information to another party, please contact the study team at ASCE@natcen.ac.uk. 

Do you have the right to withdraw permission?

You have the right to withdraw your permission for processing at any time and you don’t have to justify or explain why you are doing so if you don’t want to state your reasons. To withdraw your permission, please contact the study team at ASCE@natcen.ac.uk. 

When any data you provide has been aggregated with other responses in analyses, we will be unable to remove your data from those analyses. However, the original data will be erased, and it will not be possible to identify you in these aggregated results.

Once we have received notification that you have withdrawn your permission, we will no longer process your information for the purpose or purposes you originally agreed to, unless we have another legitimate basis for doing so in law.

Who can I contact with a query or a complaint about how my data has been used or managed?

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

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