Plain English Privacy Notice (Dual Audience: Adults & Children)
Introduction
This online survey asks parents and carers to tell us their views on walking, wheeling and cycling to primary school, no matter how their child usually travels. This is to help Active Travel England understand how to make school journeys easier, safer, and more enjoyable for you. Parents and carers can choose to skip any question they do not want to answer. There are no right or wrong answers.
Who are we?
Active Travel England is in charge of this survey and decides how information about you is used. NatCen Social Research asks questions for Active Travel England via a survey, and keeps the information safe. Other researchers in the evaluation team are based at Sheffield Hallam University, WPI Economics and Mosodi Ltd.
What information we collect
We collect your answers to the survey questions. This includes:
- information about how you travel to school
- your school year
- your ethnic background
- information about your health and disabilities
- what your parent or carer thinks about your journey to school
- what makes your journey easier or harder
- your parent or carer’s email address so we can get in touch about this and other school travel research.
Your parent/carer does not have to answer any questions they do not want to answer. We do not collect your name or your parent’s/carer’s name.
Why we collect this information
We use the information to help Active Travel England making walking, wheeling and cycling to school better. We do this by:
- understanding how children travel to school
- learning what helps or makes travel harder
- comparing different places and types of schools
We collect some sensitive information (like health and ethnicity) so we can understand how travel experiences are different or the same for different people.
Why we are allowed to use this information
The law says public bodies like Active Travel England can collect information when it helps them carry out work that benefits the public. This is called “public task”. Because we collect some sensitive information (like health and ethnicity), we use an additional legal condition called “substantial public interest”, which allows us to collect this information securely to make services fairer for everyone.
How we keep your information safe
Your answers are kept safe on secure computer systems in the UK. Only NatCen and Active Travel England can see your information. Your school will not know whether you took part or what you said. Your parent or carer’s email address, is stored separately from your answers. We never share anything that could identify you.
Who can see your information?
- NatCen: sees the survey answers and any email addresses.
- Active Travel England: sees the survey answers but no email addresses.
- Your school: will not see any survey responses.
We never sell your information or share it with anyone else.
How long we keep your information
NatCen will delete personal details (like email addresses) within 12 months after the end of the evaluation. NatCen will delete personal details by December 2027 at the latest.
Active Travel England will keep the data for up to five years so they can see how experiences and views about walking, wheeling and cycling to school change over time.
Your choices and rights
You can:
- stop taking part at any time
- skip any question
- ask us to delete your personal information
- ask to see the information you gave us
- ask to correct anything that is wrong
If you need help with any of these, your parent/carer can email:
You can also contact ATE about your information at:
contact@activetravelengland.gov.uk
If you, your parent or carer are unhappy with how your information is used, your parent/carer can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) www.ico.org.uk or the NatCen Project Team ASTSurvey@natcen.ac.uk
If this notice changes
We may update this notice during the project.
This version was last updated in March 2026.