Transparency data

Privacy information: children and young people, and care leaver's version

Updated 24 October 2024

Applies to England

This document tells you about the personal information that the Department for Education (DfE) collects and uses about you.

Personal information is information that can identify you, for example your name and where you live (your address).

This information is collected by your school, academy or local authority (for children in need or children looked after). They must send this information to the DfE. They only send the information listed below.

Rules for collecting and using your information

There are special rules or laws to protect your information. This is called data protection.

We follow these rules with your information. We will:

• only use your information if the law says we can do so
• not ask for more information than we need
• tell you why we use your information - we will only use it for that reason
• keep your information up to date
• only keep your information for as long as we need it
• keep your information safe

Personal information we collect

We collect and use information or data, for example:

• your name
• contact details showing where you live, your email address and telephone number
• your data of birth
• details about your learning and what you have achieved at school

We also collect and use special information about you, for example:

• details about your health, including any disabilities or special educational needs
• details about your family background, this is known as equality or diversity information

We also need to know about your parents or carers, so that we can contact them.

Why we collect your information

We use this information to:

• keep you safe
• make sure you are learning
• make sure you are going to school
• improve your learning
• improve the services and support for children in care and care leavers
• provide money to pay for your learning
• improve your wellbeing
• answer your questions and complaints
• use our website and social media
• publish statistics, for example, about the number of pupils or learners in schools

Who can see your information

We keep your information very safe and no one can see it unless we say it is ok.

Sometimes we have to share your information with other people, for example:

• the adults who look after you
• people that are doing research into learning or well-being
• people who make sure children are safe

Your rights

You have rights about how we use your personal information. There are different rights depending on the legal reason for using your personal information. Your rights include:

• you can ask us for copies of your personal information
• you can make a complaint
• you can ask us to change information that isn’t accurate or complete
• you can ask us to stop using your personal information
• you can ask us to delete your personal information
• you can ask us to limit how we use your personal information
• you must be informed if we process your personal information
• rights when decisions are made about you when your personal information is processed automatically

See privacy information: children and young people under 18 for more information about how we use your personal information.

Contact us

If you need help or want to talk to us, you can:

• use our online contact form
• write to:

Data Protection Officer
Department for Education (B2.28)
7 - 8 Wellington Place
Wellington Street
Leeds
LS1 4AW

• email: dataprotection.office@education.gov.uk