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Transparency data

Privacy information: parents, carers and legal guardians

Details of the personal data the Department for Education (DfE) processes for parents, carers and legal guardians.

Updates to this page

From:
Department for Education
Published:
17 October 2023
Last updated:
7 September 2026
Show all updates

  1. Updated ‘Using your data to fund schools, learning and childcare’ section to include funding for specific programmes, including: family hubs and start for life programme; student loans; funding for carers; free school meals; music and dance scheme; and holiday activity fund clubs. This includes details about who data is shared with.

  2. Updated sections 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, and 18 to link to relevant sections in the Members of the public privacy notice.

  3. Updated 'Privacy information: parents, carers and legal guardians', including adding a section on using your data when we create case studies about you.

  4. Added section: 'Using your data to ensure the protection of public funds by preventing and detecting fraud' and updated the 'How long we keep your data’ sections with a link to the 'DfE retention and disposal schedule'.

  5. Updated the formatting to make the document easier to read.

  6. Updated the information in 'Using your data when you make a complaint about education providers, children’s social care or DfE' and 'Using your data when you make a referral of serious teacher misconduct to the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA)'.

  7. Updated privacy notice with information about special category data.

  8. Added new section on whistleblowing and details about sharing special category data.

  9. Updated policy notice title to include carers. Added new sections on using data when you make a complaint about education providers, children’s social care or the DfE, and on teacher misconduct referrals.

  10. Added new sections for 'Using your child’s data when they are looked after by local authorities', 'Using your data when a child is in need' and 'Using your data when we receive a Serious Incident Notification (SIN)'. We have also updated the section for 'Using your data when you contact us to make an enquiry or complaint'.

  11. First published.

Applies to England

Documents

Privacy information: parents, carers and legal guardians

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Details

This document details what personal data DfE processes about parents, carers and legal guardians. It also includes data processed about families.

The DfE personal information charter has details about the standards you can expect when we collect, hold or use your personal information.

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