Information Law for Education

Our specialist team brings in-depth sector knowledge in helping educational organisations implement clear and effective information management strategies. This approach is guided by an understanding of the burden this complex and constantly evolving area can place on schools and colleges, with our services delivering efficient and easily implementable strategies to maintain compliance.

We understand the wider range of regulatory issues and challenges facing education providers alongside information law matters, and align our approach with these broader considerations.

Areas in which we can support you include:

We have developed a Toolkit tailored to the requirements of the education sector comprising a suite of documentation to help you meet your accountability obligations. This includes template privacy notices and policy documentation, as well as other helpful templates such as data mapping guidance and questionnaires, data processing agreements and more.

For more information about our policy and guidance offering, please click here.

We understand that education providers receive a large volume of information requests, and dealing with these requests can be a significant burden. Our team provides pragmatic advice to help you manage requests effectively whilst maintaining focus on other key areas.

For particularly complex requests, we use our extensive experience and deep sector knowledge to provide comprehensive guidance and support on matters such as identifying information for disclosure, providing guidance on the scope of searches, the application of exemptions, dealing with vexatious requests, and more.

We advise education providers on the following types of requests:

Subject access requests;
Freedom of information and environmental information requests;
Parental requests for information under education laws;
Requests from the police and other investigatory bodies / external agencies;
Requests relating to other individual rights, including the right to erasure, the right to rectification, and the right to object.

We are experienced in managing all types of personal data breaches, including technical cyber-breaches. Our team has extensive experience advising where a breach has taken place, including preparing data breach notifications to the Information Commissioner’s Office and to affected individuals, and implementing effective internal data breach management practices.

We believe that a proactive approach to data protection is the most effective way to ensure compliance. Our tailored advice helps ensure that effective data protection practices are embedded into all relevant aspects of an organisation’s wider operations.

Our Information Law Team is experienced in assisting education providers with implementing compliant data protection approaches across all aspects of their organisation. We provide a range of services in this area, including:

Data protection health checks and reviews tailored for schools and colleges;
Preparing and delivering bespoke data protection training options tailored to your organisation;
Providing guidance on regulatory and legal developments;
Advising on data protection impact assessments;
Advising on data sharing for schools, including police requests and parental requests for pupil information.

We advise on the full range of commercial data protection issues for education providers, including data sharing agreements, data processing agreements, international data transfers (including transfers to the US under the Transatlantic Data Framework), data transfers in the context of academy transfers and conversions, and engaging EdTech providers.