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School records

Whether you are a pupil or parent, there are some differences between your rights to see school records and your general rights of access to personal information that were explained in the first section of this guide. This section tells you about the differences. Otherwise, your rights are as stated in the first section of the guide.

School records are the official records, whether on computer or paper, held in the state education system. (In Northern Ireland this includes grant-maintained schools; in Scotland it includes grant-aided and independent schools.) The data controllers responsible for school records are the governing bodies in England and Wales; principals in Northern Ireland; and education authorities, proprietors of independent schools and managers of grant-aided schools in Scotland.

A school record may include, for example:

• results from national tests
• health information
• results of psychological tests
• statements of additional support needs and support plans.

If you want access to personal information held by individual teachers for their own use, by further and higher education institutions, and by independent schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, please refer to the first section of this guide. It explains your general rights of access to information.

Pupil rights

What am I entitled to see?

You, or someone acting on your behalf, are entitled to see your record or be sent a paper copy. This record includes:

• information held on computer (or by other automated means)
• information held in structured files, for example in a paper filing system separated by names or topics
• information held in your school record
• unstructured information, for example, in correspondence.

What does it cost?

You cannot be charged to see your record (whether on paper or electronic), but if you ask to have a paper copy you may be charged a fee based on the number of pages. This ranges from £1 for up to 19 pages, to £9 for up to 99 pages, then £10 for up to 149 pages, and £50 for 500 pages or more. Some data controllers charge less, and others charge nothing.

In Wales, if a head teacher decides that information needs to be translated, it should be translated into any language required at no additional charge.

How long does it take?

Once the data controller has enough information to identify you and locate your record - and you have paid any necessary fee - they must respond within 15 school days in England and Wales, and within 40 days in Scotland and Northern Ireland. You may be asked to prove your identity (for instance, if you are a former pupil not currently known to the school) and supply the dates when you attended the school.

If you request examination marks or results, the timescale to respond is either five months from your request, or 40 days from the announcement of the examination results, whichever is the earlier.

What information can’t I see?

Some information may be withheld from you. This includes information that:

• could cause serious harm to your or another person’s physical or mental health
• could identify someone else, such as another pupil, who has not consented to being identified (however, teachers can be named without their consent)
• forms part of a court report, or a report made by or for a reporter to a children’s panel School records
• is in a reference concerning education, training or employment given by the data controller - although after it has passed to another data controller, such a reference can only be withheld if it could identify someone else who has not consented to being identified
• is about adoption records or reports
• the data controller has a legal obligation not to disclose.

Schools do not have to give you unstructured records — for example, information held in correspondence — where the cost of finding and supplying them would exceed £450.

How can I complain?

If you are dissatisfied with the way your application has been dealt with, you should first write and complain to the chairman of the board of governors, or, for state schools in Scotland, to the director of the education authority. If your complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction, you can complain to the Information Commissioner — see the entry under the ‘Advice and assistance’ page.

Parents

You have an independent right of access to your child’s school record. The exemptions and the information you are entitled to see are the same as for pupils. You should apply to the board of governors in England and Northern Ireland, the head teacher in Wales, or your education
authority, manager of a grant-aided school or proprietor of an independent school in Scotland. If you ask for a paper copy, you may be charged a fee. You must receive a response within 15 school days.

Information may be withheld from you if it could disclose whether the child has been abused or is at risk of being abused, and if withholding it is in the child’s best interests.

You do not have the same rights to have information corrected or to seek compensation as you normally would, unless you are acting on your child’s behalf. If you are refused a copy of your child’s school record, you should first contact the school’s governing body or, in Scotland, the director of the education authority, proprietor of an independent school or manager of a grant-aided school. If you are dissatisfied with the outcome, you should contact the Department for Children, Schools and Families; the National Assembly for Wales Department for Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills; or the Department of Education in Northern Ireland. In Scotland, you can refer the matter to Scottish Ministers (through the Scottish Government or your MSP), who have discretionary powers to make the body meet its obligations. As a last resort, you can go to court.

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