School records for an individual pupil

By law, headteachers are responsible for ensuring they send a written report to parents on progress at least once during the school year.

• Article 15 of the UK GDPR provides the pupil’s right of access (Subject Access Request) for the personal data the school holds on them including that held in education record
• The Education (Pupil Information) England Regulations 2005 provides the parent’s right of access to their child’s education record.

Requests to see or receive copies of records should be made to the headteacher in writing.

The two request types have different timescales for compliance.

1. Subject Access Request under article 15 of UK GDPR – the school has one month in which to respond to the request. However, if the request is deemed ‘complex’ an extension of up to two months may be granted. The school will notify the requester as soon as possible and within the first month.
2. Requests for the education record must be responded to within 15 school days.

Requesters may be asked for information to verify their identity where it is necessary. 

In exceptional circumstances some information may be withheld, with exemptions applied to information which might cause harm to the physical or mental health of the student or a third party, information which may identify third parties and information which forms part of  some court reports.

Subject Access Request 

A child may exercise data rights on their own behalf as long as they are competent to do so.

Generally, a child aged 12 and above is presumed to be of sufficient age and maturity to be able to exercise these rights. However, the school must assess the competency on an individual basis taking into consideration the level of understanding of the child.

A child must not be considered competent where there is evidence to suggest the action is against their own best interests.

An adult with parental responsibility may seek to exercise the child’s rights on their behalf. This can be the case when the child:

• is competent but authorises them to act on their behalf
• does not have sufficient understanding to exercise them on their own behalf

In both circumstances, disclosure must be in the best interests of the child/

More information can be found on the ICO website under ‘What rights do children have?’

Education record

Parents have their own independent right of access to the official educational records of their children under The Education (Pupil Information) (England) Regulations 2005.

In essence, the information to which parents are entitled and the exemptions are the same as for pupils, although there is no parental right of access to information which does not form part of the official record.