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Student recruitment privacy notice

Edge Hill University regards your privacy as important and as such fully complies with the principles of current and changing UK Data Protection legislation.

This privacy notice is to support activities relating to Student Recruitment and Marketing, and, as such, should be read in conjunction with the University Data Protection Policy and Privacy Notice.

What personal information do we collect about you? 

Under ICO guidance, personal data is defined as any information about you from which you can be identified. It does not include anonymous data. Student Recruitment and Marketing collects different kinds of personal data about you: 

  • Identity data: to include first name, last name, title, gender, date of birth. 
  • Contact data: to include address, postcode and country of residence, email address, phone number(s). 
  • Course data:  to include course interest, course applied for, campus applied to, UCAS number (if applicable), potential year of entry. 
  • Technical data: to include IP address, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, other technology on the devices you use to access the University website.   
  • Usage data: to include information about how you use our website, products and services including engagement with email communications. 
  • Marketing and Communications data: to include your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties and your communication preferences.  As part of our digital marketing activity, we may use cookies and similar technologies.  Details relating to the use of website cookies can be found in the University Cookie Policy. 

Photography, video and audio recordings 

During some events or activities we may take photographs, audio recordings and video recordings.  The images and film we take will likely be placed in the public domain. This includes within University publications, printed media, prospectuses, on the University website and other related owned websites, University social media accounts, on third party websites and within advertising. Wherever possible we will ensure you know when photography or videography is taking place in the following ways: 

  • Advance notice of our intention to photograph/film within event information. 
  • Signage at prominent locations at the event. 
  • Our University photography/videographer will approach clearly visible and identifiable individuals to verbally inform them that a photograph/film has been taken.  
  • Consent forms will be used where appropriate. 

How will my personal information be used? 

The personal information that you give us when you register an interest in, or sign up for, or otherwise engage with, pre-undergraduate admissions events/activities/updates will be processed and held by, and may be shared within, University Departments and Faculties for the purposes of: 

  • organising events/activities, including event selection.  
  • tracking future outcomes of event participants, including applications to the University and other Higher Education Institutions.  
  • monitoring and research including (but not limited to) evaluation of the impact of events/activities (including events not organised by the University).  
  • producing statistics, including event application and participation numbers, and participant outcomes; and  
  • sending you additional information about the University, as well as helpful resources relating to applying to Higher Education, by post and (if you wish) also by email, phone or text message. 

We consider the processing of your personal information for the above purposes to be necessary for the performance of tasks we carry out in the public interest (i.e. running events to promote access to Higher Education, informing students of their educational options, increasing educational attainment, and carrying out related evaluation, tracking and research) or necessary for the pursuit of our legitimate interests in attracting applicants to the University.  

If you are asked to provide any sensitive information about yourself, such as your ethnicity, health/disability status, religion, or sexual orientation, the uses we’ll make of that information will be explained to you at the point we collect it from you, and you’ll usually have the option not to provide it. If we do hold this information, we will normally use it for research and monitoring purposes as well as any specific uses you have been told about. 

We may run follow-up surveys to ask for your opinions and evaluate events and other activities that you attend or participate in.  The University may also contact you requesting your participation in market research surveys to enhance and improve our application process, events, communications channels, and academic programmes. While these are very helpful for us, they are optional and, when answering the specific questions, you will sometimes have the option not to supply certain answers if you do not wish to.  

Student Recruitment and Marketing are keen to communicate our activities, latest news and successes and supportive information with students and stakeholders and we do this through a range of online and offline channels. For us to do this we hold your data in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database.  We may use carefully selected third party service providers to run event bookings, or to contact you by email or text message.  We aim to keep your data up to date, and you are able provide any updates including requests to opt out from communications by emailing [email protected].  

Who will my personal information be shared with? 

We may share your personal information with third parties (including your school/college, partner(s)) with whom we may have collaborated to organise and/or evaluate this event, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), the Department for Education, the Higher Education Access Tracker (HEAT), any third parties managing HEAT’s database, and HEAT service subscribers and approved researchers) for the same purposes as listed above. Please note that only certain events/initiatives involve sharing your personal information with HEAT and related parties. Further information on linking HESA datasets is available on the HESA website. 

The University and third parties may publish aggregated data based on personal information from event applicants and/or participants, including analysis and research utilising these data, but the data will be anonymised and no information which could identify you will be published. 

On occasion, the above types of use and sharing may involve the transfer of your personal information outside of the European Economic Area (e.g. to use a service provider based overseas). These transfers are always carried out with appropriate safeguards in place, such as proper contracts, to ensure the confidentiality and security of your personal information. 

How long will my personal information be kept for? 

If you attend any particular event/activity, we will only retain certain detailed information that we need for the purposes of event/activity administration for as long as necessary to serve that purpose.  In order to conduct long-term evaluation, tracking and research about access to Higher Education, and in relation to certain events/initiatives only, we will retain some of your key personal information as follows: 

  • Schools/Colleges (Teachers and Careers Advisers) – your data will be held on our system indefinitely or until we are informed that you have left the School/College. 
  • Prospective student data (enquirers and applicants) – your data is used to communicate information relevant to your specified year of entry. Once the year of entry has passed (unless you update this), your sensitive data will be held in the system for reporting/analysis purposes and will be kept for a maximum of 6 years.  

After these periods, any personal information will be removed from our records, but we may continue to retain and process your information in an anonymised form. 

Is my personal data secure? 

Edge Hill University is committed to the security of the information we hold and ensuring that only people who need to access the information, are able to do so.

Access to our CRM database is password restricted and only staff members who need access are given the relevant permissions. The data kept within our CRM database is stored securely using a flagship data centre for data storage. Our CRM provider uses industry standards to ensure your data is safe and secure, done via policy, training, and technology.

Your rights 

You are able to withdraw your consent or change your preferences at any time by emailing [email protected].  

You have the right to access and be informed of what personal data the University holds about you and what it is used for (please refer to the University’s Subject Access Request Form). 

We may amend this privacy notice from time to time, any significant changes to this notice or to the way we treat your data will be communicated via the Edge Hill Website.  Once this has been done, you will be deemed to have accepted the changes. 

Contact details 

Should you wish to contact anyone regarding your personal data or if you have any concerns about the use or processing of your data, please contact: 

  • Information Governance Office, SPPU, Edge Hill University, St Helens Road, Lancashire, Ormskirk, L39 4QP 
  • Email: [email protected]