Introduction

The Centre for Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in Higher Education (“TASO”, “we, “our”) is committed to protecting the privacy and security of the personal data we collect about you (“you/your”) when you participate in the Summer Schools Evaluation research project (“Research Project”).

The purpose of this privacy notice is to explain what personal data we collect about you when we conduct research for the Summer Schools Evaluation (“Project”). When we do this, we are the data controller.

Student/pupil participants:

The project is a collaboration between TASO and the university who is running a summer school programme you have applied to. The university will collect and share data with TASO to enable them to conduct the research project. The data will also be shared with Behavioural Insights Ltd (“BIT”), TASO’s external evaluators, who will be carrying out the necessary data analysis for the research project. TASO, BIT and the university running the Summer School, together shall be known as the “Research Team”.

Please read this privacy notice carefully as it provides important information about how we handle your personal information and your rights. If you have any questions about any aspect of this privacy notice you can contact us using the information provided below or by emailing us at dpo@theevidencequarter.com quoting “Summer Schools Evaluation” in the subject or body of the email.

NOTE: You do not need to take part in the Research Project and it will not affect your application to the Summer School if you decide you do not want your data to be tracked for the Research Project although you will need to take action and notify us that you wish to opt-out of being part of the Research Project. To opt-out you will need to contact either TASO or the university running the Summer School. Please see the information sheet or the Contact Us section of this Privacy Notice for the contact information.

Personal data we collect

We shall be processing the following data:

Personal DataSpecial Categories or Sensitive Personal Data
- Your name
- Your email address
- Your date of birth
- Your postcode
- Your gender
- Your year group
- Your school/college name
- Your parents/carers experience of higher education
- Whether you are a child of parent/s serving in the armed forces
- Your grades at school/college
- Your predicted grades at school/college (if known)
- Attendance at the summer school activities
- Participation in any other outreach activities
- Whether you progress to higher education in the future, which institution you go to, and what you study
Special Categories:

- Your ethnicity
- Whether you have a disability (“Health Data”)

Sensitive Categories:

- Some categories required for the Summer - School program eligibility also known as Widening Participation (WP) criteria:
-Experience of children’s social care which means past or present status as a Child Looked After (CLA), on a Child Protection Plan (CPP) or and have/had Child in Need (CiN) status
- Whether you are estranged from your parents/carers
- Whether you are a Young Carer
- Your ‘Free School Meal’ eligibility
- Whether you are a refugee or asylum seeker

How we collect information about you

We may collect personal data in a variety of ways and at a variety of times throughout the research study being conducted. We refer to “primary data collection” when data is collected directly from you and we refer to “secondary data collection” when the data is not collected directly from you.

Primary data collection:

  • From yourself when you apply to a summer school of a university involved in the research project
  • From yourself via an online survey the university have sent you over email
  • From yourself via an interview or focus group with university staff

Secondary data collection:

  • From information stored by a higher education tracking service the university is using, called the Higher Education Access Tracker (HEAT): https://heat.ac.uk/
  • From government data held by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), on the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) and on the National Pupil Database (NPD).

Purposes for which we use personal data and the legal basis

When conducting the research study, we may use your personal data for the following purposes and on the following lawful bases. The table below is relevant to all data subjects involved in the research study:

PurposeLawful Basis for Processing
To use your summer school application data to randomly allocate you into one of two groups. Students in one group will be offered a place in the summer school, and those in the other group will not be offered a place.The lawful basis we shall be relying on for all purposes listed is the legitimate interest of the Data Controller for societal benefit.
To make sure the two groups (above) are similar to each other in terms of their characteristics (such as gender and ethnicity (also see further below)).
To invite you to complete surveys on your attitudes to and knowledge on higher education.
To track your future attainment, whether you enter higher education in the future, which institution you go to, and what you study.
To match your data to existing government databases which hold your grades at school/college, whether you enter higher education in the future, which institution you go to, and what you study.
To understand whether summer school attendance impacts attitudes to and future progression to higher education.
For us to contact you to participate in an interview or focus groups as part of the research (not all participants will be contacted).
To conduct an interview or focus group with you which will be recorded.
To transcribe the audio captured from any recorded interviews or focus groups you participate in.
To use special category and sensitive category personal data such as your ethnicity and any disability etc. for the purposes of the research outcome criteria where we will measure differences between the different groups of participants. The outcome data will never be used to identify youProcessing is necessary for research purposes in the public interest and subject to appropriate safeguards. Those safeguards shall ensure that technical and organisational measures are in place and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of you.
To use special category personal data such as your ethnicity and any disability for the purposes of balancing the research participants evenly in the two groups (treatment and control groups; those who attend the summer school and those who don’t). This information is not used to make a decision on which individual will attend the summer school or not.
To identify your data, which would be deleted where possible, should you no longer agree to have your data processed for the purpose of conducting the evaluation.The lawful basis we shall be relying on for all purposes listed is the legitimate interest of the Data Controller for societal benefit.

University staff who plan/deliver a summer school involved in the project:

As part of the summer school evaluation you may be asked to take part in an interview with the Behavioural Insights Team as part of the cost evaluation. The cost evaluation will provide an estimate of the cost of the summer school per participant and the cost per additional participant progressing to HE. This estimate will focus on cost from the perspective of the university.

Personal data we collect

We shall be processing the following data as part of the cost evaluation process:

  • Your name
  • Your email address
  • Your job role
  • Any information which will allow for an estimation of the direct, marginal financial costs of implementing the summer school successfully, including prerequisite equipment and time spent by staff in preparing and delivering the summer school.

How we collect information about you

We will collect this data through “primary data collection” directly from you via an online semi-structured interview.

Purposes for which we use personal data and the legal basis

When conducting the research, we will use your personal data for the following purposes and on the following lawful bases. The table below is relevant to university staff involved in the research study:

PurposeLawful Basis for Processing
To carry out a cost evaluation which provides an estimate of the cost of the summer school per participant and the cost per additional participant progressing to HE.The lawful basis we shall be relying on for all purposes listed is the legitimate interest of the Data Controller for societal benefit.

Sharing your data

It is unlikely that we’ll ever share your personal data outside the UK. If, however, it becomes necessary for the purposes of conducting our research we will only share it with organisations in countries benefiting from a European Commission adequacy decision or on the basis of Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission (both of which are recognised by the UK) which contractually oblige the recipient to process and protect your personal data to the standard expected within the UK.

Any data shared with the below categories of recipients is the minimum necessary for the task they have been instructed to carry out on our behalf or in conjunction with us. Each category of recipient is subject to pre-approved review to ensure comparative technical and organisational measure for keeping the data secure.

  1. Behavioural Insights Ltd (“BIT”) – the external evaluator on the project.
  2. Pre-approved online survey platform providers.
  3. Pre-approved transcription services.

There may be scenarios where we are subject to a legal obligation to disclose or share your personal data, such as with law enforcement agencies, regulatory bodies or public authorities in order to prevent or detect crime. We will only ever disclose your personal data to these third parties to the extent we are required to do so by law.

We may also share your personal data if we choose to sell, transfer, or merge parts of our business and/or group, or our assets in the future. Or we may seek to acquire other businesses or merge with them. During any such process, we may share your data with other parties. We will only do this if they agree to keep your data safe and private. If a change to our group happens, then other parties may use your data in the same way as set out in this notice.

How long we keep your data

Data shall be reduced, redacted, de-identified and deleted at appropriate times so we retain the minimum amount of data possible throughout the research study. We shall keep your personal data for up to three years after the project ends in January 2025. We will then dispose of your personal details by securely deleting your data.

Our external evaluators will delete all personal data that it holds 3 months after the final report has been published for the project. The estimated deletion data is March 2025.

All of the survey answers and other personal data will be anonymous (i.e., it won’t be possible to know who took part). This means we won’t say who said what and we won’t include any personal information (like names or details individuals might be recognised by) in the published report.

Any data held on survey platforms and/or transcription services (not all interviews and focus groups will be transcribed) will be deleted within a reasonable period after the services they provide have finished.

How we protect your data

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect data that we process from unauthorised disclosure, use, alteration or destruction. Data protection assessments are conducted for each research project and for all recipients of data used within any research data.

Only researchers and employees of the Research Team directly involved in the Summer Schools Evaluation project will be granted access to your personal data and only the minimum amount of data required for the task they may be performing.

The security of your data is in alignment with the security policies held individually with the Research Team members and kept under review to make sure that the measures all Research Team members have implemented remain appropriate.

Any personal data is not subject to any automated decision-making.

Your rights and options
You have the following rights in respect of your personal data:

  • You have the right of access to your personal data and can request copies of it and information about our processing of it.
  • If the personal data we hold about you is incorrect or incomplete, you can ask us to rectify or add to it.
  • Where we are using your personal data with your consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time.
  • Where we are using your personal information because it is in our legitimate interests to do so, you can object to us using it this way.
  • Where we are using your personal data for direct marketing, including profiling for direct marketing purposes, you can object to us doing so.
  • You can ask us to restrict the use of your personal data if:
    • It is not accurate,
    • It has been used unlawfully but you do not want us to delete it,
    • We do not need it any-more, but you want us to keep it for use in legal claims, or if you have already asked us to stop using your data but you are waiting to receive confirmation from us as to whether we can comply with your request.
  • In some circumstances you can compel us to erase your personal data and request a machine-readable copy of your personal data to transfer to another service provider.
  • You have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (including profiling) that produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you.

You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request for access is clearly unfounded or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with the request in such circumstances.

If you wish to exercise your rights, please contact us at dpo@theevidencequarter.com.

How to Complain
You can also lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office. They can be contacted using the information provided at:

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

ICO website: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/.

Contact us
If you have any questions, or wish to exercise any of your rights, then you can contact:

Project: Summer Schools Evaluation

Organisation: The Centre for Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in Higher Education (TASO)

Address: TASO, Evidence Quarter, 4th Floor, Albany House, Petty France, London, SW1H 9EA

E-mail: research@taso.org.uk

Alternatively, you can email us at dpo@theevidencequarter.com 

Changes to this privacy notice
We may update this notice (and any supplemental privacy notice), from time to time as shown below. We will notify you of the changes where required by applicable law to do so.

Last modified January 2022.