Access to Leeds direct application privacy notice

This privacy notice tells you what you can expect us to do with your personal data when you make an application and provides you with details of who controls that information.

If you have any questions or if anything is unclear, you can email the Contextual Admissions team at accesstoleeds@leeds.ac.uk.

Our data protection officer is Rebecca Messenger-Clark. Email the University's Data Protection Officer, Rebecca Messenger-Clark, at dpo@leeds.ac.uk

The University’s data controller registration number provided by the Information Commissioner's Office is: Z553814X

This privacy notice last updated: 27 September 2021.

How do we get information about you?

We get your personal data from:

you, via your application form and supporting documentation
your application referees, via your application form and supporting documentation
from external organisations such as the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), via your application to study an undergraduate course at the University of Leeds

What information do we have?

If you have applied to Access to Leeds via the application form and supporting information, you will provide information on:

UCAS ID number
name
date of birth / age
address and contact details
details of your previous and current education
the courses you have applied to study at the University of Leeds
a supporting statement regarding why you would like to study at the University of Leeds

We also ask you to provide the following more sensitive information, known as ‘special category data’, via the application form:

a descriptive statement of your circumstances if applying under Criterion 6 ‘My studies have been disrupted or adversely affected by circumstances in my personal, social or domestic life’

Via the application form and supporting information, your referees will provide information on:

your eligibility for Access to Leeds and the criteria that you meet
a descriptive statement of your circumstances if applying under Criterion 6 ‘My studies have been disrupted or adversely affected by circumstances in my personal, social or domestic life’
confirmation of your household income if applying under Criterion 2.3 ‘I am from a household with gross annual income of £25,000 or below’, demonstrated by a completed Declaration of Household Income form

In addition to the preceding information, we receive the following information provided by you to the University of Leeds via your UCAS application to determine your eligibility for the scheme:

your residency status

How do we use this information?

We use the information that you provide, via the Access to Leeds application form or to the University of Leeds via UCAS, for:

contacting you regarding your application
determining or confirming your eligibility
notifying the University of Leeds admissions team(s) responsible for your chosen course(s) of your eligibility
evaluating and assessing applications in line with our criteria
sharing securely with staff in the University of Leeds who need to know this information. This may include admissions staff responsible for the course(s) you have applied to and your academic tutor responsible for your assignment during the Access to Leeds module

The ‘special category’ data about you that we hold is particularly used for:

evaluating and assessing applications in line with our criteria
determining or confirming your eligibility
anything we may need to discuss with you and/or provide to keep you safe and comfortable during our organised events and to support your learning during the Access to Leeds module
sharing securely with staff in the University of Leeds who need to know this information. This may include admissions staff responsible for the course(s) you have applied to and your academic tutor responsible for your assignment during the Access to Leeds module
evaluate the scheme for reporting internally. All data will be anonymised unless it is required to be pseudonymised using UCAS or Student ID number
evaluate the scheme for reporting externally. All data will be anonymised and you will not be identifiable

Please note that any information relating to personal circumstances that you provide via the application form is only shared securely with staff in the University of Leeds who need to know this information.

If you are eligible for the scheme, your data will also be used to:

invite you to events
advise you of other opportunities related to the programme
invite you to provide us with feedback in order to improve the scheme

How long do we keep your information for?

Applications forms are stored securely for up to two years from the date that the application was received; this applies to both successful and unsuccessful applications. After this date, your application form will be deleted from our systems.

One year after your application date, the data we hold about you will be pseudonymised using your UCAS or Student ID number for added security in storage. This statistical data will be retained for the purposes of monitoring, evaluating and reporting on the scheme.

How do we keep this information secure?

The information we hold about you will then be securely stored in a database held on the University of Leeds secure servers. It will only be accessible to members of the Contextual Admissions team.

Your application form will be stored in a secure location on the University of Leeds secure servers, only accessible by members of the Contextual Admissions team and admissions staff responsible for making decision on applications to study at the University of Leeds.

The information we retain for evaluation and monitoring is fully pseudonymised, which means that your data is stored using a unique identifier to identify you, such as your UCAS ID or Student ID number.

When we transfer data to other parties this is done securely by sharing files using the University of Leeds secure servers.

Your data will not be transferred outside the European Economic Area.

Who might we share this information with?

Data provided on the Access to Leeds application form is only shared internally with admissions staff responsible for your chosen course(s). Data collected from your application to the University of Leeds through UCAS is shared internally with other teams in Educational Engagement for the purposes of monitoring and evaluating the quality of the Access to Leeds scheme.

Your personal details will not be shared with any external third party. However, anonymised, statistical data (in which no individuals can be identified) may be shared with the following external organisations in order to help us evaluate the effectiveness of our activities designed to widen access to higher education:

Office for Students (OfS)
Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS)
Higher Education Access Tracker (HEAT) service subscribers
The National Data Service
schools and colleges across the country

Anonymised, statistical data may also be published on our website, in our departmental reports and in disseminating results of our work through professional conferences, reports or papers.

This is in line with the aims of the University of Leeds and government policy which is designed to widen access and participation in higher education. Our evaluation exercises also help us to develop future policy on making higher education more accessible.

Safeguarding

In order to comply with our statutory safeguarding duties, we are required by law to pass certain information about students to local authorities should be believe they may be at risk. Information will only be shared where it is fair and lawful to do so. If you would like to see a copy of information about you that the local authority hold, please contact the Data Protection Officer for that local authority.

Emergency services/agencies

In order to comply with our duty of care to students, our statutory safeguarding duties and our obligations in respect of the prevention and detection of crime, on rare occasions we may be required to share personal data with other statutory and partnership agencies. These include the Police, Fire and Rescue Service, Ambulance Service and other emergency or enforcement agencies.

How do I withdraw my application and have my data deleted?

To withdraw your application, please email the Contextual Admissions team at accesstoleeds@leeds.ac.uk.

Your data will then be deleted from the system.

Please note that once your data has been anonymised for statistical purposes it will no longer be able to be identified for deletion.

Our legal basis for processing your data

We will process your data in accordance with the lawful bases defined in Article 6 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The personal data of applicants will be processed in order to fulfil the contractual requirements of engaging in the scheme and as necessary for the performance of tasks that the University carries out in the public interest. We will process your special category data in the course of our legitimate activities and, where data has not been fully anonymised, where it is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest and for statistical purposes.

We need to process your data, as described previously on this page, to ensure that we can operate the Access to Leeds scheme. This is vital to the University of Leeds’ commitment to widening access to higher education and to meet targets agreed with the UK government’s Office for Students (OfS). These targets require us to report on the work we do with students who meet specific criteria, including special category data. The OfS requires us to demonstrate how effective our work is in achieving these aims.

Our eligibility criteria allow us to identify students who have applied to the University of Leeds through UCAS, whose academic grades may not reflect their full potential due to a number of factors. Our targets form part of the University of Leeds’ Access and Participation Plan, agreed with the OfS on an annual basis. This was previously known as the Access Agreement. Read the University of Leeds Access and Participation Plan 20-21 to 24-25 (Word doc).

The Information Commissioner's Office has more information about GDPR and lawful bases for processing.

Your data protection rights

You have the right to:

withdraw consent at any time where that is the legal basis of our processing
access your personal data that we process
rectify inaccuracies in personal data that we hold about you
be forgotten, that is your details to be removed from systems that we use to process your personal data
restrict the processing in certain ways
obtain a copy of your data in a commonly used electronic form
object to certain processing of your personal data by us

Please see the Information Commissioner's Office site for further information on the aforementioned rights. You may also contact the Data Protection Officer (contact details given at beginning of this notice) for further information.

You have a right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office about the way in which we process your personal data.

Microsoft Dynamics Privacy Notice

1. Purpose of this notice

This notice gives information on how the University of Leeds intends to process your personal data.

2. Source of Personal Data

Personal data is acquired directly from the data subject.

3. Categories of Personal Data will we process

Possibly all personal data about you processed by the University for the purposes which are set out in detail in our privacy notices. This includes personal data processed by Microsoft products including MS Office Suite, Dynamics, etc.

4. Cookies

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your device by websites that you visit. They are widely used in order to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the owners of the site.

For more information on cookies please read Microsoft’s Cookies in Power Apps portals page.

5. Lawful basis for processing your personal data

Processing of your personal is necessary and in the legitimate interest of the University in order to provide software solutions that provision the University’s core functions.

6. Third-party access

Your personal data that you have provided will not routinely be sent to other third-parties (unless notified).

7. Who we will share your personal data with

The University uses IT solutions provided by Microsoft. For more information see the Microsoft Privacy Notice.

8. University Code of Practice

The University's Data Protection Code of Practice also applies to the use of personal data under this website.

9. Changes to this notice

This notice and therefore the ways in which your data may be processed can be changed from time to time. Any changes will only be notified via this web page.

10. Further information and contact