Transferring Educational Data
Education authorities and the Scottish Executive Education Department
(SEED) have collected data about pupils on paper forms for many
years. We are now working together to transfer data
electronically through the ScotXed programme.
What pupil data will be collected and transferred?
Data
on each pupil is collected by local authorities and SEED. The
data collected and transferred covers areas such as date of birth,
postcode, registration for free-school meals, whether a pupil is looked
after by his/her local authority, additional support needs including
disability, attendance, absence and exclusions from school. Pupil
names and addresses are collected by their school and education
authority but they are not passed to SEED. Your postcode is the
only part of your address that is transferred. Data is held
securely and no information on individual pupils can or would be
published by SEED. It is used for statistical and research purposes
only.
Providing national identity and ethnic background
data is entirely voluntary. You can choose the ‘not
disclosed’ option if you do not want to provide this data.
However, we hope that the explanations contained in this message and on
their website will help you understand the importance of providing the
data.
Why do they need your data?
In
order to make the best decisions about how to improve our education
service, SEED and education authorities need accurate, up-to-date data
about our pupils. We are keen to help all our pupils do
well in all aspects of school life and achieve better exam
results. Accurate and up-to-date data allows SEED, education
authorities and schools to:
- plan and deliver better policies for the benefit of all pupils,
- plan and deliver better policies for the benefit of specific groups of pupils,
- better understand some of the factors that influence pupil attainment and achievement,
- target resources better.
Your data protection rights
The
collection, transfer, processing and sharing of ScotXed data is done in
accordance with the Data Protection Act (1998). We also comply with the
National Statistics Code of Practice requirements and other legislation
related to safeguarding the confidentiality of data. The Data
Protection Act gives you the right to know how we will use your
data. This message can give only a brief description of how we
use data. Fuller details of the uses of pupil data can be found
on the ScotXed website.
SEED will not publish or release any
information that allows an individual pupil to be identified. Data will
not be used by SEED to take any actions in respect of any individual
pupils. Data will only be shared with bona fide partners, such as
HMIE and the SQA. Any sharing will be done under conditions of
strict control and with the prior agreement of the Data Controller.
Concerns
If you have any concerns about the ScotXed data collections you can email the Data Controller, Pete Whitehouse, at EDData.Controller@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
or write to The ScotXed Support Office, SEED, Area 1B, Victoria Quay,
Leith, EH6 6QQ. Alternative versions of this page are available, on
request from the ScotXed Support Office, in other languages, audio
tape, braille and large print. Please allow up to 10 days for
requests to be processed.
Want more information?
Further details about ScotXed data exchanges are available on the ScotXed website, www.scotxed.net.
The website also contains answers to commonly asked questions about ScotXed.