Employers
From time to time you will be asked to tell us personal information about yourself (e.g. name and email address etc.) in order to become a student or a client, to use College systems and services and so on. At the point of collecting the information we aim to clearly explain what it is going to be used for and who we may share it with. Generally, the information is processed as part of our public task of providing education.
We would only use it for marketing with your prior consent.
Any sensitive personal information will never be supplied to anyone outside the College without first obtaining your consent, unless required or permitted by law. We comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), including removing your personal information from our systems when it is no longer required and ensuring that all personal information supplied is held securely.
Whenever you provide such personal information, we will treat that information in accordance with this statement, current legislation and our Data Protection Registration (Registration Number: Z6341263). We also aim to meet current best practice.
Individuals whose personal information the College holds have certain rights under the law. More information can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website
This section explains how the College uses the personal information that you give us on the enrolment form.
The information will be used for purposes relating to education, training, employment, general advice services, well-being and research.
The information you supply when enrolling on a course is used by the Learning Records Service (LRS). The LRS issues Unique Learner Numbers (ULN) and creates Personal Learning records across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and is operated by the Education and Skills Funding Agency, an executive agency of the Department for Education (DfE).For more information about how your information is processed, and to access your Personal Learning Record, please refer to: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lrs-privacy-notices
This privacy notice is issued by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) on behalf of the Secretary of State for the Department of Education (DfE) to inform learners about the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) and how their personal information is used in the ILR. Your personal information is used by the DfE to exercise our functions under article 6(1)(e) of the UK GDPR and to meet our statutory responsibilities, including under the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009. Our lawful basis for using your special category personal data is covered under Substantial Public Interest based in law (Article 9(2)(g)) of GDPR legislation. This processing is under Section 54 of the Further and Higher Education Act (1992).
The ILR collects data about learners and learning undertaken. Publicly funded colleges, training organisations, local authorities, and employers (FE providers) must collect and return the data to the ESFA each year under the terms of a funding agreement, contract or grant agreement. It helps ensure that public money distributed through the ESFA is being spent in line with government targets. It is also used for education, training, employment, and well-being purposes, including research.
We retain your ILR learner data for 20 years for operational purposes (e.g. to fund your learning and to publish official statistics). Your personal data is then retained in our research databases until you are aged 80 years so that it can be used for long-term research purposes. For more information about the ILR and the data collected, please see the ILR specification at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/individualised-learner-record-ilr
ILR data is shared with third parties where it complies with DfE data sharing procedures and where the law allows it. The DfE and the English European Social Fund (ESF) Managing Authority (or agents acting on their behalf) may contact learners to carry out research and evaluation to inform the effectiveness of training.
For more information about how your personal data is used and your individual rights, please see the DfE Personal Information Charter (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/personal-information-charter) and the DfE Privacy Notice (www.gov.uk/government/publications/privacy-notice-for-key-stage-5-and-adult-education)
If you would like to get in touch with us or request a copy of the personal information DfE holds about you, you can contact the DfE in the following ways: Using our online contact form; By telephoning the DfE Helpline on 0370 000 2288; Or in writing to: Data Protection Officer, Department for Education (B2.28), 7 & 8 Wellington Place, Wellington Street, Leeds, LS1 4AW.
Sensitive personal information you provide (e.g. disability or ethnicity) may be used by the College for the purposes of equality of opportunity, support for your studies and to minimise risk. It may also be used anonymously for statistical purposes. The College will ask your permission before sharing sensitive information with other organisations, unless the sharing is permitted by law and necessary.
We pass most of the information to government agencies to meet funding arrangements. This means that the College will pass most of the personal information and some of the sensitive information you provide to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), and where necessary it is also shared with the Department for Education (DfE).
The information is used for the exercise of functions of these government departments and to meet statutory responsibilities, including under the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009. It is also used to create and maintain a unique learner number (ULN) and a Personal Learning Record (PLR).
The information provided may be shared with other organisations for purposes of administration, the provision of career and other guidance and statistical and research purposes, relating to education, training, employment and well-being.
This will only take place where the sharing is in compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and GDPR and where possible we will anonymise data that is required for statistical and research purposes.
You may be contacted after you have completed your programme of learning to establish whether you have entered employment or gone onto further training or education.
You may be contacted by the English European Social Fund (ESF) Managing Authority, or its agents, to carry out research and evaluation to inform the effectiveness of the programme.
Further information about use of and access to your personal data, and details of organisations with whom the data is regularly shared are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-privacy-notice
Most of the information on the enrolment form is collected because it is required by law or it is necessary to perform the public task of enrolling and teaching you as a student of the College.
At Macclesfield College we are dedicated to fostering an inclusive online environment and ensuring that our website is accessible to all individuals, regardless of their abilities or disabilities. We believe in equal access to information and services for everyone and are committed to upholding the principles of accessibility outlined in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) defines requirements for designers and developers to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. It defines three levels of conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA. macclesfield.ac.uk is partially conformant with WCAG 2.1 level AA. Partially conformant means that some parts of the content do not fully conform to the accessibility standard. These elements have been identified and are in the process of being updated.
To achieve a more accessible website, the following practices have been have implemented:
Feedback
Despite our very best efforts to ensure that our website is accessible to all, there may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or currently lack an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. We recognise that achieving comprehensive accessibility is an evolving process.
We are committed to continuous improvement, and our team is actively working on adding, updating, and enhancing options and features to improve accessibility. We stay abreast of technological advancements to adopt new solutions that contribute to reaching the optimal level of accessibility.
If you encounter any accessibility challenges or have feedback on how we can further improve, we welcome your input. Please feel free to contact the website’s owner via email at marketing@macclesfield.ac.uk. We aim to respond to feedback within 5 business days.
Assistive technology and browser compatibility
We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible.
Accessibility of macclesfield.ac.uk relies on the following technologies to work with the particular combination of web browser and any assistive technologies or plugins installed on your computer:
These technologies are relied upon for conformance with the accessibility standards used.
Assessment approach
The Macclesfield College assessed the accessibility of macclesfield.ac.uk by the following approaches:
Thank you for your understanding and support as we strive to create a more inclusive online experience for all visitors.
Last updated - This statement was updated on 13/11/2023
Under the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, young people aged 16 and over can decide for themselves and give consent for the processing of their personal information. Parental consent is not required. There may be exceptions in regards of students with severe learning difficulties, school link students and those who are otherwise unable to decide for themselves.
The College has found that it is very beneficial to the young person’s progress as a student if the College is able to engage with the parents (or guardian/carer). Therefore it is very important that we have the parents’ details recorded on our systems.
When a student is in Further Education, parents/carers/guardians (or any other third party) are not automatically entitled to the student’s information. We can only release information about our students if we have their consent for this recorded on the College system. Students are asked for their consent for sharing information with parents/others on the enrolment form or when enrolling face-to-face. Students can also inform the College later on of who the College may discuss with about their College matters.
Students may withdraw their consent the same way which they gave it.
In general, we can only share information if we have the person’s consent, or there is a particular piece of legislation or agreement allowing us to share it without consent.
This section applies to anyone accessing College websites.
A cookie is a small file, typically of letters and numbers, downloaded on to your device (e.g. your PC) when you access the College website. Cookies allow the website to recognise your device and so distinguish between the different users that access the site.
Session cookies will remember your selections as you browse the site. These cookies are for the browsing session and not stored long term. No personal information is collected by these cookies.
Google Analytics cookies help us to make the website better for you by providing us with user statistics, for example: which pages are the most visited; how a user navigates the site. No personal information is collected by these cookies.
You may delete or control the use of cookies through your browser settings.
To find out more about cookies and what cookies might be stored on your device, visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org
During the course of your study you may be asked to use third party websites or services or access linked content (e.g. YouTube) which may collect personal data about you. That site’s own privacy notice will explain you how they use your data.
The College as a corporate body is the data controller under the Data Protection Act, and the Board of Governors is therefore ultimately responsible for implementation.
Our Data Protection Officer (DPO) assists the College in monitoring internal compliance, informing and advising on our data protection obligations, provides advice regarding Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) and acts as a contact point for data subjects and the Information Commissioner.
The designated member of staff who ensures compliance with the Act is the Head of IT.
If you have any questions about Data Protection at the College, please contact:
Email: dpo@macclesfield.ac.uk
Data Protection Officer, Macclesfield College, Park Lane, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK11 8LF
If you have a data protection concern that cannot or has not been resolved by the College, you have the right to raise it with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
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