Privacy Notice - Students

The University of Salford is the “Data Controller” of your personal data and is subject to the UK General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) registration number Z469563X and our Data Protection Officer is Andrew Hartley.

Under the GDPR we have to have justification (“legal basis”) for obtaining your information, for Students we believe that this is:

1. Public task

To ensure that we can carry out our role to advance education and knowledge through teaching and research as laid out in the University’s Charter.

2. Contract

In order to meet our contractual duties to you as a Student and provide you with educational and other services as laid out in our Student Agreement with you.

3. Legitimate interests

In order for the University to provide you with information relevant to you or for marketing purposes.

4. Explicit consent

In certain circumstances, special category data will be collected in order to provide you with services e.g. clinics.

5. Vital interests

To ensure your safety and wellbeing where there is an immediate concern.

6. Reasons of substantial public interest

To prevent or detect unlawful acts, safeguarding of individuals at risk, support for individuals with a particular disability or medical condition.

We collect data about you at various stages in your relationship with us. This may be:

• When you request information such as a prospectus;
• When you book onto an open day, visit day, social event or campus tour;
• When you engage with us on Social Media;
• When you apply to study at the University of Salford and complete an application form;
• When we validate your academic achievements with your previous education provider;
• When you register with us as a student;
• When you pay fees or charges to the University (i.e. tuition fees or library charges);
• When the University pays you a form of financial support such as grants or bursaries or makes refunds such as tuition fee refunds;
• From third party sources (for example, UCAS, other institutions involved in the delivery of joint programmes, government departments such as the Home Office or the Student Loans Company). Where we obtain personal data from third party sources, we will look to ensure that the third party has lawful authority to provide us with your personal data;
• When you communicate with us, via phone, web chat , email, physical enquiry point   or via the website, for example to make enquiries or raise concerns;
• Throughout your time as a student, collating information relating to your work, examinations and other information in your Student Record such as careers advice, counselling, pastoral, wellbeing and financial support;
• When you request to join the library as an alumni, community access or SCONUL member;
• When you use library services (i.e. borrow library material, access electronic resources or use the printing facilities);
• Attendance at teaching and training sessions;
• When depositing research outputs and related data into University of Salford systems.

Under the GDPR we are only permitted to collect the minimum amount of information needed to carry out a specific purpose. We may collect the following types of personal data about you:

1. Information that helps identify you:
   • Your name and date of birth;
   • Contact information (address, email, phone numbers);
   • National Insurance Number (or other Tax Identification number);
   • Passport Number (or National Identity Card details);
   • Other necessary documentation to satisfy immigration/Home Office requirements;
   • Country of domicile and nationality;
   • We also allocate you a unique student number
   • Contact details for a relative which you have provided for us to send information to;
   • Data which is attached to your online profile captured via Web Analytics, i.e location, age, network, IOS, ISP etc;
   • Bank, credit or debit card details for us to process a payment or reimbursement.
2. Information relating to your education and employment history:
   • The school(s), sixth form(s)/college(s) and other Universities you’ve attended;
   • Dates of study and examination results;
   • Places of work and vocational qualifications achieved;
   • Career history and aspirations.
3. Information about your family or personal circumstances plus both academic and extracurricular interests, where this is relevant to the assessment of your suitability to receive a bursary or in order to provide you with appropriate pastoral care
4. Special category data, including:
   • Information concerning your health and medical conditions;
   • Information about your racial or ethnic origin, religion or political beliefs and sexual orientation;
   • Certain criminal convictions;
   • Any access or disability requirements you or a guest attending an open day, visit day, social event or campus tour may have.
5. Photographs used to identify you and those taken at University events.
6. Information about your activity in the University
   • Library loan activity;
   • Use of electronic resources;
   • Access and use of University systems and spaces;
   • Authorship of research outputs and data;
   • Evaluation and feedback of teaching and training;
   • Records of misconduct within the University;

When you register with us as a student you can decide if you wish to share with the University certain types of sensitive personal data.  The Online Registration process will provide you with more information.

We will process your personal information for a range of purposes associated with your time here as a student. The primary purposes are:

• Admissions application processing;
• Identity document validation technology is used to assess the authenticity of identity documents provided to it in connection with right to study;
• Student administration, including registration, provision of student ID card, timetabling, engagement monitoring, maintenance of the student record;
• Provision of core teaching, learning and research services, including assessment, managing progress, academic misconduct investigations, certification and graduation;
• Provision of email, IT accounts and library services;
• Student wellbeing and support, including pastoral support, counselling services, personal tutoring, careers and employability services;
• Financial administration, including tuition fee payment, liaison with the Student Loans Company, collection of library charges, assessing eligibility for bursaries and scholarships;
• Complying with statutory requirements, such as monitoring equal opportunities and declarations of “good character” for certain courses;
• To gather statistics for internal and mandatory reporting on the use of services;
• Assessment of research activity;
• Ensuring acceptable use of University systems and resources;
• Service design and planning such as measuring student engagement on AskUS services;
• To surface information which is relevant to you, such as the marketing of courses, applicant visit days and accommodation;
• To build a profile of commonly shared characteristics for marketing purposes;
• To monitor impact of marketing campaigns;
• To fulfill requests such as sending prospectus or responding to enquiries.

Data is retained for as long as it is required to perform its purpose or for as long as is required by law (see the link below). At the end of that retention period, your data will either be deleted completely or anonymised.

View our Records Retention Schedule.

Sometimes we share your personal data with trusted third parties, in order to meet our contractual needs or to improve our services

Here’s the policy we apply to those organisations to keep your data safe and protect your privacy:

• We provide only the information they need to perform their specific services;
• They may only use your data for the exact purposes we specify in our contract with them;
• We work closely with them to ensure that your privacy is respected and protected at all times;
• If we stop using their services, any of your data held by them will either be deleted or rendered anonymous;
• Third parties who provide mailing, printing or similar services.

Examples of the kind of third parties we work with are:

1: Our employees, agents and contractors where there is a valid reason for their receiving the information, including:

• Third parties who provide student support services, e.g. counselling and accommodation;
• Third parties, such as QSES, who support our international recruitment processes;
• UK and overseas partner institutions if you are studying a validated or franchised programme;
• Third parties who provide IT and service support;
• Third parties providing services, for example The British Library;
• Providers of ID Cards;
• Third parties who manage bursary awards;
• Third parties managing financial payment transactions;
• Organisations operating anti-plagiarism software;
• Internal and external auditors;
• Employers for Degree Apprenticeship programmes;
• The Students’ Union;
• Third parties who act on our behalf to recover money you owe to us;
• Third parties who conduct surveys, for example the National Student Survey;
• Third parties who support the production of returns for Degree Apprenticeship students;
• The University of Salford Alumni Team.
• HEAT (Higher Education Access Tracker) privacy notice

2: Those with an interest in tracking student progress and attendance, for example:

• Student sponsors e.g. Student Loan Company, research sponsors, research councils, NHS and the US Federal Government;
• Current or potential education providers, e.g. where you take part in an exchange or a placement as part of your course;
• Current or potential employers, to provide references or, for sponsored or placement students, to confirm details of progress and attendance.

3. Professional and regulatory bodies, in relation to the confirmation of qualification, professional registration and conduct and the accreditation of courses, for example:

• Nursing and Midwifery Council;
• Health and Care Professions Council;
• British Psychological Society;
• Solicitors Regulation Authority;
• Bar Standards Board;
• Chartered Institute of Management Accountants;
• Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors;
• Royal Institution of Building Architects;
• Royal Aeronautical Society;
• Institute of Physics;
• Institute of Acoustics.

4: Government departments and agencies where we have a statutory obligation to provide information, for example:

• The Office for Students (OfS);
• The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA);
• The Home Office (in connection with UK visas and immigration);
• Council tax and electoral registration officers (for the purpose of assessing liability for council tax and for electoral registration purposes);
• The Education & Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).

5. Crime prevention or detection agencies, e.g.

• The police;
• Department for Work and Pensions;
• Trading standards.

We will only share information with parents, guardians and next-of-kin with your specific consent or when there is a valid reason for disclosure.

Some of the personal information we process about you may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside the UK, for example where it is processed by staff operating outside the UK who work for us or for one of our suppliers, or where the personal data is processed by one of our suppliers who is based outside the UK or uses storage facilities outside of the UK.  For example, when our international recruitment supplier collects your personal details when you are applying for a study place at the University.

You have certain rights in respect of the personal information the University holds about you. For more information about Individual Rights under GDPR and how you exercise them please return to our privacy homepage.

From time to time we may make changes to this statement because the way in which we are processing your personal information may need to change. All alterations will be posted on this page and will apply from the time we post them. Where we have a valid email address for you we will periodically email you to inform you of any substantial changes and/or to send you a link to our current privacy statement.

This statement was last updated on 15 November 2022.