Take Your Place

Data Protection Information for students

How we use participant data

This page provides information about how neaco collects, uses and shares your personal information when you take part in Take Your Place activities, events and initiatives.

About neaco and Take Your Place

The Network for East Anglian Collaborative Outreach (neaco) is a project aimed at increasing the number of young people going into Higher Education[1] under the Uni Connect programme.

neaco consists of:

Take Your Place is the programme which is run by neaco in schools and colleges in East Anglia.

How will my personal information be used?

We (neaco) will collect the following information from you and/or your school/college:

  • Full Name,
  • Date of Birth,
  • Postcode,
  • Gender,
  • School/College Name,
  • Email Address,

We may also collect certain information about your personal circumstances, such as:

  • If you are from areas of low higher education participation, low household income or low socioeconomic status (as determined by a range of factors e.g. postcode or free school meals status); 
  • If you are currently or were previously in care;
  • If you care for another individual;
  • If you are seeking asylum or are recognised as a refugee;
  • If you have contact with your parents or legal guardian;
  • If you are from an armed forces family;
  • If you are first generation progressing to Higher Education
  • Results from any exams, tests, or other assessments undertaken in your school, whether achieved or predicted grades.

This information will be collected in order to:

  • organise events or activities, including:
    • selecting which events or activities to run;
    • targeting and/or selecting students for events or activities;
  • carry out monitoring and research including (but not limited to):
    • evaluating the impact of events or activities (including events not organised by neaco);
    • tracking what happens to students who take part in activities or events, measuring outcomes including applications to Higher Education Institutions;
    • producing statistics such as how many students apply for and take part in an event or activity, and what happens to those who take part;
  • and send you additional information about the Take Your Place programme, as well as helpful resources relating to applying to Higher Education by email.

We need to use and process your personal information for the above purposes to perform tasks that are in the public interest. These include:

  • running events to promote access to Higher Education,
  • informing students of their educational options,
  • carrying out related evaluation, tracking and research.

Some elements of Take Your Place are targeted at postcodes where participation in Higher Education has been low in the past. Therefore your postcode will be used as part of an automated decision-making process determining whether or not you are eligible to take part in some elements of the Take Your Place programme. You have the right to ask us how this process works.

Sensitive information

If you are asked to provide any sensitive information about yourself, such as your ethnicity, health/disability status, or religion, or sexual orientation, this will be held in identifiable form and used for research purposes and for equalities monitoring, both by neaco and as part of wider national research projects, with appropriate conditions of access to the data.

Any other uses of this sensitive information (e.g. to make accessibility adjustments or otherwise facilitate your attendance) require your consent.

When you provide us with this information, after having the opportunity to read and understand this Notice, you give consent. Providing this sensitive information to us will always be optional.

Photography / video / film / sound recording

If we ask for your photograph or video/film or sound recording at any neaco event, we will explain what we intend to use it for and seek your consent.

Withdrawing your consent

Unless you have been told otherwise at the point of asking, there is no statutory or contractual requirement to supply us with any of your personal information.

If we asked for your consent to use your personal information, you can withdraw this at any time by contacting us at neaco@admin.cam.ac.uk.

Who will my personal information be shared with?

neaco may share your data with external partner(s) we collaborate with to organise events or activities, for data management, or for research and analysis to understand the outcomes of neaco’s work and other similar projects across England.

neaco and HEAT may link your data to records held by other organisations or databases, which collect information about students from schools, colleges and universities.

These may include:

  • the National Pupil Database,
  • the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS),
  • the Higher Education Statistics Authority (HESA),
  • the Individualised Learner Record,

Follow the links for further information on HEAT’s Privacy Policy as well as HESA’s data Collection Notices and linking to other datasets.

If we use external organisations to run event bookings, or to contact you by email, we will always make sure they commit to comply with the law when handling your personal data.

neaco and external partners we collaborate with may publish data based on personal information from those applying for, or taking part in, Take Your Place events or activities, including analysis and research utilising this data. However, the data will be aggregated (combined together), anonymised (all names will be removed), and no information which could identify you will be published.

On rare occasions, the way your data is used and shared, outlined above, may involve the transfer of your personal information outside of the European Economic Area (e.g. to use a service provider based overseas). These transfers are always carried out with appropriate safeguards in place, such as legally binding contracts, to ensure that your rights are not affected.

How long will my personal information be kept for?

Your data will be kept in line with HEAT’s Data Retention Policy.

In order to conduct long-term evaluation, tracking and research about access to Higher Education, and in relation to certain events or initiatives only, we will retain your personal information as follows:

If you have:

  • Attended an activity within the last 15 years
  • Supplied your first name, last name, postcode and date of birth
  • Not withdrawn your permission to be included in outreach participant research

From the year you are ready to enter Higher Education, your data will be used for 15 years for the purpose of monitoring and evaluation*. After this time, your information will be marked as ready for deletion by HEAT. Information stored that does not reach the above criteria will be marked as ready for deletion to the collecting organisation within 7 years.

*The year you are considered ready for Higher Education is calculated automatically by date of birth but manually adjusted if you are an adult.

If you wish to find out more about these uses of your personal data, or at any time wish to object to your data to be held and used, please contact us at: neaco@admin.cam.ac.uk

Who will process my personal information?

For the purposes of the data processing explained here, the universities listed above which form neaco are collectively the data controllers.

For the purposes of data linking by HEAT, HEAT are the data controller.

How can I access my personal information?

You have the right to access the personal information that is held about you by neaco.

You also have the right to ask us:

  • to correct any inaccurate personal information we hold about you,
  • to delete personal information,
  • to restrict or object to our processing,
  • to receive an electronic copy of the personal information you provided to us.

If you would like to do this, please contact the central neaco team (info@takeyourplace.ac.uk).

Who can I contact?

If you have any questions about how your personal information is used, please contact the central neaco team (neaco@admin.cam.ac.uk).

How do I complain?

If you are not happy with the way your information is being handled, please let us know. If you are not happy with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF (www.ico.org.uk).

Are changes made to this webpage?

This webpage was last updated in September 2024. It is reviewed when necessary and at least annually. Any changes will be published here.

1. Higher education applies to any form of education that results in a level 4 qualification or above. This includes diplomas, foundation degrees, university degrees or degree apprenticeships. It takes place at Universities, Further Education colleges and specialist institutions.