The information collected on this form is processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018
The University processes your personal data on the basis that it is necessary for the performance of our tasks carried out in the public interest. The purpose of the University is to advance learning and knowledge by teaching and research to the benefit of the wider community and the Widening Participation team’s function within that purpose is to monitor and evaluate the participation in, and effectiveness and impact of, our activities as part of government policy to widen participation in higher education.
Where special category data* is collected, it is processed for statistical and reporting purposes only and, given that the processing is required as part of our work to increase fair and widened access to higher education, is considered to be in the public interest. Please note that all reporting is pseudonymised and personal data enabling you to be identified is not included in any reports we produce.
The personal data is collected in order to help us determine your eligibility on our programmes and to be inputted into the Higher Education Access Tracker (H.E.A.T.) database. The H.E.A.T. database is a nationwide database used by higher education providers to monitor the effectiveness of their widening participation outreach programmes and measure student progression to higher education. For more information, visit http://heat.ac.uk/.
The H.E.A.T. database is a secure online database and only the Widening Participation team at the University of Sussex have access within the institution. The H.E.A.T. central team and partner higher education providers also have access to the database, to assess the success of outreach work across the country.
In addition to the information collected on this form, activities and programmes you attend and progression to higher education will be recorded. Monitoring this data allows us to understand the impact our programme has in supporting progression to higher education and which programmes have proven most effective. Outside of the University and H.E.A.T., data will only be shared with third parties as required as part of the function outlined at the beginning of this statement, outlined below:
•To the Higher Education Statistics Agency and Office for Students for statutory compliance/ reporting purposes
•UCAS
•Partner schools/institutions
All personal data processed by the University is processed in line with the University’s overall privacy notice and Data Protection Policy; please visit http://www.sussex.ac.uk/about/website/privacy-and-cookies/privacy for more details and see below for data retention details.**
*Special category data is defined by the General Data Protection Regulation as racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic and biometric data, data concerning health or data concerning sex life or sexual orientation.
** H.E.A.T. retains all data for individuals not deemed to be ‘mature’ (i.e. aged under 21 on or before 1st September in the academic year they are registered on the database) until they reach 30 years of age; if the individual enters Higher Education during the period of retention, the data is retained for an additional 15 years following graduation. This is to allow H.E.A.T. to fulfill their commitment to research into long-term graduate outcomes and social mobility. Following the retention period, only an anonymised data extract is retained for secondary research purposes.
The University of Sussex retains scanned copies (physical copies destroyed securely) of completed forms only for the duration of the individual’s participation in the University’s Widening Participation scheme/programmes.