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Privacy notice for enrolling students

This privacy notice tells you about the information we collect from you when you enrol on one of our courses. In collecting this information, we are acting as a data controller and, by law, we are required to provide you with information about us, about why and how we use your data, and about the rights you have over your data.

Who are we?

We are: The National Extension College.

Our address is:
Woolpack House, 70 High Street, Sawston, Cambridge, CB22 3HJ.

You can contact us by post at the above address, by email at info@www.nec.ac.uk or by telephone on +44 (0)1223 400200.

Any enquiries about our use of your personal data should be addressed to the contact details above.

What personal data do we collect?

When you enrol with us, we ask you for your name, address, contact telephone number, email address, gender, date of birth and credit card information. If you have special educational needs, we will collect that information if you choose to tell us about it and give us your consent to do so. We will share this information with your tutor in order to provide the best learning support for your needs.

If you are under 18

If you are under the age of 18, we will need the consent of your parent or guardian to hold any information about you. We will ask them to confirm that they are happy for NEC to hold details about you for the purposes of delivering our courses and services to you.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16 years of age without such consent, and if we learn that we have inadvertently done so, we will promptly act to resolve the situation.

Why do we collect this information?

We will use your information to process your enrolment and payment and to deliver our services to you. We will use your telephone number and email to contact you regarding your enrolment. We require this information in order to process your payment, enrolment and fulfil our contract with you. We will ask you when you enrol whether you would like to receive marketing communications, we will use your email address if you consent to receiving these communications. It is possible to enrol without giving your consent to receive marketing communications.

What do we do with your information?

Your information is stored in our systems which are mostly based in the European Union. We do not retain your credit card information. We use some third-party systems which are based in the USA and are certified to the EU-US Privacy Shield (which ensures that your information is protected to the same standards as if it were in the EU).

We do not use the information you provide to make any automated decisions that might affect you.

We will never share your details with third-party organisations for marketing purposes.

Your information will be shared with your tutor and for some courses we will share your information with the awarding body when we register you with them. If you choose to pay by monthly instalments, your details will be shared with a third party credit organisation for the purpose of arranging a credit search and making an application for credit.

The information you supply 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

We may disclose personal information to third parties if:

  • we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud or potential threats against persons, property or the systems on which we operate the Service
  • required or permitted by law to protect the rights, property or personal safety of The National Extension College and our users or is required to comply with applicable laws, including compliance with warrants, court orders or other legal process
  • we need to do so in connection with the sale or reorganisation of all or part of our business, as permitted by applicable law.

How long do we keep your information for?

We do not retain your credit card details. Other details will be kept for six years after you finish your course in accordance with regulations set out by awarding organisations and HMRC. This will also help us to provide course completion certificates and references if you ask for them in the period after you finish your course.

You will have access to the NEC learning platform, Learn@nec, which includes course material and assignments for up to two years after the expiry date of your course. After this date, or earlier if the enrolment is cancelled by you, your user account will be deleted automatically without notification. We recommend that during your studies you always save your assignments locally for reference. After the deletion date your work and any activity progress will not be retrievable.

How secure is my information?

The National Extension College is committed to protecting the security of your information and takes reasonable precautions to protect it.

If the National Extension College learns of a security breach, we may attempt to notify you and provide information on protective steps, if available, through the email address that you have provided to us or by posting a notice on our website. NEC will comply with any statutory breach reporting regulations.

Your rights over your information

By law, you can ask us what information we hold about you, and you can ask us to correct it if it is inaccurate. If we have asked for your consent to process your personal data, you may withdraw that consent at any time.

If we are processing your personal data for reasons of consent or to fulfil a contract, you can ask us to give you a copy of the information in a machine-readable format so that you can transfer it to another provider.

If we are processing your personal data for reasons of consent or legitimate interest, you can request that your data be erased.

You have the right to ask us to stop using your information for a period of time if you believe we are not doing so lawfully.

Finally, in some circumstances you can ask us not to reach decisions affecting you using automated processing or profiling.

You have the right to obtain from NEC confirmation as to whether personal data concerning you is being processed and, where that is the case, access to the personal data and the following information:

  • the purposes of the processing;
  • the categories of personal data concerned;
  • detail of whom your personal data has been, or will be, disclosed;
  • the envisaged period of time for which your personal data will be stored;
  • the right to request from NEC rectification or erasure of personal data or restriction of processing of personal data concerning the you or to object to such processing;
  • the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

Users who wish to (i) access any Personal Information that we hold about you; (ii) request that we correct or delete the information that we hold about you; or (iii) change your preferences for marketing purposes may do so by contacting NEC at student.support@www.nec.ac.uk or write to us at the address above.

Please be advised that objecting to the processing of your personal data may result in NEC being unable to provide a service.

Your right to complain

If you have a complaint about our use of your information, you can contact the
Information Commissioner’s Office via their website at www.ico.org.uk/concerns or
write to them at:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF