Seren Academy Data Collections Privacy Notice

In accordance with Data Protection Act 2018 and UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) (‘the data protection legislation’), this notice sets out what the Welsh Government does with your personal data that it receives as part of The Seren Academy Data Collections. 

The information in this notice will remain under review to incorporate any further changes. If we change the way, we process and/or use your data this privacy notice will reflect those changes. The updated version will be available on Seren Space. 

This privacy notice was last updated in July 2025. 

Background 

The Seren Academy collects and processes the personal data of Seren learners and affiliated members/partners to: 

1. Provide access to Seren’s registration and information portal, Seren Space 

2. Monitor learner engagement and participation in Seren activities for programme management and administration 

3. Review and evaluate programme interventions and outcomes 

The Seren Academy data collections include Seren Space Online Registration Data, Ongoing Programme Management and Administration Data, and Evaluation Data. 

Seren Space is the registration portal for the Seren Academy programme. If you register on the Seren Space portal, we will need to process certain personal information about you to make the necessary registration on the platform. As part of your participation of Seren, we may also need to collect attendance data and information from feedback and outcomes surveys to support the administration of programme activities and ongoing evaluation of Seren.  

This privacy notice explains how we use the personal information we collect about you whether you register as: 

• A Seren Academy learner 

• An affiliated members/partners: 

• Seren Graduate 

• A Hub Coordinator or Delivery Lead 

• A Teacher 

• Seren Mentor 

Welsh Government will be the data controller for this information, and we will process it in line with our public task and the official authority vested in us to enable you to register within the Seren portal and access its offering. Where the information amounts to special category data (e.g., ethnicity, disability etc.) we will process it in the substantial public interest of ensuring equality of opportunity and treatment. 

Cazbah Ltd will be data processor for this information and Equal Education Partners are the sub-data processor. Cazbah and Equal Education Partners are the Welsh Government appointed contactor and sub-contractor respectively who deliver educational activities on behalf of the Seren team. If you attend events, Cazbah and Equal will carry out their function as the data processor and sub-data processor, and will need to process some personal information about you in order to make the necessary registration and attendance access for you to take part in online/in-person activities together with the monitoring of your progress on the Seren programme. 

This Privacy Notice will cover the contract period. 

PRIVACY NOTICE 

What personal data do we hold and where do we get this information? 

Personal data is defined under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) as ‘any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified by reference to an identifier’. 

The Seren Academy collects this information via the following data collection points: 

1. Seren Space Online Portal registration 

2. Online attendance surveys (Learners only) 

3. Online outcomes and feedback surveys (Learners only) 

Academy Learner Data: 

Personal and special category data collected about young people as part of Seren data collections includes, but is not limited to, those listed below. For a list of learner data items collected as part of The Seren Academy data collections, please see Annex 1. 

• Personal data: First Name, Last Name, Postcode, Date of Birth, Email address, Gender, Language preference and proficiency, School, Seren Hub, Free School Meal Eligibility and Educational Maintenance Allowance, School Year Group, Parental higher education status, GCSE grades, A Level subject choices, preferred university and subject course choice 

• Special Category data: ethnicity, disability, information on any additional learning needs, medical conditions, whether a learner has been in-care 

• Activity Attendance Survey data, to include Seren interventions registered for, participated in and completed  

• Activity Registration data to include interested activities and subject streams for Seren Academy interventions 

• Feedback and outcomes survey data for Seren interventions 

Seren Graduates: 

• Personal Data: First name; Last Name; Preferred Pronouns; School/college attended; GCSEs; A-Levels; year of graduation from Seren; University attending(ed); degree subject studied; year of graduation from university; Language preference; email address; Seren Hub   

Hub Coordinator or Delivery Lead: 

• Personal Data: First Name; Last Name; Preferred pronouns; Name of professional institution; Professional role within institution; Language preference; email address; Seren Hub 

Teacher: 

• Personal Data: First Name; Last Name; Preferred pronouns; Name of professional institution; Professional role within institution; Language preference; email address; Seren Hub 

Seren Mentor: 

• Personal Data: First name; Last Name; Preferred Pronouns; Gender; School/college attended; A-Levels; year of graduation from Seren; University attending(ed); degree subject studied; Language preference; Welsh medium education; email address; Seren Hub   

What is the lawful basis for using your data? 

The Welsh Government relies on the legal basis, as set out in the Education (Information about Individual Pupils) (Wales) Regulations 2007 (as amended), when receiving the data. The Welsh Government relies on the lawful basis for processing data received under Article 6(1)(e) of UK GDPR; the data is processed in line with our public task and in the official authority vested in us to undertake the core role and functions of the Welsh Government. Some of the data the Welsh Government receives classed as ‘special category data’ (in this case ethnicity and additional learning needs). For this, the Welsh Government relies on Article 9(2)(g) – the data is processed for purposes of substantial public interest in line with regulatory requirements.  

What will we do with your data? 

In the Welsh Government’s remit as the data controller, the data received is used for the below purposes. These purposes are necessary to enable the Welsh Government to carry out its public task and in the exercise of its official authority. 

Your personal information will be used for: 

1. Registration Purposes for Seren’s online portal, Seren Space 

2. Programme Management Purposes to facilitate arrangements for Seren interventions/activity elements 

3. Research Purposes to evaluate engagement, participation and impact of Seren interventions and programme as a whole 

The personal data collected during registration may be used to measure the impact of the programme on selected groups of learners. If at any point you wish for us to stop sharing this information, please contact us at seren@gov.wales. 

Registration, Attendance and Programme Management Purposes: 

• To facilitate and organsie sufficient provision for each Seren activity/intervention 

• To confirm learners’ active participation in The Seren Academy to process The Seren Academy Certificate of Achievement 

• Attendance and participant data collected during Seren activities will be linked to Seren Space data to confirm participants are Seren learners 

• Attendance data will be used for attendance and registration purposes and identifiable data will be shared back with the school and/or local authority 

Statistical analysis and research purposes (carried out in a way that ensures individual children and young people cannot be identified): 

• To monitor the performance and assess the quality of our education policies and services so that they can be improved 

• To help monitor and target funding effectively 

• For statistical analysis and research purposes which will help to inform, influence and improve education policy for people in Wales 

• To link with other datasets, including non-educational data sets, in order to inform wider education and social policies 

• By research companies commissioned by the Welsh Government to undertake evaluations of the Seren programme. This may include contacting learners past and present to take part in surveys, although you will always have the option to take part or not in the survey if contacted. 

Publication purposes (carried out in a way that ensures individual children and young people cannot be identified): 

• For publication purposes, which includes a range of statistical outputs on the Welsh Government website. A full list of statistical publications can be viewed at https://gov.wales/statistics-and-research 

• For research purposes wider than education, the Welsh Government will use techniques that ensure the data are anonymised before any research takes place 

Who do we share your data with? 

Information held by the Welsh Government about children and young people will be shared, upon request and where there is specific purpose, with organisations for example those linked to education and training, where specified in Regulations made under section 537A of the Education Act 1996. Persons or organisations with whom the Welsh Government will share your personal information are as follows. Please see Annex 2 for details on who and why we share your data. 

• The Local Authority that maintains the school/college at which you are or were registered 

• The school/college at which you are registered 

• Any persons conducting research into the educational achievements of pupils and who require individual pupil information for that purpose 

• Information collators which, for the purposes of or in connection with the functions of the Welsh Ministers relating to education, are responsible for collating or checking information relating to pupils 

The Welsh Government will only share your data with third parties for a specific purpose and for a limited time. The third party will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement in relation to your data, to show that they operate satisfactory information security procedures, that they will only use your information in prescribed ways and that they will destroy their copies of your data when the time-limited agreement expires. Any analysis produced must follow the Welsh Government’s disclosure rules to ensure that individuals are not identifiable. For research purposes wider than education, the Welsh Government will use techniques to anonymise the data before any research takes place. 

Third party organisations with whom the Welsh Government will share your personal information are as follows. Please see Annex 2 for details on who and why we share your data. 

• Aberystwyth University 

• Cardiff University 

• Cazbah Ltd 

• Equal Education Partners 

• University of Cambridge 

• University of Oxford 

• Swansea University 

How secure is your personal data? 

All partners and contractors will securely transfer your personal information using accredited and agreed data transfer facilities. 

When conducting surveys, Equal Education Partners use a survey software programme called Typeform.  

Cazbah and Equal Education have procedures to deal with any suspected data security breaches. If a suspected breach occurs, Cazbah and Equal Education will report this to the Welsh Government who will notify you and any applicable regulator where we are legally required to do so. 

Where is your data stored? 

Your personal data will be kept securely within approved information systems.  

How long do we keep your personal data? 

We will retain learner data in accordance with Welsh Government requirements for a minimum of 12 years from the end of the current funding period of 2025. If you no longer wish to be part of the Seren programme and its graduates, contact the Seren Team for your data to be erased. 

Individual rights 

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to the personal information you provide as part of this programme: 

• Access a copy of your own data 

• Require us to rectify inaccuracies in that data 

• To object to or restrict processing (in certain circumstances)  

• For your data to be ‘erased’ (in certain circumstances) and  

• To lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) who is our independent regulator for data protection 

Under data protection legislation, you have the right: 

• to be informed of the personal data Welsh Government holds about you and to access it 

• to require us to rectify inaccuracies in that data 

• to (in certain circumstances) object to or restrict processing 

• for (in certain circumstances) your data to be ‘erased’ 

• to (in certain circumstances) data portability 

• to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) who is our independent regulator for data protection 

For further information about the information which the Welsh Government holds and its use, or if you wish to exercise your rights under the UK GDPR, please write to us using the details below: 

Data Collections Team: 

Tertiary Education Directorate 

Welsh Government – Seren Academy Team  

Welsh Government 

Cathays Park 

Cardiff 

CF10 3NQ 

Email: seren@gov.wales 

Data Protection Officer: 

Welsh Government 

Cathays Park 

Cardiff 

CF10 3NQ 

Email: dataprotectionofficer@gov.wales 

To contact the Information Commissioner’s Office, please see details below: 

Information Commissioner’s Office 

Wycliffe House 

Water Lane 

Wilmslow 

Cheshire 

SK9 5AF 

Telephone: 029 2067 8400 (Wales helpline)/ 0303 123 1113 (UK helpline) 

Website: https://ico.org.uk/ 

Annex 1 – Learner Data Items Collected 

Data Item Name	Seren Space	Activity Registration	Attendance	Start and End of Year Surveys	Activity Outcomes Surveys	Activity Feedback Surveys
First Name	x	x	x	x	x	x
Last Name	x	x	x	x	x	x
Date of Birth	x	x	x	x	x	x
Postcode	x
Gender Identification	x
Preferred Pronouns	x
Ethnicity*	x
Secondary school/college attended	x	x	x	x	x
Current School Year	x	x
Seren Hub/Region	x	x	x	x	x
GCSE Grades received	x
AS/A Level subjects	x
Preferred university choices				x
Preferred subject choices				x
Preferred language of correspondence/delivery	x	x
Learner Welsh medium education	x
Learner Free School Meal eligibility (eFSM)	x
Learner EMA eligibility	x
ALN, disability or medical condition**	x
In-care*	x
Caring responsibilities*	x
Refugee or asylum seeker status*	x
Parental higher education status	x
Email address(es)	x	x		x
Seren Activity/programme intervention		x	x			x
Qualitative Likert scale feedback on statements linked to learner future educational plans			x	x	x
Qualitative Likert scale feedback on statements linked to learner understanding of educational pathways and making choices			x	x	x
Qualitative Likert scale feedback on statements linked to confidence in progressing onto higher education			x	x	x
Qualitative Likert scale feedback on statements linked to learner academic skills			x	x	x
Likert scale feedback on enjoyment in Seren activity element			x		x
Feedback on quality of activity delivery and relevance			x		x	x
Careers Wales link/careers adviser	x

* We collect this data item for statistical analysis and research purposes (carried out in a way that ensures individual children and young people cannot be identified) to monitor the access and participation of our education services so that they can be improved for all learners. 

** We collect this data item for programme management purposes to facilitate appropriate arrangements for Seren interventions/activity elements. Seren’s delivery manager and delivery team will require access to this data to support the effective delivery of programme interventions for all learners. We also collect this data item for statistical analysis and research purposes (carried out in a way that ensures individual children and young people cannot be identified) to monitor the access and participation of our education services so that they can be improved for all learners. 

Annex 2 – Sharing your data with other organisations 

Organisation	Purpose
Local Authorities	Pupil level data is analysed and used by local authorities.
Schools/Colleges	Pupil level data is analysed and used by schools to which learners are registered. This is to support programme delivery and learner participation in Seren activities.
Organisations working under contract to the Welsh Government	We may share your data with organisations working under contract with ourselves where the aim of that work supports us in understanding and improving the education and wellbeing of students, and in supporting appropriate and effective provision and delivery of Seren activities for all learners.
Research organisations	We may share your data with any persons conducting research into the educational achievements of pupils and who require individual pupil information for that purpose.
Higher Education Institutions	We may share your data with higher education institutions where the aim of that work supports us in providing specific Seren residential interventions and university visits as part of our programme offer.