Privacy Notice - Student Data

If you fail to provide certain categories of personal data when requested, or allow us to process your personal data collected through other means for specified purposes, we will not be able to successfully process your enrolment and provide you with educational services.

We may also process the following “special categories” of more sensitive personal data, where this is absolutely necessary

• Disability
• Ethnicity
• Religious Beliefs
• Gender Identification and Sexual Orientation
• Medical conditions or allergies if you disclose them to us during an application for Special Considerations or prior to a field trip or study abroad
• Criminal convictions, if you are studying for a degree which leads to registration as a nurse or doctor or require a visa or immigration permission to study in the UK

We will only process sensitive personal data where you have given your explicit consent, unless we are legally obliged to do so.

We may use your special category data in the following ways:

• To fulfil our legal obligations to provide data to statutory bodies such as the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA);
• To ensure that appropriate adjustments are made to enable you to participate in your programme of study;
• To ensure meaningful equal opportunity monitoring and reporting;
• To make decisions about applications for special considerations;
• To ensure that staff accompanying field trips or residential courses are aware of health conditions or allergies;
• To make decisions about your ability to continue on a programme which leads to registration as a nurse or a doctor if you have a criminal conviction.

We will collect and use data about any criminal convictions that you may have if you are studying for a degree which leads to registration as a nurse or doctor

We need to process your data to enrol you in a programme of study in fulfilment of the University’s public task in providing educational services.

This data is processed to enable you to:

• Enrol at the University, receive your ID card and engage with your studies
• Receive appropriate funding from the Student Loans Company, Research Councils or the University
• Request an exemption from Council Tax
• Receive appropriate certification upon successful completion of studies
• Register with a Professional, Statutory or Regulatory Body if applicable depending on your Programme of Study and satisfactory completion
• Comply with UK immigration regulation
• Register with the Police if required as a condition of your visa
• Access learning materials for your modules
• Access the University library
• Submit assignments online
• Engage in online assessment activities related to your programme or modules
• Use the University printing facilities
• Access University buildings and laboratories related to your Faculty or School
• Apply for a parking permit
• Use the University Student Portal, SUSSED
• Use the University SharePoint site
• Participate, if you so agree, in approved market research activities (e.g. surveys, focus groups, workshops) about your University experience, including the National Student Survey
• Receive communications about the University community, your studies and your experience as a student
• Enter competitions run by the University
• Receive an accurate invoice for tuition fees where appropriate
• Receive payments from the University for stipends, expense claims, refunds of overpayment etc.
• Track the progress of your research programme online
• Access your personalised teaching and exam timetables
• Engage with clinical and other placements related to your programme
• Add your research outputs and other research activities to Pure
• Add your research publications to the institutional repository
• Study at partner institutions under a collaborative arrangement
• Register to vote in Southampton
• Raise enquiries and issues, and receive responses, through the University’s enquiry management service
• Access the University Careers Service
• Access services provided by Sport and Wellbeing
• Access services provided by Enabling Services
• Engage with internships and placements supported by the University
• Attend Doctoral Training sessions facilitated by external providers
• Access materials held at the British Library and external providers of library materials
• Receive support from Foundation Schools if you are a medicine student progressing to the UK Foundation Programme
• Apply for and remain in halls accommodation
• Receive appropriate treatment in the case of a medical emergency
• Be covered by University of Southampton insurance whilst on field trips or residential courses
• Continue your relationship with the University of Southampton following your study (further information is available here: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/alumni-supporters/stay-in-touch/privacy-notice.page

This data is processed to enable us to:

• Maintain accurate records related to your study at the University of Southampton
• Support you in your studies at the University
• Provide you with Transcripts, Diploma Supplements and Certificates showing your qualifications awarded and/or modules studied
• Fulfil our legal data reporting obligations to statutory bodies such as the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
• Ensure you receive appropriate funding and are invoiced for the correct tuition fees
• Comply with UK immigration legislation
• Monitor attendance to ensure that students sponsored by the University under Tier 4 of the UK’s immigration legislation are engaging with their studies
• Monitor attendance to identify students who may need additional support or pastoral care
• Compile records of attendance through the monitoring of doorway access to laboratory and workshop facilities
• Register with a Professional, Statutory or Regulatory Body if applicable depending on your Programme
• Make payments to your bank account where necessary
• Invoice a third party for payment of your tuition fees
• Made decisions about applications for special considerations
• Review and resolve cases of academic integrity, appeals, complaints, discipline, fitness to practice and fitness to study
• Respond to any queries you may have by referring to previous contact records
• Provide your Personal Academic Tutor and Module Instructors with your photograph via our Student Systems
• Provide additional support, where required, and ensure that your disability is supported through your studies
• Provide the emergency services with relevant information to ensure that students receive appropriate treatment
• Communicate with you about the University, your student experience and your studies
• Contact you about market research activities (e.g. surveys, focus groups, workshops) about your University experience to improve services to students, including via text message
• Contact you about competitions run by the University
• Provide you with the facilities and systems to support your studies and research
• Provide you with information about employment opportunities and the careers support available from the University
• Provide you with information about relevant training and development opportunities related to your studies
• Provide you with any additional support you may require based on your identified needs
• Identify whether you are eligible for internal or external scholarships
• Analyse our student population to identify different student groups and provide tailored services to these groups as necessary
• Ensure that only students enrolled at the University are in halls accommodation
• Provide you with appropriate Doctoral Training sessions and book accommodation for you in Southampton if you are not Southampton based so you can attend these sessions
• Send you communications about your use of the library and library services such as placing holds, overdue books
• Carry out analysis and develop business intelligence in order to monitor institutional performance, e.g. how we are performing against our institutional goals and performance indicators
• Fulfil our legal obligation to respond to Freedom of Information requests.  Information will be redacted before disclosure to reduce the risk of any individuals being identifiable from it
• Carry out analysis to verify data published about the university such as in newspaper articles or league tables
• Provide information and data for publications about the University, which will be redacted to reduce the risk of any individuals being identifiable from it unless you consent to being identified
• Provide appropriate insurance for students participating in field trips or residential courses
• Ensure that staff accompanying field trips or residential courses are aware of any relevant health conditions or allergies
• Contribute to research into medical education if you are studying Medicine
• Make decisions about your ability to continue on a programme which leads to registration as a nurse or a doctor if you have a criminal conviction

We ask for your consent to share your name, ID, date of birth, term time address and details of your programme with local councils for the purpose of Council Tax exemption.  We also ask for your consent to share your University email address with Southampton City Council if you are eligible to register to vote in Southampton.

You have the right to withdraw your consent to either of the above processing purposes at any time. To withdraw your consent to either activity, please contact studentrecords@soton.ac.uk. Once we have received notification that you have withdrawn your consent for a particular personal data processing activity, we will advise the appropriate Council and update our records to indicate that you no longer consent to sharing this data for such purpose.

We will only process your data for the specific purpose or purposes that we tell you about, or if specifically permitted by the Data Protection Legislation, and will only process your data to the extent necessary to achieve that specific purpose or purposes.

We always aim to keep your data accurate and up to date. You can amend your contact details via the My Student Record button on SUSSED.  Other data that is inaccurate can be amended on your request. Please notify your Student Office if your personal details change or if personal data we hold about you is inaccurate.

We obtain your data either directly from you or indirectly from third party sources with whom you have had direct contact, such as UCAS or reputable international agents.  We will always look to ensure that the third party has the lawful authority to share this data with us and has collected it from you fairly.

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected data security breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected breach where we are legally required to do so. In addition, we limit access to your data to those employees of the University who have a business need-to-know. They will only process your data on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We create and hold your data both electronically and on paper.   We will retain your core student record, including personal data, permanently after you have enrolled so that we can identify that you have been a student at the University of Southampton and verify any awards achieved.  For more information about the length that we retain certain types of data generally for different purposes in providing educational and research services, please see our Data Retention Schedule at: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/about/governance/regulations-policies-guidelines.page

Your data will be shared internally within the University for the purposes of processing your enrolment and providing you with educational services.  

All third-party data recipients are required to take appropriate security measures to protect your data in line with our policies. We do not allow our third-party data recipients to use your personal data for their own purposes unless they have been approved by us as lawful in compliance with Data Protection Legislation. We only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

Exceptionally, we may disclose your data with a third party if required to do so: to protect or defend the University’s rights, interests, or property, or those of third parties; act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of University constituents, or the public; or protect against legal liability.

Publication of examination results on the Internet, and disclosure of personal information relating to overseas and sponsored students and exchange and collaborative programmes, among others, may involve a transfer of personal information to a country outside of the European Economic Area. In each case, whenever we transfer your personal information out of the EEA, the University will endeavour to ensure a similar degree of data protection is afforded to it in the recipient country by implementing appropriate safeguards.

The University also reserves the right to release appropriate and relevant information to your parent, guardian or sponsor to protect your vital interests (life and death issues) or the vital interests of a third party, or to ensure or facilitate payment of any fees due to the University.

None of the personal data collected about you will be used as part of any automated decision making process, or to build a profile of you.

You have a number of rights. You can:

• access and obtain a copy of your data on request;
• require us to change incorrect or incomplete data. Please amend your contact details via the My Student Record button on SUSSED or notify your Student Office;
• require us to delete or stop processing your data, for example where the data is no longer necessary for the purposes of processing;
• object to the processing of your data where we are relying on our legitimate interests as the legal ground for processing; and
• ask us to stop processing data for a period if data is inaccurate or there is a dispute about whether or not your interests override the organisation's legitimate grounds for processing data.

If you would like to exercise these rights please use our online form or write to:

The Data Protection Officer

Legal Services

University of Southampton, Highfield

Southampton, SO171BJ

Email: data.protection@soton.ac.uk

We also have additional policies and guidelines concerning particular activities. If you would like further information, please see our Publication Scheme at: http://www.southampton.ac.uk/about/governance/regulations-policies-guidelines.page#publication_scheme.

If you are unhappy with the way that we have handled your data you can contact us at:

Student and Academic Administration

B37/2035, Highfield Campus, Southampton SO17 1BJ UK.

Email: studentrecords@soton.ac.uk

Telephone:  +44(0)23 8059 5000

Alternatively, you can contact the UK Information Commissioner’s Office. See their website at: https://ico.org.uk/. We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please do contact us in the first instance at studentrecords@soton.ac.uk