Student data collection notice
We will send some of the information we hold about you to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). This information forms your HESA record, which does not include your contact details.Your contact details may be passed to survey contractors to carry out the National Student Survey and surveys of student finances, on behalf of the education organisations listed below. These organisations and their contractors will use your details only for that purpose, and will then delete them.
About six months after you graduate, we will contact you to ask you to fill in the HESA Destinations of Leavers from HE' questionnaire. We will not give your contact details to HESA. You might be included in a sample of leavers who are surveyed again a few years after they graduate. If so, we will pass your contact details to the organisation that has been contracted to carry out that survey. That organisation will use your details only for that purpose, and will then delete them.
If you do not want to take part in these surveys, please contact the Data Protection Co-ordinator at dataprot@st-andrews.ac.uk.
The HESA record is used for three broad purposes:
1. Statutory functions
The HESA record is used by the organisations listed below, or agents acting on their behalf, to carry out their public functions connected with education in the UK.
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Welsh Assembly Government Scottish Government Department for Employment and Learning, Northern Ireland Higher Education Funding Council for England Higher Education Funding Council for Wales Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council Training and Development Agency for Schools General Teaching Council for EnglandDepartment for EducationGeneral Social Care CouncilResearch CouncilsThe HESA record may also be used by the Office for National Statistics and the National Audit Office to fulfil their statutory functions of measuring population levels
Your HESA record will not otherwise be used in any way that affects you personally.
2. HESA publications
HESA use the HESA record to produce anonymised data in annual statistical publications. These include some National Statistics publications and online management information services.
3. Research, equal opportunity, journalism, other legitimate interest/public function
HESA will also supply anonymised data to third parties for the following purposes:
Equal opportunities monitoring - Your HESA record may contain details of your ethnic group and any disabilities you have. For students domiciled from Northern Ireland and attending an institution in Northern Ireland it may also contain information about religion. This data is only used where it is needed to promote or maintain equality of opportunity or treatment between persons of different racial or ethnic origins, religious beliefs or different states of physical or mental conditionsResearch. This may be academic research, commercial research or other statistical research into education where this is of benefit to the public interest.Journalism, where the relevant publication would be in the public interest e.g. league tablesAnonymised data for the above purposes is supplied by HESA to the following types of user:
Local, regional and national government bodies who have an interest in higher educationHigher education sector bodiesHigher education institutionsAcademic researchers and studentsCommercial organisations (e.g. recruitment firms, housing providers, graduate employers)UnionsNon-governmental organisations and charitiesJournalistsHESA will take precautions to ensure that individuals are not identified from the anonymised data which they process.
Your rights
Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you have rights of access to the data HESA holds about you. You will have to pay a small fee for this. For further information about the HESA record please see www.hesa.ac.uk/dataprot or email data.protection@hesa.ac.uk