Cookie Notice

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This Privacy Notice describes what St Helens College (St Helens College is the legal entity that trades as both St Helens College and Knowsley Community College) does with the personal information you provide it with.

Occasionally you will be asked to give the College personal information about yourself in order to become a student or client, to use College systems and services etc.

It applies to information the College collects about:

  • Visitors to the College’s websites
  • People who use or may use the College’s services. This includes for example: -
    • individuals who undertake a course of study through the College
    • St Helens College Alumni
    • employers who purchase training from the College
    • employers who take a student on work experience or placement
    • employers who employ an Apprentice
    • Members of the College workforce, volunteers and applicants for College vacancies
    • Individuals who are customers of other parts of St Helens College’s business including Colours Restaurant, the Salon, the Creche, the Florist
    • Individuals who request information from the College.
    • Visitors to the College

If you are asked to provide information to us, it will only be used in the ways described in this Privacy Notice.

The Privacy Notice will be updated on occasion and the latest version will be published on the College’s website.

If you have any questions about this policy, please contact the Data Protection Officer (DPO) at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or FAO Data Protection Officer (DPO), St Helens College, Water Street, St Helens, WA10 1PP

The categories of the information that the College collects, holds and shares includes, but is not limited to:

  • Personal information (such as name, student number, address, date of birth, national insurance number, photograph)
  • Contact information (which may include phone number, email and postal address)
  • Educational information (including qualifications, predicted grades, learning support needs, attendance information – number of absences and reasons and individual achievements)
  • Characteristics (such as gender and if the same as at birth, age, ethnicity, first language, nationality, country of birth and free school meal eligibility)
  • Photograph is used and stored for College ID badges
  • Financial information (bank details)
  • Information about personal preferences and interests
  • Company information (financial, staff, training needs analysis)
  • Website usage data
  • Alumni information
  • Staff contract information (start dates, hours worked, post, roles and salary information, annual leave entitlement, employment history and professional development etc.)

How we use this data

The information will be used for purposes relating to education, training, employment, general advice services, well-being and research. The College may share non-sensitive personal information about you with other organisations.

Most of the information is passed to Government agencies to meet funding arrangements. The College is a Data Processor for the Education and Skills Funding Agency. This means that the College will pass most of the personal information and some of the sensitive information provided to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). Where necessary it is also shared with the Department for Education (DfE).

The information is used for the exercise of functions of these Government departments and to meet statutory responsibilities, including under the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009. It is also used to create and maintain a unique learner number (ULN) and a Personal Learning Record (PLR).

It is used:

  • To process applications, enrolments and workforce development programmes and contracts
  • For the College’s own internal records so that it can provide you with a high quality service
  • To contact individuals in response to a specific enquiry
  • To customise the College’s services so they work better for individuals
  • To contact individuals about services, products, offers and other things provided by the College which it thinks may be relevant
  • To contact individuals via e-mail, telephone or mail for research purposes

At no time will the College assume permission to use information which is provided for anything other than the reasons stated here.

The information provided may be shared with other organisations for purposes of administration, the provision of career and other guidance and statistical and research purposes, relating to education, training, employment and well-being.
This will only take place where the sharing is in compliance with the Data Protection Act.

Individuals may be contacted after they have completed their programme of learning to establish whether they have entered employment or gone onto further training or education.

Individuals may be contacted by the English European Social Fund (ESF) Managing Authority, or its agents, to carry out research and evaluation to inform the effectiveness of the programme.

Further information about use of and access to personal data, and details of organisations with whom the data is regularly shared are available at: http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sfa-privacy-notice

In summary, St Helens College has identified that it meets a number of lawful basis for processing (as set out in Article 6 of the GDPR): processing is necessary for a contract you have with the individual, the processing is necessary for you to comply with the law and processing is necessary for your legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of a third party.

Security

The College will hold information securely. To prevent unauthorised disclosure or access to information, it has strong organisational and technical security safeguards. If information is shared with another organisation (reasons for this are given in the section below) it will ensure an Information Sharing Agreement is in place.

The College follows stringent procedures to ensure it works with all personal data in line with the General Data Protection Regulation 2018.

Information Sharing and Disclosure

The College does not sell or rent personal information.

Information may, by necessity, be disclosed to appropriate staff members of St Helens College and to government bodies (as previously outlined).

Information may be shared with third parties if it is in connection with the service being provided to individuals, for example, the College might share information with market research companies contracted to undertake work on its behalf to assess satisfaction with the College’s service. When the College does this it will always ensure an Information Sharing Agreement is in place.

If, as part of the entry requirements for a course or if an individual is applying for a job with St Helens College, the College needs to take up a reference or obtain ‘disclosure’ from the Disclosure and Barring Service, it will inform you beforehand.

Any personal information the College hold about individuals is processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018. Under the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), young people aged 16 and over can decide for themselves and give consent for the processing of their personal information.

Rental consent is not required. There may be exceptions in regards of students with severe learning difficulties, school link students and those who are otherwise unable to decide for themselves.

The College has found that it is very beneficial to the young person’s progress as a student if the College is able to engage with the parents (or guardian/carer). Therefore this College policy confirms that the College will provide relevant educational information to the parents of students under the age of 18. The College will collect parental details on its systems for these purposes.

Students are asked for their consent for sharing information with parents/others on the enrolment form or when enrolling face-to-face. Students may also inform the College later of who the College may discuss their college matters with. Students may withdraw their consent the same way which they gave it.

In general, the College can only share information if it has the person’s consent, or there is a particular piece of legislation or agreement allowing it to share without consent.

Visitors to website

When someone visits www.sthelens.ac.uk and www.knowsleycollege.ac.uk the College collect standard internet log information and visitor details of behaviour patterns. It does this to find out things such as the number of visitors to the different parts of the site. It collects the information in a way which does not identify anyone. If it does want to collect personally identifiable information through its website it will be up front about this and will make the purpose clear.

College sites

All College sites operate CCTV, individuals may be filmed in line with the guidance provided by the Information Commissioner. It is mandatory for all College students and staff to wear a College ID badge, which will feature a photograph of that individual. Any visitors to the College will be asked to sign in at reception, a photograph will be taken and they will be issued with a visitor badge.

Use of Cookies

A cookie is a small file placed on a computer’s hard drive. It enables the College’s website to identify a computer as individuals views different pages on its website.

Cookies allow websites and applications to store preferences in order to present content, options or functions that are specific to individuals. They also enable the College to see information like how many people use the website and what pages they tend to visit.

All cookies used by this website are used in accordance with the current Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 as amended by the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011.

Cookies do not provide the College with access to an individuals’ computer or any information about them, other than that which they choose to share.

Individuals can use their web browser’s cookie settings to determine how the College’s website uses cookies. If an individual does not want the College website to store cookies on their computer or device they should set their web browser to refuse cookies. However, please note that doing this may affect how the College’s website functions. Some pages and services may become unavailable to the individual.

Unless an individual has changed their browser to refuse cookies, the College’s website will issue cookies when it is visited.

Controlling Information about Individuals

When individuals fill in a form or provide their details on the College’s website, there may be one or more tick boxes allowing them to:

  • Opt in to receive marketing communications from the College by e-mail, telephone, text message or post
  • If individuals have agreed that the College can use their information for marketing purposes, individuals can change their mind easily via one of the following methods:
    • Send an e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
    • Write to us – Data Protection Officer, St Helens College, Water Street, St Helens. WA10 1PP

The College will not lease, distribute or sell personal information to third parties unless they have permission or the law requires us to. Any individual can request that the College delete their personal data. This request for erasure can be made by contacting the DPO.

As the GDPR regulation doesn’t provide an absolute right to be forgotten by an organisation the College will review each request for erasure and will be assessed on a case by case basis.

Links from the College Website

The College website may contain links to other websites. Please note that the St Helens College have no control of websites outside of www.sthelens.ac.uk. and www.knowsleycollege.ac.uk. If an individual provides information to a website to which the College links, it is not responsible for its protection and privacy. Individuals are advised to read the privacy policy or statement of other websites prior to using them.

People who use the College services

The College hold the details individuals provide in order to deliver programmes of study, Apprenticeships, workforce development programmes and other services which meet specific needs.
It only use these details to provide the service an individual has requested and for other closely related purposes. For example, it might use information about people who have enquired about a course to carry out a survey to find out if they are happy with the level of service they have received or it might use information about an employer offering a student work experience to contact them about a new Apprenticeship scheme or grant.

Individuals are able to request that the College stop contacting them at any time.
Information may by necessity be disclosed to appropriate staff members of the St Helens College and to government bodies [to fulfil the College’s statutory responsibilities] such as the Education and Skills Funding Agency, Ofsted, the Department for Education and auditors or to local partners. Any personal information the College hold about individuals is processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018.

People who request information from St Helens College

If an individual requests information from the College by letter, telephone, email, submitting an enquiry card or from a sales appointment, the College will make a record of that enquiry and will use the information to provide the individual with a response. It will only use the information for these purposes and to provide a follow up service to ensure that it provided the individual with what they asked for.

Individuals are able to request that the College stop contacting them at any time.
Any emails sent to the College, including attachments, may be monitored. Please be aware that individuals have a responsibility to ensure that any email they send the College is in the bounds of the law.

Accessing Your Own Personal Information

Individuals have the right to ask for a copy of any of their personal information held by St Helens College. They can make a ‘subject access request’ under the Data Protection Act 2018. To make a request contact please contact the DPO.

Complaints or Queries

If there are any questions about the College’s collection and use of personal data please contact our Data Protection Officer on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Alternatively you can write to us: FAO Data Protection Officer, St Helens College, Water Street, St Helens. WA10 1PP.

Changes to This Privacy Notice

The College will keep this Privacy Notice under regular review and reserve the right to change it as necessary from time-to-time or if required by law. Any changes will be immediately posted on the website.