School Admissions Privacy Notice
This privacy notice explains how Cheshire West and Chester Council uses personal information to deliver its School Admissions and Appeals service.
The service allocates school places and administers statutory admission appeals in line with national legislation and guidance. As part of this process, the Council also completes an automatic eligibility assessment for home to school travel assistance following National Offer Day for children starting secondary school.
The travel assistance eligibility assessment is carried out by the Council’s Transport Commissioning Service, using information provided by the School Admissions team. This notice explains what information is used, why it is used, who it is shared with, and how long it is kept.
What information we collect, use, and why
Cheshire West and Chester Council collects and uses personal information to deliver the School Admissions and Appeals service, including allocating school places, administering statutory admission appeals, and completing automatic eligibility assessments for home to school travel assistance.
The information we collect depends on whether it relates to:
- the child or young person, or
- the parent or carer making the application or appeal.
We only collect information that is relevant, necessary, and lawful to carry out these statutory functions. Information is grouped into personal data and special category data. The service does not routinely process criminal conviction data.
Personal Data
Information about the child or young person
To identify the child and determine eligibility for admission and appeal processes.
To support coordination of admissions, transfers, and appeals.
To apply published oversubscription criteria accurately.
To support fair access processes and statutory decision‑making.
To apply statutory priority within admissions arrangements.
To administer appeals and complete automatic eligibility checks for home to school travel assistance.
Information about the parent or carer
To communicate with you about applications, offers, appeals, and related decisions.
To confirm parental responsibility and eligibility to apply or appeal.
Technical information
To maintain the security and integrity of the Council’s online admissions systems.
Special Category Data
Special category data is collected only where it is necessary to apply admissions criteria fairly, make reasonable adjustments, or meet statutory safeguarding duties. This includes:
To ensure applications and appeals are handled in line with statutory SEND duties.
Where required to administer applications to designated faith schools.
For equality monitoring and to ensure fair access to education.
To ensure access to education and appropriate application of admissions processes.
Special category data is handled with additional safeguards and used only for the purposes outlined above.
Criminal Data
The School Admissions and Appeals service does not routinely collect or use criminal conviction or offence data.
Sources of Information
The information used for the School Admissions and Appeals service is obtained from the following sources where it is necessary to carry out the Council’s statutory functions.
Parents and carers
Most information is provided directly by parents or carers when submitting school applications, appeals, or supporting information. This includes details about the child, school preferences, and information required to apply admissions criteria or consider appeals.
Schools and educational settings
Information is obtained from maintained schools, academies, and other education providers to support the coordination of admissions, transfers, and appeals. This includes confirmation of current or previous school attendance and information required to administer appeals.
Other local authorities in England
Information is shared with and received from other English local authorities to coordinate admissions and appeals across council boundaries, in line with the School Admissions Code and statutory coordination arrangements.
Welsh local authorities
As Cheshire West and Chester borders Wales, information is also shared with and received from Welsh local authorities where children live in one country and attend, or are applying to attend, a school in the other.
This information sharing supports cross‑border admissions coordination, appeals, and continuity of education and is carried out in accordance with education legislation and data protection law.
Internal council services
Information is shared with and obtained from other council services where this is required to deliver the admissions process lawfully and fairly. This includes:
To confirm residency where required by admissions criteria.
To support automatic eligibility assessments for home to school travel assistance, including extended rights for low‑income families.
Where relevant to statutory duties, safeguarding, or Education, Health and Care Plan processes.
To complete automatic eligibility assessments for travel assistance and support service delivery where eligibility is confirmed.
Department for Education (DfE)
Information is shared with the Department for Education on a statutory basis, including under the Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2013, to meet national reporting and compliance requirements.
Information is collected only where it is relevant, necessary, and lawful to deliver the School Admissions and Appeals service and is handled in accordance with data protection legislation and council policies.
What is your personal information used for?
Personal information is used to carry out Cheshire West and Chester Council’s statutory functions in relation to school admissions, admission appeals, and related education services. This includes using information to:
To process school applications, apply published admissions criteria fairly and consistently, and allocate school places in line with the School Admissions Code.
To work with schools, other English local authorities, and Welsh local authorities to coordinate applications, offers, and transfers where children live in one area and attend, or are applying to attend, school in another.
To manage the admission appeals process, including preparing appeal documentation, arranging appeal panels, recording decisions, and communicating outcomes to parents and carers.
To assess eligibility for travel assistance following National Offer Day for children starting secondary school, and to share information with the Transport Commissioning Service where required to support this assessment and service delivery.
To ensure applications and appeals are handled appropriately for children who are looked after or previously looked after, have special educational needs, disabilities, medical needs, or other circumstances relevant to admissions or appeals.
To identify, manage, and respond to safeguarding concerns where information indicates a risk to a child or young person’s welfare, and to share information with relevant services where required by law.
To provide information to the Department for Education and other statutory bodies, and to maintain accurate records of decisions and actions taken.
To produce anonymised or aggregated statistics that support pupil place planning, school organisation, and the effective delivery of education services.
Personal information is used only where it is relevant, necessary, and lawful to perform these functions and is handled in accordance with data protection legislation and council policies.
Who do we share your personal information with?
Cheshire West and Chester Council shares personal information only where it is necessary, lawful, and relevant to deliver the School Admissions and Appeals service and to meet statutory duties. Information is shared on a need‑to‑know basis and only with organisations involved in education provision, appeals, safeguarding, or related statutory functions.
Information is shared with the following organisations and services:
Including maintained schools and academies named on applications or involved in appeals, to coordinate admissions, confirm offers, and support the appeals process.
Information is shared with independent appeal panel members and appointed clerks to enable them to consider appeals fairly, make decisions, and record outcomes in line with the School Admission Appeals Code.
Information is shared with the Department for Education on a statutory basis to meet national reporting, monitoring, and compliance requirements, including under the Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2013.
Information is shared with the Council’s Transport Commissioning Service to complete the automatic eligibility assessment for home to school travel assistance following National Offer Day and to support service delivery where eligibility is confirmed.
Information is shared with other council services where required to deliver the admissions and appeals process lawfully and fairly. This includes:
- Benefits services, to support assessments for extended rights to travel assistance
- Council Tax services, to confirm residency where required by admissions criteria
- SEND and Children’s Services, where relevant to statutory duties, safeguarding, or Education, Health and Care Plan processes
- Legal and Democratic Services, to support the administration and governance of admission appeals
Where information identifies a safeguarding concern, it is shared with relevant safeguarding services in line with statutory duties to protect children and young people.
All organisations receiving personal information are required to handle it securely and in accordance with data protection legislation. Information is shared only for the purposes outlined in this notice.
Data Processors
Cheshire West and Chester Council uses data processors to support the delivery and administration of the School Admissions and Appeals service. Data processors act on behalf of the Council and process personal information only in accordance with the Council’s instructions and data protection legislation.
Data processors support activities including:
Secure electronic systems used to record school applications, offers, waiting lists, appeal documentation, decisions, and related correspondence.
Council‑approved systems used to receive and manage school applications and supporting information submitted online.
Systems used to share information securely between the School Admissions service and the Transport Commissioning Service to support automatic eligibility assessments for home to school travel assistance and service delivery where eligibility is confirmed.
Corporate IT and cloud service providers used to host, store, and protect personal information, including scanned documents and internal records.
All data processors are subject to contractual obligations requiring them to:
- process personal information only on the Council’s instructions,
- keep information secure,
- apply appropriate technical and organisational safeguards, and
- not use the information for their own purposes.
The Council reviews its data processors regularly to ensure they continue to meet data protection and security requirements.
Data Controller
Cheshire West and Chester Council is the Data Controllers for this processing.
The Lawful Basis for Processing
Cheshire West and Chester Council processes personal information for the School Admissions and Appeals service as part of its statutory education and safeguarding functions. The Council does not rely on consent as a lawful basis for processing under the UK GDPR.
Personal information is often provided directly by parents or carers as part of an application or appeal. However, the Council’s ability to process this information does not depend on consent, and information continues to be processed where necessary to meet statutory duties, even where an individual does not engage further.
Personal Data – UK GDPR Article 6
The Council processes personal data under the following lawful bases:
UK GDPR Article 6(1)(e) – Public Task
Processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority. This includes the Council’s statutory responsibilities for:
- allocating school places,
- administering admission appeals,
- coordinating admissions across local authority boundaries, and
- assessing eligibility for home to school travel assistance.
UK GDPR Article 6(1)(c) – Legal Obligation
Processing is necessary to comply with legal obligations, including statutory requirements relating to education, admissions, appeals, safeguarding, and national reporting.
Where parents or carers are asked to confirm information or agree to procedural steps (for example, appeal arrangements or information sharing with specific partners), this supports transparency and service delivery and must not be confused with consent under the UK GDPR.
Special Category Data – UK GDPR Article 9
Where the Council processes special category data (such as information about special educational needs, disability, health, religion, ethnicity, or safeguarding concerns), it does so lawfully under:
UK GDPR Article 9(2)(g) – Substantial Public Interest, supported by
Data Protection Act 2018, Schedule 1, Part 2, including:
- Paragraph 8 – Equality of opportunity or treatment
Processing necessary to monitor and promote fairness, inclusion, and equal access to education. - Paragraph 16 – Support for individuals with a particular disability or medical condition
Processing necessary to apply admissions criteria fairly and to make reasonable adjustments. - Paragraph 18 – Safeguarding of children and individuals at risk
Processing necessary to protect the welfare of children and respond to safeguarding concerns.
The Council also relies on:
UK GDPR Article 9(2)(h) where processing is necessary for the management of education support linked to health or disability, including coordination with SEND services.
Special category data is processed only where it is necessary, proportionate, and directly relevant to the delivery of the School Admissions and Appeals service.
Legislation relied upon
The Council’s processing of personal data for this service is supported by the following legislation and statutory guidance, including but not limited to:
- School Standards and Framework Act 1998
- Education Act 1996
- School Admissions Code (2021)
- School Admission Appeals Code (2022)
- Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2013
- Children Act 1989 and Children Act 2004 (safeguarding duties)
- Local Government Act 1972
- Equality Act 2010
International Data Transfers
The School Admissions and Appeals service primarily stores and processes personal information within the United Kingdom.
In some circumstances, personal information is shared with organisations or authorities outside the UK where this is necessary to support a child’s access to education, safeguard their welfare, or ensure continuity of education. This includes situations where a child or family:
- has recently arrived in the UK from another country, including children from asylum‑seeking or refugee families,
- has previously lived or been educated outside the UK and relevant information is required to support admission or appeal decisions, or
- is moving from the UK to another country and information is shared to support continuity of education or statutory duties.
Where personal information is transferred outside the UK, Cheshire West and Chester Council ensures that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect the information and uphold the rights of children and families.
These safeguards include:
Transfers to countries recognised by the UK government as providing an adequate level of data protection.
Use of legally approved safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) or International Data Transfer Agreements (IDTAs) where no adequacy decision applies.
Transfers that are necessary to meet statutory education duties, protect a child’s welfare, or support significant public interest functions.
Secure transfer methods, access controls, and data minimisation to ensure only the information required for the specific purpose is shared.
International transfers are carried out only where they are necessary, proportionate, and lawful, and only the minimum information required is shared.
Retention Period
Cheshire West and Chester Council retains personal information only for as long as it is necessary to deliver the School Admissions and Appeals service, meet statutory education and safeguarding duties, and comply with legal and regulatory requirements. All information is retained in accordance with the Council’s Corporate Retention Schedule.
The retention periods applied to School Admissions and Appeals information are set out below.
School admissions records
Records relating to school applications, offers, waiting lists, and associated correspondence are retained for 7 years from the end of the academic year to which the application relates.
This supports statutory accountability, audit, and the handling of complaints or legal challenge.
Admission appeal records
Records relating to statutory school admission appeals, including appeal papers, panel decisions, and correspondence, are retained until the child or young person’s 25th birthday.
Special educational needs and disability information
Where information relating to special educational needs or Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) is used as part of the admissions or appeals process, it is retained until the service user’s 31st birthday, in line with statutory education retention requirements.
Looked‑after and previously looked‑after children
Where admissions or appeal records relate to a looked‑after or previously looked‑after child, information is retained until the service user’s 75th birthday, or for 15 years from the date of death if the child dies before the age of 18. This reflects statutory safeguarding and corporate parenting responsibilities.
Home to school travel assistance (automatic eligibility assessment)
Records relating to the automatic eligibility assessment for home to school travel assistance and any associated service delivery are retained for 7 years from the date of the decision or last action, in line with transport and education service retention requirements.
Complaints and service‑related correspondence
Records relating to complaints or challenges about School Admissions or Appeals are retained as follows:
- Routine complaints: up to 3 years
- Complex complaints or Ombudsman involvement: 7 years
Anonymised reporting and planning
Where information is used for pupil place planning, service monitoring, or reporting purposes, it is anonymised so that individuals are no longer identifiable.
Anonymised information is retained without time limit, as it no longer constitutes personal data.
When retention periods expire, personal information is securely destroyed or anonymised in accordance with the Council’s records management policies.
Your Rights
The UK GDPR provides you with a several rights to control what personal information is used by us and how it is used by us.
Further guidance about these rights can be accessed from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website
If you are not happy about the way your personal data is being used, or you require further information about how we process your personal data, you can contact Council’s Data Protection Team:-
- Online: Contact the DPO
- By post: Data Protection Officer, The Portal, Wellington Road, Ellesmere Port, CH65 0BA
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office using the following details:
- Website: Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)
- Instant Message: Live Chat
- By post: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
- Telephone: 0303 123 1113