Requesting my old school records?

[william123]

I'm interested in getting my school records that the authorities have through freedom of information, mainly old speical educational statements. How do I go about this? Who do I write too and how do I go about it? Thanks BTW I left scholl eight years ago. Who holds them?

Edited May 17, 2010 by william123

[ErikaPNP]

If the information you have pertains to yourself, you request them under the data protection act (section 7). The freedom of information act is not for requesting personal data - that is for public information.

 

You would need to initially contact the school that you attended to find out where you would need to write to. Alternatively, you can address the letter to the data controller of the education authority. If the school no longer exists, the education authority for the area may be able to help. Given the length of time that schools are expected to hold records and given the volume of pupils that schools cater for on a yearly basis, it is unlikely that the records will still be held within the school. They will likely be in remote storage of some sort.

 

There is a statutory maximum fee for this type of request which is £10.

[buzby]

I think you;re stuffed. My local council advised they only retain pupil records for 5 years, as the DPA prevents ongoing retention if no education services are being used.

[ErikaPNP]

There are lengthly retention periods for SEN records. Usually in the region of 25 - 35 years.

[buzby]

True but not all pupils have SEN records. Even then, should they exist, the retention period is variable.

[ErikaPNP]

The original post is in regard to requesting a part of SEN records. The retention period is variable, of that there is no dispute, after all they are guidelines only. However it is usually in the minimum region of 25 years, with some local authorities retention periods on SEN records is 35 years. Many local authorities hold them for longer because of potential legal challenges which may be brought by the ex pupils as adults.

 

Example (page 4 of PDF)

 

 

Example (page 27 of PDF)

 

 

Example (page 31 of PDF)

[buzby]

And the point I was making, was that as not all pupils have SEN's it would be incorrect to assume there would be, so surely, the first task is to ascertain whether they DO actually exist, before moving on to whether they are within a relevant retention period?

 

Non SEN records are routinely destroyed in the manner I previously described, and I recall at a PTA meeting that teachers were often using the term to describe ANY child data (incorrectly). Little wonder there is so much confusion.

[ErikaPNP]

If someone posts about SEN then I will answer the question with specific relevance of SEN - that is what they want to know.

 

A pupil record (in accordance with the current guidelines) should not be destroyed until the pupil has attained 25 years of age.

 

Responsibility for the pupil record once the pupil leaves the school

 

The school which the pupil attended until statutory school leaving age (or the school where the pupil completed sixth form studies) is responsible for retaining the pupil record until the pupil reaches the age of 25 years. This retention is set in line with the Limitation Act 1980 which allows that a claim can be made against an organisation by minor for up to 7 years from their 18th birthday.

Source - see "managing pupil records" doc.