Privacy Policy

Open Academy London is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal data openly and lawfully. This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect when you visit our website, enquire about or enrol on a course, or otherwise interact with us, why we collect it, how we use and protect it, and the rights you have over it.

This policy applies to prospective, current and former learners, and to visitors to our website. We process personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Open Academy London Limited is the "data controller" responsible for your personal data.

• Legal entity: Open Academy London Limited
• Company number: 12049808
• Registered / postal address: 111, Cumberland House, 80 Scrubs Lane, London NW10 6RF
• Contact for data protection queries: info@openacademylondon.co.uk or +44 7579 779644

Depending on your relationship with us, we may collect and process the following categories of personal data:

• Identity data – your name, date of birth and gender.
• Contact data – address, telephone number and email address.
• Background data – details of your previous qualifications, employment and educational history, nationality, residency and previous address where applicable, and ethnicity.
• Health and learning support data – information about medical or health conditions, and whether you have a learning disability or difficulty, so we can consider reasonable adjustments and support.
• Criminal offence data – where relevant, to protect the vital interests of others and to support learners appropriately.
• Emergency contacts – optional for learners aged 18 and over at the start of the academic year.
• Parent/carer details – for learners under 18 at the start of the academic year, so we can support their education fully.
• Account and enrolment data – your enrolment details, course progress, assessment submissions and results, and certificates.
• Payment data – billing details and a record of your transactions. We do not store full card numbers on our systems.
• Technical and usage data – IP address, device and browser information, and details of how you use our website via cookies and similar technologies.
• Correspondence – messages you send to our team or tutors.

• Directly from you – when you complete an enquiry or enrolment form, create an account, or contact us.
• Automatically – as you use our website, through cookies and similar technologies.
• From third parties – for example the Department for Education (DfE), a Local Education Authority, your previous school, or an awarding body where you enrol on an accredited course.

We rely on the following lawful bases to process your personal data:

• Legal obligation and public task – some data is collected to meet our statutory obligations as a training provider, including reporting obligations to government funding and skills bodies. Where this applies, we are required to retain that data for the period specified by those bodies.
• Performance of a contract – to deliver the course you enrol on, manage your account, process payments and provide support.
• Vital interests – to hold emergency contact details and to protect the safety of learners and others.
• Consent – for marketing communications and for any special category data (such as health or learning-difficulty information) you choose to share with us for support purposes. Consent can be withdrawn at any time.
• Legitimate interests – to operate, improve and secure our website and services, and to respond to enquiries.

Your information may be shared internally with Open Academy London staff who need it to support your learning. We do not sell your personal data. We may share it with:

• Service providers (processors) acting on our instructions, such as our website, IT, payment and email providers, who are bound by contract to keep your data secure.
• Government and funding bodies, including the Department for Education and its agencies, and the Learner Records Service, where we have a legal obligation to report.
• Awarding bodies and assessors, where you enrol on a course leading to an externally awarded qualification.
• The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), where relevant to safeguarding.
• Professional advisers, such as our accountants, auditors and lawyers, where necessary.
• Authorities, regulators or law enforcement, where we are legally required to do so.

Where we engage third parties to process data on our behalf, we require them to do so under written instructions, subject to a duty of confidentiality, and with appropriate technical and organisational security measures in place.

Where your course is linked to government funding or a nationally recognised qualification, your personal information may also be used by the Department for Education and its agencies to exercise their statutory functions, including creating and maintaining a Unique Learner Number (ULN) and Personal Learning Record (PLR), and may be shared with the relevant Local Authority for learners aged 16–18. This sharing takes place only where the law allows it and in compliance with data protection legislation. Further information on how such bodies use your data is available at gov.uk.

We aim to keep your data within the UK. Where a service provider processes data outside the UK, we ensure an appropriate safeguard is in place, such as UK adequacy regulations or Standard Contractual Clauses, so your data receives an equivalent level of protection.

Data that we are required to hold for government reporting purposes is retained for the period set by the relevant body. Other learner and account data is held for as long as necessary to fulfil our duties as a training provider, including for as long as your account is active and for a reasonable period afterwards; certification records may be kept longer so achievements can be verified. Data provided on the basis of consent may be deleted on request. When data is no longer needed, we securely delete or anonymise it.

We take the security of your data seriously. We have internal policies and controls in place to try to ensure your data is not lost, accidentally destroyed, misused or disclosed, and is only accessed by staff performing their duties. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but we review our measures regularly.

As a data subject, you have the right to:

To exercise any of these rights, email info@openacademylondon.co.uk or contact us on +44 7579 779644. We do not normally charge a fee and aim to respond within one month.

Where a learner is under 18 at the start of the academic year, we collect parent or carer contact details so we can support their education as fully as possible, and will keep parents/carers or supporters informed as appropriate. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13 other than through a parent, carer or school in connection with enrolment.

We do not make decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you based solely on automated processing.

Failure to provide data required to meet our legal obligations may mean we are unable to enrol you as a learner. Failure to provide other information you are not required to give (for example, learning-difficulty information) may mean we are unable to provide the level of support we would otherwise wish to.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or the law. Where changes are significant, we will take reasonable steps to notify you.

If you have any questions about this policy or wish to exercise your rights, contact us at info@openacademylondon.co.uk or +44 7579 779644.

If you believe we have not complied with your data protection rights, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). We would appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns first – see our Complaints Procedure.