1. Introduction

The Office for Students has commissioned the Careers Research & Advisory Centre (CRAC), supported by the Institute of Student Employers (ISE), to conduct an external evaluation of the Challenge Competition which has provided funding for 16 universities to develop projects supporting local graduates.

The Office for Students is committed to protecting any personal information collected during the evaluation and being clear about any information held about individuals and how it is used.

https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/ofs-privacy/

The Office for Students is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – registration number ZA309955.

2. Data controller and processors

For the purpose of this evaluation project, the Office for Students and CRAC are joint Data Controllers. The Office for Students has appointed CRAC to design and manage an online survey of employers within the evaluation project, to be implemented one or more times.

The Office for Students’ Challenge Competition Officer, Jon Baker, is the first point of contact for people who may have concerns about the information being processed. You can contact him by email at Jon.Baker@officeforstudents.org.uk.

3. How we will use your information

We can only use your personal information where we have a specific purpose for doing so and have told you what those reasons are.

This survey has been designed so that no personal information will be collected from respondents.

Results from the survey may be used in evaluation reports that CRAC will write and submit to OfS which will assist the OfS in understanding how a range of interventions may increase the employment outcomes and employability of their graduates who remain in the region of the institution. In these reports, all results will be anonymised.

4. What personal information we will collect

No specific personal information will be collected from you as part of this project, but it is possible that you may be identifiable from the responses that you do provide.

5. Who we give your personal information to

The information you submit will be compiled and temporarily stored by CRAC for the purposes above. Aggregate level results may be published but you will not be identifiable from any of the published outputs of that research (other than in exceptional circumstances in which case it will only be with your explicit agreement). Beyond this, we will not pass your information to any other organisation except where required to do so by law.

6. Where your personal information will be stored

CRAC will create and implement the online survey/s using the Surveymonkey software platform (which is a sub-processor, according to data protection legislation). During data collection, the data may be stored on servers residing outside the UK. Surveymonkey adheres to the highest possible industrial standards for information security:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/legal/privacy-policy/

Information submitted by participants of the surveys conducted will be removed from the online survey platform by 31 December of the year in which they are conducted (or within three months of date of closure of survey if later) and retained by CRAC until 31 March 2023.

7. How we protect your personal information

The Office for Students and CRAC have a number of security measures in place to protect your personal information, listed below:

• All staff are required to undertake training in data protection and information security on joining the organisation and then on an annual basis;
• Formal information security policies that must be read and understood by all staff;
• Personal information and special data is only available to those members of staff who require access as part of their role;
• CRAC’s information and data systems are accredited through the Cyber Essentials scheme;
• CRAC is in the process of obtaining accreditation with the ISO27001 Information Security standard (expected 2021).

8. Changes to this privacy notice
   

We keep our privacy notices under regular review.

This privacy notice was last updated on 20 October 2020