Overview
Westerfield College is registered as a data controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Our registration reference is ZB826082.
You can refer to the College’s Data Protection Policy for more information about our commitment to processing personal data in a way that is compliant with applicable data protection legislation.
The Data Protection Officer for the Westerfield College is Michael Dosunmu, Head of Compliance. If you have any queries concerning your personal data and how it is processed, you can contact the Data Protection Officer at [email protected].
The basis for processing your personal data
We process personal data to provide administrative and support services to our students and staff; to promote the College and recruit students; to maintain our records, accounts, and commercial activities; and to manage the overall running of the College and maintenance of its campus, including monitoring and evaluating its performance and effectiveness.
Additionally, we process personal data because it is necessary for the performance of a contract, or in order to take steps at an individual’s request prior to entering a contract. For example, this may include interacting with individuals before they are enrolled as a student, as part of the admissions process, or the recruitment and hiring of staff.
We may also need to process personal data to comply with our legal obligations. This can include compliance and regulatory obligations, immigration obligations and safeguarding requirements, or to assist with investigations carried out by the police or other authorities.
We may also process personal data for the purpose of, or in connection with, legal proceedings (including prospective legal proceedings), for the purpose of obtaining legal advice, or when necessary for the purposes of establishing, exercising or defending legal rights.
In some cases, we process personal data because it is necessary for our or a third party’s legitimate interests, or in circumstances where we have specific consent to do so. Finally, in limited circumstances, we may also process personal data where it is necessary to protect a person’s vital interests — namely matters of life or death.
Special category data
Personal data may include ‘special categories of data’ as described in data protection legislation, such as information about an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, and physical or mental health.
When we process special category data, we must meet additional conditions in the data protection legislation. Usually, this means having the person’s explicit consent but other examples of situations where we process special category data include:
to meet our employment obligations, such as health and safety requirements for health or social care purposes such as occupational health for reasons of substantial public interest such as ensuring equality of opportunity or treatment, or protecting the public against dishonesty for research purposes, where such research is in the public interest to manage legal claims and proceedings. Information about how and why the College processes special category data, as well as criminal convictions data, and how we safeguard this data can be found on our Data Protection pages and in our Appropriate Policy Document.
Further information about the processing of this type of personal data is published on the ICO’s website.
Personal data we collect about you and how we use it
Information is collected in different ways depending on your interaction with the College and personal data is processed for the purposes outlined below.
Website visitors and enquiries
We collect personal data from visitors to the College’s website through the use of online forms as well as when you email us with an enquiry.
In addition, we collect information automatically about your visit to our website. Further information about cookies is set out below.
We may process personal data collected through this website or other electronic networks used by the College, for the purposes of advertising, marketing, public relations and general advice services, such as:
- the identification of recipients for College services and administration of promotional campaigns
- the advertising and promotion of the College and its services including by direct marketing means
- the advertisement and provision of general advice to members of the public about College services
- the advertisement and promotion of the College through third party products and services
Prospective applicants, & applicants
We collect personal data from individuals who are enquiring about the admissions process and/or considering submitting an application to the College. Should you subsequently enrol at the College, a student record will be created for you.
The data collected from prospective students, students, of the College is used for the following purposes:
Accounts and records
- the administration of accounts and payments
- the collection of fees
- to maintain a central record
- to enable us to fulfil statutory reporting obligations.
Student experiential services
- to allocate housing and to provide campus and residential support for students living in College-managed accommodation
- administration and provision of library services including membership records, information and databank administration
- ticket issue/reservation services and the running of events
- administration and provision of a card administration and provision of pastoral, welfare and support services
- administration and provision of careers guidance and employability activities activities undertaken as part of our commitment to widening participation and access
Employment applicants and staff
We collect personal data via the employment application and recruitment process, and when you enter into a contract as an employee of the College. The way your data is used is outlined below:
Employment applications
- selection processes, including short-listing candidates and interviews
- equality and diversity monitoring
- processing expenses related to interview
- processes pre-employment health screening.
Staff members
- payroll administration and HMRC compliance
- administration of employee pension schemes
- provision of occupational health services, including for pension purposes
- management of absence records
- verification of eligibility/right to work
- administration of flexible working arrangements and remote working
- providing access to secured buildings and to parking facilities
- for monitoring purposes and ensuring compliance with equality and diversity requirements
- reviewing performance and facilitating promotion and reward
- to carry out staff grievance and disciplinary processes
- processing expenses and administrating corporate spending accounts
- administration and provision of computing and IT facilities
- to enable us to fulfil statutory reporting obligations.
Basic personal details can be maintained by contacting your Human Resources representative.
Photography, video and video conferencing
We capture images and videos on campus for our communications and for promotional use on the College’s website, social media channels, and/or print materials, some of which may include individuals.
In cases where individuals are clearly identifiable, consent will be obtained.
The College also records video footage of some events for the purpose of making these available via its website to those who are unable to attend.
Notices will be posted at events and information made available for those who prefer not to appear in any footage.
To enable video conferences and meetings to take place, the College recommends the use of a number of approved technology solutions (e.g. Microsoft Teams and Zoom), which have recording capabilities.
Where recording of meetings or conferences is required, personal data is processed with the consent of those involved where necessary.
CCTV, Body Worn Video devices, and Automated Number Plate Recognition (‘ANPR’)
The College processes personal data through the use of surveillance systems, such as CCTV, Body Worn Video devices and ANPR, to monitor and collect visual and audio recordings to provide a safe environment for students, staff and visitors to the campus and for the purposes of security along with parking.
Such personal data may be used for the prevention and detection of crime; for evidential purposes to support criminal, civil and other proceedings, including disciplinary investigations against staff and students; for assisting in traffic management and parking enforcement; and to assist in Health and Safety requirements and other legal or regulatory compliance obligations.
Retention of personal data
The College will only keep your personal data for 2 years.
Disclosure and transfer of personal data
We will only disclose your personal data to a third party when we are required to by law, where there is a lawful basis for doing so – such as having your specific consent – or where it is necessary and appropriate safeguards are in place.
For instance, we may disclose personal data to:
- companies or suppliers who we work with
relevant government departments and agencies such as the Office for Students, UKVI/the Home Office (in connection with visas and immigration), HMRC, and local authorities (for council tax and electoral registration purposes) or police (e.g. for the purposes of prevention and detection of crime and/or prosecution and apprehension of offenders) - legal representatives
- internal and external auditors
- the College’s insurers (e.g. when dealing with personal claims).
From time to time, the College will transfer personal data outside the United Kingdom. Personal data will only be sent to countries that have equivalent data protection safeguards or where we have arrangements in place to ensure the appropriate safeguarding of data.
Your rights including access to information and correction
You have a number of rights under data protection legislation:
- Information – where personal data is collected from you, you have the right to be given various information about the collection and use of your personal data. This includes details about the purpose(s) for processing and retention periods for that personal data, and who it will be shared with
- Information – where your data is not obtained from you, you have the same right to the information above, as well as details about what personal data is collected and by who
- Access – you have the right to confirmation of whether or not we are processing your personal data and to obtain a copy of your data. This is known as a subject access request
- Rectification – you have the right to rectify any inaccuracies in personal data concerning you
- Erasure – you have the right to be forgotten in some circumstances, i.e. to have your data erased
- Restriction – you have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain ways
- Where there is a request to rectify, erase or restrict the processing of data, we will let any recipients of that data know, where possible. You have the right to know who those recipients are
- Data portability – you have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, and to transfer your data to another controller
- Objection – you have the right to object to certain processing of your personal data by us, such as direct marketing
- Decision making – you have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling
- Withdrawal of consent – Where your consent is the legal basis for our processing, you have the right to withdraw your consent. Not all the rights apply in all circumstances.
For more information, refer to our Data Protection policy for guidance, including on how to submit a subject access request, or contact the Data Protection Officer. Further information about your rights can also be found on the ICO’s website.
You have a right to complain to the ICO about the way your personal data is processed if you have concerns. Information on how to report concerns to the ICO is provided on their website.
Cookies
Cookies are files placed on your computer to collect standard internet log information and visitor behaviour information. This helps us to understand visitor behaviour, to remember your preferences and improve user experience.
For further information about cookies you can visit knowcookies.com
Other websites
Our website may contain links to other websites that are outside our control and are not covered by this privacy notice.
Our notice only applies to the Westerfield College’s website so when you link to other websites, you should read their own privacy policies.
Changes to our Privacy notice
We keep our privacy notice under regular review and the notice was last updated on 18 December 2025.
How to contact us If you have any questions about our privacy notice or the personal data we hold about you, you can contact the College’s Data Protection Officer by email at [email protected] or you can write to Michael Dosunmu, Data Protection Officer, Westerfield College, Abberley, Worcester, WR6 6DD, UK.
