School's Workforce Census

The school workforce census is a statutory data collection that takes place each autumn.

Local authorities and schools must complete statutory censuses by law.

The census collects data on all teaching and support staff in regular employment, including those working for:

• local authorities on central contracts
• local-authority-maintained schools
• academies
• free schools, including:
  • studio schools
  • university technical colleges
  • pupil referral units (local authority establishments that provide education for children who cannot attend a mainstream school)

Local authorities are also responsible for:

• co-ordinating and approving the submission of census data from all their maintained schools
• submitting data for centrally employed school staff

We collect and use workforce data to:

1. enable the development of a comprehensive picture of the workforce and how it is deployed
2. inform the development of recruitment and retention policies
3. enable individuals to be paid

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the legal basis / bases we rely on for processing personal information for general purposes are set out within GDPR - Article 6, in addition to the conditions of GDPR - Article 9.

Collecting workforce information

We collect personal information in a variety of ways. For example, data might be contained in application forms, CVs or resumes, obtained from your passport or other identity documents, or collected through interviews or other forms of assessment, including online tests.

We may also collect personal data about you from third parties, such as references supplied by previous employers, information from employment background check providers and information from criminal records checks (for applicable posts) where job offers have been made.

Workforce data is essential for the school’s / local authority’s operational use. Whilst the majority of personal information you provide to us is mandatory, some of it is requested on a voluntary basis. In order to comply with GDPR, we will inform you at the point of collection, whether you are required to provide certain information to us or if you have a choice in this.

The categories of information that we process for schools workforce census include:

• personal information (such as name, employee or teacher number, national insurance number, HCPC number)
• characteristics information (such as gender, age, ethnic group)
• contract information (such as start date, hours worked, post, roles and salary information) 
• work absence information (such as number of absences and reasons)
• qualifications (and, where relevant, subjects taught)

Who we share workforce information with

We routinely share this information with:

• our local authority (where applicable)
• the Department for Education (DfE)

Why we share school workforce information

We do not share information about our workforce members with anyone without consent unless the law and our policies allow us to do so.

Local Authority Schools are required to share information about our workforce members with the local authority (LA) under section 5 of the Education (Supply of Information about the School Workforce) (England) Regulations 2007 and amendments.

Department for Education

The Department for Education (DfE) collects personal data from educational settings and local authorities via various statutory data collections. We are required to share information about school employees with the Department for Education (DfE) under section 5 of the Education (Supply of Information about the School Workforce) (England) Regulations 2007 and amendments.

All data is transferred securely and held by DfE under a combination of software and hardware controls which meet the current government security policy framework.

For more information, read the ‘How Government uses your data’ section.

For privacy information on the data the Department for Education (DfE) collects and uses, ready the personal data the Department for Education (DfE) processes for education providers and teachers.

How Government uses your data

The workforce data that we lawfully share with the DfE through data collections:

• informs departmental policy on pay and the monitoring of the effectiveness and diversity of the school workforce
• links to school funding and expenditure
• supports ‘longer term’ research and monitoring of educational policy

Data collection requirements

To find out more about the data collection requirements placed on us by the Department for Education including the data that we share with them, go to: Data collection and censuses for schools (GOV.UK).

Sharing by the Department

The Department may share information about school employees with third parties who promote the education or wellbeing of children or the effective deployment of school staff in England by:

• conducting research or analysis
• producing statistics
• providing information, advice or guidance

The Department for Education (DfE) will only share your personal data where it is lawful, secure and ethical to do so and has robust processes in place to ensure that the confidentiality of personal data is maintained and there are stringent controls in place regarding access to it and its use. Decisions on whether the Department for Education (DfE) releases personal data to third parties are subject to a strict approval process and based on a detailed assessment of public benefit, proportionality, legal underpinning and strict information security standards.

For more information about the Department for Education’s (DfE) data sharing process, visit: How DfE shares personal data.

For information about which organisations the Department for Education (DfE) has provided information, (and for which project) visit: DfE external data shares (GOV.UK).

Storing workforce information

Personal information will be held in line with our document retention policy. Personal data will not be retained for longer than necessary and only for the purposes for which it was collected and for the ongoing monitoring of equality of opportunity.

How to find out what personal information DfE hold about you

Under the terms of UK GDPR, you’re entitled to ask the Department for Education (DfE):

• if they are processing your personal data
• for a description of the data they hold about you
• the reasons they’re holding it and any recipient it may be disclosed to
• for a copy of your personal data and any details of its source

To see the personal data held about you by the Department for Education (DfE), you can make a ‘subject access request’. Read about requesting your information from DfE (GOV.UK).

Further information on what personal information the Department for Education (DfE) holds about you is published in: privacy information education providers’ workforce, including teachers (GOV.UK).

Find contact information for the Department for Education (DfE) on GOV.UK

Requesting access to your personal data

The UK GDPR gives you certain rights about how your information is collected and used. 

You also have the following rights:

• the right to be informed about the collection and use of your personal data – this is called ’right to be informed’.
• the right to ask us for copies of personal information we have about you – this is called ’right of access’, this is also known as a subject access request, data subject access request or right of access request.
• the right to ask us to change any information you think is not accurate or complete – this is called ‘right to rectification’.
• the right to ask us to delete your personal information – this is called ‘right to erasure’
• the right to ask us to stop using your information – this is called ‘right to restriction of processing’.
• the ‘right to object to processing’ of your information, in certain circumstances
• rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling.
• the right to withdraw consent at any time (where relevant).
• the right to complain to the Information Commissioner if you feel we have not used your information in the right way

There are legitimate reasons why we may refuse your information rights request, which depends on why we are processing it. For example, some rights will not apply:

• right to erasure does not apply when the lawful basis for processing is legal obligation or public task.
• right to portability does not apply when the lawful basis for processing is legal obligation, vital interests, public task or legitimate interests.
• right to object does not apply when the lawful basis for processing is contract, legal obligation or vital interests. And if the lawful basis is consent, you don’t haven’t the right to object, but you have the right to withdraw consent

Under data protection legislation, you have the right to request access to information about you that we hold. Please refer to The Royal Borough of Greenwich’s Privacy Notices.

If you have a concern about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, we ask that you raise your concern with us in the first instance. Alternatively, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office.

For further information on how to request access to personal information held centrally by the Department for Education (DfE), read the ‘How Government uses your data’ section of this notice.