University of Wolverhampton

Student Privacy Notice (Application)

Who we are

The University of Wolverhampton (‘University’, ‘we’ or ‘us’) are a ‘Data Controller’, as defined by the Data Protection Act 2018 and are responsible for, and control the processing of your Personal Data. You can contact us at email dataprotection@wlv.ac.uk, University of Wolverhampton, Wulfruna Street, Wolverhampton WV1 1LY. Tel. 01902 32 1000. Our Data Protection Officer can be contacted at dataprotection@wlv.ac.uk.

We are committed to protecting your privacy. This notice explains how the University of Wolverhampton collects and processes your Personal Data.

How We Use Your Data

We will process your personal data for the purposes of assessing your eligibility to be offered a place on one of our academic programmes. The data protection legislation states that the data controller must have a lawful basis to process or use your personal data. The lawful basis we are relying is; that the use of your personal data is “......necessary in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract;” As part of this process your personal data may be used by several departments across the University.

If your application is successful, some of the information that you have supplied will be used for your enrolment and we will also request further information from you at that stage.

Other departments in the University may contact you regarding using your information for promotional purposes, marketing or surveys. This will typically be the Marketing Department, Aspire to HE or our Recruitment Department and the lawful basis they will rely on is that we have a legitimate interest to do so or for email marketing to our existing customers / students we may rely on the ‘soft opt-in’.  We will also seek your consent first for the purposes of receiving marketing material via post.

You can opt out to receiving all marketing communications through the unsubscribe link on all communications or by contacting dataprotection@wlv.ac.uk.

Information We Collect

The vast majority of information that we collect about you will be provided by you. This will typically be via UCAS or directly to us via our website. Personal data is collected from the application form, open day booking form, and/or any enquiry forms you submit to us as well as face-to-face, email or telephone contact you make with the University and its representatives. 

Information provided by you for the application process include details such as: your full name (including former name or alias), gender, date of birth and contact details, such as address, email address and telephone number and information relating to your education and employment history. 

We will process your national insurance number (or other tax identification number) where required for the application, as well as, your passport identification number or national identity card details, country of domicile and nationality. The lawful basis we rely on for processing this information is that we have a legal obligation to collect this for verification purposes.  We also have a legal obligation to collect and process Special Category personal data such as, your religion, race and health data for equality monitoring purposes.

We may get additional information about you from your referee or employer where one is required. This will include details about you such as your grades, personal qualities and your suitability for the course to which you are applying. The lawful basis that we rely on is that the personal data is “......necessary in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract;”

Who We Share Your Personal Data With

Information is shared with relevant departments within the University for the purposes outlined above. In addition, specific data may be collected from and shared with the following external agencies for the purposes specified:

Recipient or Source

Purpose and type of data

Lawful Basis

Student Loans Company/Other funders

To facilitate the payment of funds - Contact and payment details

Necessary for a contract or entering into a contract

Home Office (UKVI)

Sponsorship for Visa applications, Reporting on student circumstances and student advice – Contact & identification details, qualifications, courses, Visa status

Legal Obligation & Consent

Medical and Health Practitioners

To understand health needs and make reasonable adjustments to support students - Details about your health and mobility

Legal obligation to ask but responses made on voluntary basis

Current Employer

Payment of fees and to support progression - Contact details, grades etc

Necessary for a contract or entering into a contract

Educational Institutions

Verification of qualifications - Grades and transcripts of grades achieved

Necessary for a contract or entering into a contract

Disclosure and Barring Service

Establish whether students have been involved in or committed criminal or dishonest acts – Identification and contact details

Contract/Substantial Public Interest

Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRB) where you are on a professionally accredited programme, for example the:

Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)

Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)

Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)

To support or confirm accreditation - Contact details and progression information

Necessary for a contract or entering into a contract

UCAS and other application agencies

To receive applications and notify applicants of decisions  as appropriate – identification details

Necessary for a contract or entering into a contract

External Statutory Reporting

Transparency Return to OfS including identifiable personal data and special category data.

Statutory requirement

Collaborative partners in the UK and overseas

Assessing your eligibility to be offered a place on one of our academic programmes – For courses that are delivered in partnership

Contractual requirement where courses are delivered in partnership

Azorus

Our Customer Relationship Management platform used to store your data

Necessary for a contract or entering into a contract

Your personal data may be shared when necessary with external organisations which process your data to assist with the student application and enrolment process and do not process your data for any other purpose. We ensure we have appropriate data processing agreements and contracts in place before sharing your personal data with any data processors. Sometimes, your personal data is processed by these organisations outside the European Economic Area (for example, because they use a cloud-based system with servers based outside the EEA), and if so, appropriate safeguards are in place to ensure the confidentiality and security of your personal data. Details of third parties we use for assistance with the application and enrolment process can be found here

We do not share your data with external organisations for marketing their products or services. We do not sell your personal data to third parties under any circumstances, or permit third parties to sell on the data we have shared with them.

We may also share personal details with organisations with enforcement powers such as HMRC or the Police. However, we will only do so if this is required to comply with our legal obligation to disclose information to these bodies. We will only share the minimum amount of personal data with any of the above and will always do so in accordance with the law.

Retention

For candidates who are offered a place on a course(s) most data will be retained for 6 years after the student relationship with the University ceases and for applicants that are unsuccessful, personal data will be retained for 6 months from the end of the academic year of application.

Your Rights

As an individual, you have a number of rights available to you. To find out more about how you may exercise those rights, for example, The Right of Subject Access: obtaining a copy of your information which we may hold,  or the Right to Rectification: correcting any mistakes or completing the information we hold about you, please see our Data Protection web pages available here or the ICO  website for more information. Note that because we are collecting this information on the basis that it is necessary for a  contract the Rights to Object to Processing and the Right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing will not apply, but you will still have the right to request human intervention from the University and, to express your point of view and to contest any decision in this way.

How to Complain

If you have any queries, concerns or believe that your Personal Data is being handled in a manner which is contrary to statutory requirements, you may wish to contact the University of Wolverhampton’s Data Protection Officer via dataprotection@wlv.ac.uk or complain to the ICO via www.ico.org.uk

Changes to Privacy Notice

We regularly review our privacy notice and will review it at least annually. This privacy notice was last updated on 19 August 2020.