Privacy notice
How we handle your information, in plain English. Every recognition starts from the information published about every school, read in the context a school actually works in - not just how many children claim free school meals, but local need and the wider published picture. Every recognition is identified from information already published about schools and read in context, and is earned from the published evidence, not paid for.
We do not seek or use pupil-level data - every recognition is built only from information already published about schools.How we handle your information
Who we are
WhatSchool Celebrates is a service of What School Ltd (registered in England and Wales, company number 17062510; registered office 78-79 Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5ES). We identify, from information already published about every school, specific strengths a school may wish to celebrate, and - with the school's confirmation - publish and help share them.
What information we process
Information published about schools, which is where we start: DfE performance, attendance, workforce, finance and destinations data; published Ofsted reports; each school's own website; local authority information; and the national Census and deprivation (IMD) statistics. We also process school information held by WhatSchool; the name, role and professional contact details of a school leader, used to contact the school about a possible recognition; the details a school gives when confirming a recognition (name, role, work email, and any quote it chooses to publish); and, only where a school opts in to a bespoke celebration, the survey responses it gathers from its staff and parents, with their consent. We do not seek or hold pupil-level personal data.
Where the information comes from
Most of what we use is already public - published by the DfE, Ofsted and the ONS Census, or by schools themselves - or is held by WhatSchool as part of its education-data platform. Contact details for a school leader are taken from published or official school sources. Validation details, and any bespoke-survey results, come directly from the school.
Lawful basis
We rely on legitimate interests (recognising and supporting schools) to analyse published information and to contact schools about a possible recognition, having weighed this against the rights of the individuals concerned in a legitimate-interests assessment. A recognition is published only after the school confirms it. Bespoke surveys of staff and parents rely on consent, gathered by the school, which can be withdrawn at any time. Any payment for an optional asset package is processed to perform a contract.
Who we share it with
We do not sell personal data. We use trusted providers, acting as our processors under contract, to run the service - for example website hosting, email delivery and, for optional paid packages, payment processing - and we share only what each provider needs to do its job.
Where it is processed
Our service is hosted in the European Economic Area. Some providers (for example email or payment) may process limited data outside the UK or EEA; where they do, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as UK adequacy regulations or the International Data Transfer Agreement.
Electronic marketing (PECR)
Outreach is sent to schools as organisations at professional addresses. Every message includes a one-click unsubscribe, and we maintain a suppression list that is checked before any send. You can opt out at any time and we will not contact you again.
Retention
We keep a published recognition and its validation record for as long as the recognition is live, plus an archive period [length to be confirmed] so there is an honest historical record. Contact and suppression records are kept only as long as needed to honour your preferences. Bespoke-survey responses are kept only as long as needed to verify and run that celebration. Exact periods are set out in our retention schedule [to be confirmed].
Cookies
Our site uses only the cookies it needs to work. If we add analytics or other non-essential cookies, we will ask for your consent first.
Automated processing
Our recognitions and our observed-context measure are produced by automated analysis of published, school-level information. They describe schools, not individual pupils, and are never used to make decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects on an individual.
Your rights
You can ask to access, correct, erase, restrict or receive a portable copy of your personal data, and object to processing. Where we rely on consent (such as a bespoke survey), you can withdraw it at any time, without affecting processing already carried out. To exercise a right or raise a concern, contact us using the details below; you can also complain to the ICO.
Corrections and suppression
If a recognition or any figure looks wrong, tell us and we will review it - we can suppress or unpublish it while we do.
Who is responsible, and how to contact us
The data controller is What School Ltd (registered in England and Wales, company number 17062510; registered office 78-79 Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5ES). For privacy queries, or to make an access or erasure request, email our privacy team at [privacy contact to be confirmed]. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), quoting our registration number [to be confirmed].
See also our report a correction page.