Privacy statement

Information for current students

The purpose of this notice is to tell you how the University of Exeter (the University) will process your personal data whilst you are a student and informs you on how your personal data will be shared between the University of Exeter and Zhejiang University of Technology, who together run the Joint Institute. This notice also tells you which third parties the University may share your personal data with.

How we use your information: Data Protection notice

By accepting an offer to study at the University, the University will process your personal data (including sensitive personal data), for the purposes and in the manner set out in this notice and for other legitimate purposes connected with your education and enrolment as a student of the University.

The University of Exeter (the University) is a data controller and will only process your personal data in accordance with current data protection legislation.

The details of the University’s Data Protection Officer can be found on our website.

Given the complexity and variety of the relationships that the University has with its students and given that you are a student of the Joint Institute, it is not possible to set out an exhaustive list of all the ways in which your personal data may be processed by the University. Further information on how long the University will keep your data is available in the Retention Schedules which form part of the University’s Information Governance and Security Policies.

This notice may be updated from time to time to ensure continued compliance with current legislation and to reflect best practice.

What information is being collected about me?

The type of personal data and sensitive personal data the University may process about you includes, but is not limited to:

Your name and your student number
Any student photograph
Your permanent and term time addresses and your contact details including email and other electronic identifiers
Your date of birth
Your nationality and your ethnic origin
Details regarding your next of kin
Your academic record whilst at the University
Your attendance at the University (including any engagement, suspension, or exclusion information)
Any disability or other medical information that has been provided to the University
How your studies are funded, including fee information and any sponsorship details.

How information is collected

Your personal data is collected by the University to enable the University to fulfil its contractual obligations to you in the delivery of your studies. Data is also collected to fulfil legal/regulatory and security obligations.

The University collects your personal data from the following sources:

The information contained on your application form and on enrolment
Information provided by you whilst at the University and in relation to your studies, including attendance monitoring data (such as your engagement on university education platforms)
Information collected during the use of University support and services (for example accommodation and the library)
The information provided to the University by a third party in relation to your admission/enrolment and/or your subsequent study at the University (for example data provided by ZJUT or the provincial Education Examinations Authority and any reference provided to the University from your previous place of study or work)
Each time you connect to the University Network, our many security applications and infrastructure create logs to protect your data and alert Exeter IT and the Data Protection Officer of any threats to our data and system security.
Information provided by individuals or supplied by 3rd party Public agencies in response to emergency situations.

How will my personal data be used?

These are some of the ways we will use your personal data; this is not exhaustive but is intended to provide you with an idea of the things that we may need to do throughout your programme of study.

The administration and delivery of your studies (teaching, learning, research etc.) including the delivery of teaching, administration of exams, the issue of your results, the recording of academic and other relevant achievements (which may include extra-curricular activities).
We may use personal data (where anonymisation is not possible) for management and organisational planning including statistical analysis.
We collect and hold data about your attendance, your achievements, your performance, and your engagement with University systems. In addition to the obvious uses of this data we may analyse this information to help support and enhance your time as a student.
Medical evidence supplied to the University will be kept on your student record throughout your programme of study and may be used in applications for mitigating circumstances.
We may use personal data to investigate appeals, complaints, or alleged breaches of University regulations.
We may use your data to meet regulatory and legal obligations the University is bound to.

We use data collected when you connect to University networks and IT services to protect our systems, networks and data from security threats and incidents.

This processing is necessary for the:

performance of the contract in place between you and the University for the administration and delivery of your studies
University’s compliance with any legal obligation imposed on the University
public interest (such as our widening participation activities)
University’s legitimate interest to use the data for business purposes where this does not outweigh your rights as a data subject.
vital interests of yourself or another person, such as when emergency intervention may be required (medical, evacuation etc.).
security of our network and to protect data

Sensitive personal data

Some of the personal data the University processes about you will be sensitive personal data as defined by the Data Protect Act. This category of personal data will be subject to additional protections. Sensitive personal data that the University may hold about you falls into the following categories:

racial or ethnic origin,
religious or similar beliefs,
physical or mental health or condition,
commission of or proceedings for any offence committed or alleged to have been committed by you, and
biometric data.

This information may be processed for one of the reasons set out above.

Information concerning your health may be disclosed within the University so that an appropriate level of care and facilities can be offered. It will only be sent to people who need to know this information to support you. Wellbeing Services will contact all students declaring a disability to confidentially discuss available help.

In addition, sensitive personal data may be collected to meet regulatory and legal requirements, monitor our equal opportunities policies, statistical analysis and to provide appropriate support that under-represented groups may require. Further information on our widening participation activities can be found on our Success For All pages.

Third parties that data may be shared with

In processing your personal data and/or sensitive personal data, the University may have reason to share your personal data and/or sensitive personal data with a third party, some of these circumstances are as follows:

Information will be shared between the University of Exeter and the Zhejiang University of Technology, as the parties that run the Joint Institute. In order to deliver your programme of study the two Universities will share data about you between them, in order to be able to deliver your programme of study effectively.
If you are on an employability or course related placement (including overseas/study abroad placements), involved in exchange programmes, joint/double degrees, a validated programme, we will release relevant personal data to these institutions or related organisations as required to facilitate your studies and/or involvement.
If you are participating in University managed internships, mentoring schemes or other employability activities we will release personal data to employers, alumni, funders, and relevant stakeholders as required, to facilitate your involvement in these schemes. This may involve direct liaison with your manager or other relevant overseer within the organisation and in certain circumstances may include attainment (results/progress) information.
We will disclose limited information in connection with your academic progress to sponsors, loan organisations and scholarship schemes to enable such organisations to establish eligibility for the sponsorship/loan/award.
Teaching and events in campus rooms and online events may be recorded and made accessible to relevant students and appropriate staff. We may share personal data with our partners INTO University of Exeter LLP where necessary to facilitate joint courses or courses you have enrolled on run by our partners.
Information relating to your attendance record may be disclosed within references to a relevant third party requesting such information.
Some personal data is sent to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) for statistical analysis. Contact details (including phone numbers) of graduates will also be sent to HESA for the Graduate Outcomes survey. See HESA's collection notices for full details.
Certain, limited personal data may be sent to the Office for Students (OfS), Government education departments, Higher Education England and to ZJUT for onward transfer to government agencies, local authorities and emergency services for legitimate purposes. Data may also be checked for accuracy against external data sources.
Students on programmes accredited by Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRBs) may be subject to the sharing requirements of such bodies. This includes the sharing of completed, marked and moderated student work to assure academic and professional standards.
The University may invite you to participate in surveys.
In exceptional circumstances where we are concerned about your safety/wellbeing or consider you to be a risk to yourself or others we may share limited information both internally and with relevant third parties (for example: Ambulance, Police, Hospitals etc.) to ensure appropriate support is available.

What happens after I leave?

On conclusion of your studies, the University will retain a certain amount of personal data which will form part of the student records archive. These data are retained in order to provide a record of your registration as a student and your achievements at the University, to allow the University to respond to requests for information from graduates and other leavers, and to report on performance or any other relevant aspect of the student body either at course, department or university level. Details on how long the University with retain this data is available in the University Retention Schedule.

Some information may be retained for statistical purposes.

On graduation, you will also automatically become a member of the University’s Alumni community. Some personal data from your student record will be transferred to the University’s Alumni database. Details on how this information will be used is available on the Alumni Data Protection Notice which also provides details if you do not want to receive alumni communications and/or do not wish to continue to be a member of the University’s Alumni community.

As a member of the University’s Alumni, you will have access to various benefits and services as set out on our Alumni website.

As part of your membership, the University may contact you and provide you with information relevant to the Alumni Association. This may include sending you a copy of the Alumni Magazine and providing you with details of reunion events, professional lectures and other career-related opportunities. You may also be contacted in connection with the University’s fundraising activities.

What are my rights with regards to accessing my personal data?

You have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. Read further information about your rights and how you can exercise them.

What can I do if I am unhappy with the way my data is handled?

The University will endeavour to be transparent about its processing of your personal data. However, should you have any queries about the University’s processing of your personal data, further information may be obtained from the University’s Data Protection Officer.

If you think that any of your personal data held by the University is incorrect (for example if you move address and the University has your old address), please let us know so that we can update our records accordingly. You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner if you have any concerns in respect of the handling of your personal data by the University.

Consent

The University processes personal data about students to fulfil our contractual, regulatory, and legal obligations. During the annual registration process you will have provided a response to each consent statement You have the right to change your mind, the following information provides details on what you need to do to update or remove your consent during the year.

Communications from the University

While you are a student with us, and after you finish your studies, you can expect to receive news about the University, information related to your studies and career information on a regular basis. We may use email, post, telephone, or text messaging to contact you.

We would also like to contact you with additional information that you may find useful but have a choice in receiving. These marketing communications may include information about further study opportunities (including scholarships), paid-for sports provision, discounts and offers from our campus shops, and events and opportunities relevant to alumni (graduates and other former students) of the University. We may use email, text, post, telephone, or other electronic means (for example through social media) to contact you with this additional information.

We take your privacy seriously and won’t share your details to be used in this way with any external or third parties

All communications will have a link to enable you to unsubscribe from that mailing list at any time, you can also change some preferences within specific systems about the types of communications you receive including:

Careers

To start receiving these or to remove yourself completely from all marketing communications please confirm in writing to the Information Governance Office. Please be aware you may continue to receive some marketing communications whilst systems are updated.