This notice explains what personal information we collect when you enrol, why we use it, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and your rights. The data controller is The Training & Learning Company Ltd (“TLC”, “we”) of Axis 19 Mallard Way, Riverside Business Park, Swansea Vale, Swansea, SA7 0AJ, ICO registration Z1601195. We process your information in line with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
What we collect
- About you — your name and preferred name, date of birth, sex, address, email and phone number.
- Official numbers — your National Insurance number and Unique Learner Number (ULN).
- Proof of identity and address — a copy of your passport, driving licence or biometric residence permit, and a recent utility bill, bank statement or council tax letter. We use these only to confirm who you are and that you are eligible. We do not use facial recognition or any other biometric technology on these documents.
- Nationality, immigration status and residency — including visa details where relevant, so we can check you are eligible for a government-funded apprenticeship.
- Employment details — your employer, job role, contract and hours, work site, line manager, any other employment, and any planned absence.
- Education and experience — your maths and English grades and certificates, time in your role, and your Personal Learning Record, which we check with the Learning Records Service.
- Your programme — the apprenticeship you are enrolling on.
- Emergency contact — the name, relationship and phone number of someone we can call if something happens to you. Please make sure they know you have given us their details, and share this notice with them if they ask.
- Equality and support information — your ethnicity, any disability or learning need, the support you would like, and whether you have (or have had) an EHC plan or are care experienced.
- Your declarations and signature — the confirmations you tick and your typed name, plus the saved progress of your form so you can return to it later.
Why we use it, and our legal bases
- To assess your application and deliver your enrolment, training, assessment and certification — necessary for your training agreement with us, or to take steps before entering into it.
- To confirm your identity and your eligibility for apprenticeship funding, and to send Individualised Learner Record (ILR) returns and other required reports to the Department for Education (DfE) — necessary to comply with our legal obligations and the conditions of our funding agreement.
- To register you with awarding and end-point assessment organisations and evidence your achievement — our contractual and legal obligations.
- To arrange any support or reasonable adjustments you need, and to keep you safe — our duties under the Equality Act 2010 and safeguarding law, your explicit consent where we ask for it, and, in an emergency, protecting your vital interests.
- For equality of opportunity monitoring — a task in the substantial public interest under the Data Protection Act 2018. You can always choose “prefer not to say”.
- To run and improve our enrolment process — including saving your progress and emailing you a link to continue — our legitimate interest in running an efficient, secure service.
Special category data
Some of what we collect is more sensitive “special category” data: your ethnicity, and information about your health, disability or support needs (including an EHC plan). We use it only to report equality statistics required by the DfE, to plan and provide your support and adjustments, and to keep you safe. Our conditions for this are equality-of-opportunity monitoring in the substantial public interest, your explicit consent where we ask for it, and vital interests in an emergency. We maintain an appropriate policy document as the Data Protection Act 2018 requires, and we never use this information to decide the outcome of your application.
Your immigration status is not special category data, but we treat it with the same care and use it only to check funding eligibility, as the funding rules require.
Who we share it with
We share your information only where necessary, and we never sell it:
- The DfE and other government funding bodies — required by law and by our funding agreement. The DfE publishes its own privacy notice on GOV.UK explaining how it uses ILR data.
- The Learning Records Service — to obtain or verify your ULN and Personal Learning Record.
- Awarding and end-point assessment organisations — to register you and certify your achievement.
- Your employer — your enrolment status and the progress information relevant to your apprenticeship.
- Regulators and auditors — such as Ofsted and funding auditors, where they are entitled to it.
- Trusted service providers — who host our systems and this form, acting only on our instructions under contract.
We store your information in the UK. If any of our providers process it outside the UK, we make sure legally recognised safeguards are in place.
How long we keep it
- Enrolment, funding and achievement records — for six years from the end of the financial year in which your last funding payment is made.
- Incomplete or unsuccessful applications — for six months from your last activity.
After that, your information is securely deleted. Our retention schedule has the full detail — ask us for a copy.
If you choose not to answer
Most questions are required by law or by our funding agreement — for example your National Insurance number and evidence of your identity and eligibility. Without them, we may not be able to enrol you on a funded apprenticeship. The equality questions always include “prefer not to say”, and the support questions are voluntary: leaving them blank will not affect your application, though it may limit the support we can plan for you.
Automated decisions
We do not make any decision about you using automated processing alone.
Your rights
You can ask to access your information, correct it, delete it, restrict how we use it, object to our use of it, or receive a copy in a portable format. Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting anything done before. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113 — though we would welcome the chance to put things right first.
If you are under 18
This notice applies to you too. You are welcome to ask a parent, carer, teacher or your employer to read it with you, or to ask us to explain anything that is not clear.
Contact
For any privacy question, or to exercise your rights, email Alexg@tlc-uk.org or write to TLC, Axis 19 Mallard Way, Riverside Business Park, Swansea Vale, Swansea, SA7 0AJ.
