Privacy Policy

Last Updated: 21.10.2026

Website:https://schoolopendays.co.uk/
Company: OnlineMA Ltd (“we”, “us”, “our”)

1. INTRODUCTION

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal data when you use the School Open Days website and services. It applies to:

• Parents, guardians, and prospective students who browse the Website or submit enquiries to schools (“Users”);
• Representatives of schools and colleges who register for listings, manage accounts, or subscribe to Premium Listings (“School Representatives”).

We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your data transparently and securely.

2. WHAT PERSONAL DATA WE COLLECT

2.1 From Users (Parents/Prospective Students)

• Identity Data: Name, relationship to child (e.g., parent, guardian).
• Contact Data: Email address, telephone number.
• Enquiry Data: Messages, questions, or notes submitted via enquiry forms; the name and age of the child (if voluntarily provided); preferred open day dates; and the specific school(s) you are enquiring about.
• Technical Data: IP address, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types, operating system and platform, device identifiers, and other technology on the devices you use to access the Website.
• Usage Data: Information about how you use our Website, including pages viewed, search terms, links clicked, and time spent on pages.
• Marketing Data: Your preferences in receiving marketing communications from us.

2.2 From School Representatives

• Identity Data: Name, job title.
• Contact Data: Work email address, work telephone number, school address.
• Account Data: Login credentials (encrypted), username.
• Billing Data: Billing address, VAT number, purchase order numbers, payment history, and bank details (where payment is made by direct methods).
• School Content: Photographs, videos, logos, and descriptive text submitted for Premium Listings (which may incidentally contain images of identifiable individuals).

2.3 Automatically Collected Data

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to collect Technical and Usage Data. See Section 10 for details.

3. HOW WE COLLECT YOUR DATA

• Direct interactions: When you fill in forms on the Website, create an account, subscribe to our newsletter, submit an enquiry to a school, or correspond with us by email or phone.
• Automated technologies: As you interact with our Website, we automatically collect Technical and Usage Data using cookies, server logs, and analytics tools.
• Third parties: We may receive Technical Data from analytics providers such as Google and from search information providers.

4. HOW WE USE YOUR DATA

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. The legal bases we rely on are:

Important Note on Enquiries

When you submit an enquiry to a school through our Website, we collect that information and forward it directly to the school. The school is an independent data controller for its own admissions and communications processes. We are not responsible for how the school handles your data once it has been passed to them, though we require schools to handle data in accordance with UK data protection law.

5. WHO WE SHARE YOUR DATA WITH

We do not sell your personal data. We may share it with:

• Schools and Colleges: When you submit an enquiry, your Identity, Contact, and Enquiry Data is transmitted to the school(s) you selected. This is the core function of our service.
• Service Providers: Companies that provide services on our behalf, including:
  • Website hosting and cloud storage providers;
  • Payment processing services;
  • Email delivery and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms;
  • Analytics and search engine providers.
• Professional Advisers: Lawyers, bankers, auditors, and insurers who provide consultancy, banking, legal, insurance, and accounting services, where necessary.
• Regulators and Authorities: HM Revenue & Customs, the ICO, and other authorities where we are legally required to do so.

All third-party service providers are required to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

6. INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS

Our Website is accessible to users outside the United Kingdom, including international parents researching UK schools.

• Parent Users: If you access the Website from outside the UK, your data will be processed in the UK. By using the Website, you acknowledge this transfer.
• School Representatives: If you represent a school based outside the UK, your data will be processed in the UK.
• Service Providers: Some of our service providers may process data outside the UK. Where this occurs, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by ensuring at least one of the following safeguards is implemented:
  • The country has been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for personal data by the UK Secretary of State;
  • We use specific contracts approved by the UK government (International Data Transfer Agreements / Addendum to EU Standard Contractual Clauses); or
  • We rely on another valid transfer mechanism under UK GDPR.

7. DATA SECURITY

We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used, or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered, or disclosed. These include:

• Encryption of data in transit (TLS/SSL);
• Encryption of sensitive data at rest;
• Access controls and authentication requirements for internal systems;
• Regular security assessments of our service providers.

In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors, and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions, and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

8. DATA RETENTION

We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

• User Enquiry Data: We retain enquiry records for 12 months from the date of submission to allow for follow-up and dispute resolution, after which they are securely deleted or anonymised.
• Inactive User Accounts: If you create an account but do not use it for 24 months, we may delete your account and associated data after giving you 30 days’ notice.
• School Representative Data: Retained for the duration of the school’s active subscription and for 6 years thereafter to comply with tax and contract law obligations.
• Billing Records: Retained for 6 years after the end of the financial year to which they relate, in accordance with HMRC requirements.
• Technical/Usage Data: Retained for 26 months (where used for analytics), after which it is anonymised or deleted.

In some circumstances, we may anonymise your personal data (so that it can no longer be associated with you) for research or statistical purposes, in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.

9. YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS

Under UK data protection law, you have the following rights:

How to Exercise Your Rights

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in Section 13. We aim to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally, it may take us longer if your request is particularly complex or you have made several requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.

You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive, or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.

What We May Need From You

We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it.

10. COOKIES AND TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES

Our Website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse and also allows us to improve our site.

Types of Cookies We Use

• Strictly Necessary Cookies: Essential for the Website to function. These cannot be switched off.
• Analytics / Performance Cookies: Allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and see how visitors move around the Website. This helps us improve the way it works.
• Functionality Cookies: Used to recognise you when you return to our Website, enabling us to personalise content for you and remember your preferences.

Your Choices

When you first visit our Website, you will see a cookie banner allowing you to accept or decline non-essential cookies. You can change your preferences at any time by [clicking here].

For more information about the specific cookies we use and the purposes for which we use them, please see our Cookie Policy.

11. CHILDREN’S PRIVACY

Our Website is intended for use by parents, guardians, and school representatives. We do not knowingly collect data relating to children under the age of 13 directly. If a child under 13 submits an enquiry or provides personal data without parental consent, the parent or guardian should contact us immediately, and we will delete that information.

Schools that submit photographs or videos for Premium Listings must ensure they have obtained all necessary consents for the use of images of children in accordance with their own data protection and safeguarding obligations.

12. LINKS TO THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES

Our Website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins, and applications (including school websites). Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our Website, we encourage you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit.

13. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or the functionality of our Website. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated “Last Updated” date. Where changes are material, we will notify you by email or through a prominent notice on the Website.

We encourage you to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your information.

14. CONTACT US

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, or if you wish to exercise your rights, please contact us:

Data Protection Contact

OnlineMA Ltd
86-90 Paul Street
London
EC2A 4NE
Email: privacy@schoolopendays.co.uk

Right to Complain

You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues:

ICO
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Website: www.ico.org.uk

We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO, so please contact us in the first instance.