Privacy Notice
This privacy notice is issued on behalf of the Secretary of State for the Department of Education (DfE) to inform learners about the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) and how their personal information is used in the ILR. Your personal information is used by the DfE to exercise our functions under article 6(1)(e) of the UK GDPR and to meet our statutory responsibilities, including under the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009. Our lawful basis for using your special category personal data is covered under Substantial Public Interest based in law (Article 9(2)(g)) of UK GDPR legislation. This processing is under Section 54 of the Further and Higher Education Act (1992).
The ILR collects data about learners and learning undertaken. Publicly funded colleges, training organisations, local authorities, and employers (FE providers) must collect and return the data each year under the terms of a funding agreement, contract or grant agreement. It helps ensure that public money is being spent in line with government targets. It is also used for education, training, employment, and well-being purposes, including research. We retain your ILR learner data for 20 years for operational purposes (e.g. to fund your learning and to publish official statistics). Your personal data is then retained in our research databases until you are aged 80 years so that it can be used for long-term research purposes.
For more information about the ILR and the data collected, please see the ILR specification at ILR data is shared with third parties where it complies with DfE data sharing procedures and where the law allows it. The DfE and the English European Social Fund (ESF) Managing Authority (or agents acting on their behalf) may contact learners to carry out research and evaluation to inform the effectiveness of training. For more information about how your personal data is used and your individual rights or if you would like to get in touch with the DfE please refer to /about-the-college/statutory-documentation/privacy-notice/
The information you supply is used by the Learning Records Service (LRS). The LRS issues Unique Learner Numbers (ULN) and creates Personal Learning Records across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and is operated by the Department for Education (DfE) in England. This privacy notice explains how your personal information is used. For the purposes of relevant data protection legislation, the DfE is the data controller for personal information processed. For more information about how your information is processed, to view the full privacy notice, and to access your Personal Learner Record, please refer to and
For more information about how your personal data is used and your individual rights, please see the and the
If you would like to get in touch with us or request a copy of the personal information DfE holds about you, you can contact the DfE in the following ways:
路 Using our
路 By telephoning the DfE Helpline on 0370 000 2288
路 Or in writing to: Data Protection Officer, Department for Education (B2.28), 7 & 8 Wellington Place, Wellington Street, Leeds, LS1 4AW
If you are unhappy with how we have used your personal data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner鈥檚 Office (ICO) at: Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. You can also call their helpline on 0303 123 1113 or visit
Date last updated: 8 August 2025
