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Dear All As colleagues will know, Undergraduates entering via UCAS are now required to disclose their previous criminal convictions. You may have a similar policy for PGs. In terms of record-keeping, this information either goes into the general student file, or possibly into a separate, more secure confidential file. It has been pointed out by a colleague here that the existence of this information (whether in the main student file or in a separate file) raises issues with regard to members of faculty writing references (either while the student is still here, or after leaving). For instance, the file may disclose to the referee information that s/he should not know about - eg. convictions which are spent or become spent during the period of studies (and which are irrelevant to the reference). There is a DPA angle here. However & conversely, the author of a reference owes a duty of care to both the subject of the reference and the *recipient*, to ensure that the reference is factually accurate and complete, and >fair< to both parties. (And this 'duty of care' has begun to have a specific legal dimension in recent years - in terms of liability for damages.) >From this point of view one needs the referee to see the convictions information, in order to form a judgement on whether to mention it (spent or otherwise?). HEIs would presumably want to give guidance to staff as to how they go about making these judgements. I don't have any neat solution to this tension, but thought I'd flag it to colleagues, and invite anyone who would like to contribute to respond (direct to me or the mailbase) and I will collate and recirculate. Thanks. _____ Owen Richards Senior Assistant Registrar (Registry Systems) Sussex University Tel: 01273 877019 Email: [log in to unmask] %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%