Hi All,
I was wondering if anyone had any advice regarding school records.
We currently hold the records of a private school that closed many years
ago including all of the student files. All of the files relating to past
students are completely closed and have been retained more or less by
accident, we don't use them or access them. Access is only granted to the
pupils themselves or to those who can prove that they have a justifiable
reason on personal grounds to see them (usually a close relative coming on
behalf of the pupil) in which case they have to get permission from the
pupil themselves or prove that the pupil has since died. If it isn't the
pupil themselves, then they have to come up with a really good reason for
needing to see them.
The reasons for keeping them up until now have been that, despite being
closed, they form an important part of the school record but my question
is, what are the rules governing student files from schools? Are the
ruels different for private versus public institutions? Should we have the
records in the first place or should they all be destroyed under DPA? At
the moment, the policy is that if a pupil wishes, they can take away their
file. If we have evidence that the pupil is dead, should the file be
opened?
All thoughts gratefully received,
Heather McIntyre
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