Inequalities in early education in England

Inequalities in early education in England - Privacy Notice

For this project, we have access to data from the National Pupil Database from 2008/09 onwards. All records have been stripped of names and addresses and other non-essential information. However, this remains sensitive and confidential information that requires careful handling and respect at all times. Privacy details can be found below.

Data Controller: London School of Economics

Main Project Contact: Dr Kitty Stewart. Email: k.j.stewart@lse.ac.uk. Address: London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, WC2A 2AE. Telephone: 020 7955 7343

Data Protection Officer: Rachael Maguire. Email: r.e.maguire@lse.ac.uk. Address: London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, WC2A 2AE. Telephone: 020 7849 4622

Personal data obtained: The data we are using come from the Early Years Census and the Schools Census, which contain individual level information on all children accessing their statutory entitlement to funded early education or attending state-funded school places. The individual level information obtained includes ethnicity, sex, month of birth, whether the child speaks English as an additional language, whether the child was registered for Free School Meals in early primary school, weekly hours attended, and residential postcode. We also have information at the education setting level, which includes the type of provider (private, voluntary, maintained, as well as information on hours of opening), qualification levels of staff, and postcode of the setting. For a full list of variables, please contact the Main Project Contact.

Purpose and legal basis of processing: Our request to process the NPD data is made on the legal basis outlined in the GDPR, Article 6(1)(e) and Article 9(2)(j). That is, we believe our research establishes a task in the public interest, as it is undertaken within the London School of Economics, and the data is necessary for the university to fulfil its function in the public interest (Article 6(1)(e)). As social policy academics at the LSE it is part of our role to conduct research with a view to furthering academic knowledge and understanding and to informing public debate. This research is in the public interest because of the potential societal benefits. Funded early education is a central plank in government policy for children under five, costing several billion pounds each year. Detailed analysis of who benefits from the free places, and the type of provision children from different backgrounds and in different local authorities access with the subsidy, is important to furthering our understanding of the way public money is used, to assessing whether policy is meeting stated aims, and to contributing to improvements in policy in the future.

In terms of processing special category data, the legal basis is Article 9(2)(j) - that is, the research is conducted for archival, research or statistical purposes that are in the public interest. The researchers have agreed to respect the right to data protection at all times, and will carry out suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject, including ensuring non-disclosive output and the maintenance of data protection measures when using the data.

Data retention: Our access to the data is via the Office for National Statistics Secure Data Service (SRS) and will expire once our project is complete.

All our analysis will be conducted in the SRS and the ONS will approve all outputs. No record-level data will be shared beyond the research team or with any third parties or international organisations. Aggregate findings only will be published in research papers, presentations, blogs and submissions to peer-reviewed academic journals.

The Department for Education (DfE) has legal powers to collect pupil, child and workforce data that schools and ECEC settings hold, and to share these data with third parties including researchers, provided they comply with strict confidentiality and security rules, with the Data Protection Act 2018 and with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). More information is available on the government website. No automated decision-making or profiling will be conducted with this data.

If you think your data has been used in this research and you have reason to believe it has been used inappropriately, you have a legal right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) by contacting them via their website, or by calling 0303 123 1113.