Privacy & Cookies

The YPLA website, with the exception of any registration or subscription services and discussion facilities does not capture or store personal information, but merely logs the user's IP address (the Internet address of your computer) to give us an idea of which part of our website is visited and how long is spent there.

If you register to receive updates, your information will be held on a secure server and the data will not be shared with any organisations outside government. It will be used only to provide you with email updates on the topics you have requested or postal information if you request that service. If you respond online to a consultation exercise, your data will only be used to facilitate the analysis of responses and will be deleted subsequently.

This privacy statement only covers the YPLA website and subsequent sub-sites of that domain, and those other sites specifically referred to in this statement. Other websites linked to or from the YPLA website are not covered by this privacy statement.

When we provide services, we want to make them easy, useful and reliable. Where services are delivered on the internet, this sometimes involves placing small amounts of information on your device, for example, computer or mobile phone. These include small files known as cookies. They cannot be used to identify you personally.

These pieces of information are used to improve services for you through, for example:

enabling a service to recognise your device so you don't have to give the same information several times during one task
recognising that you may already have given a username and password so you don't need to do it for every web page requested
measuring how many people are using services, so they can be made easier to use and there's enough capacity to ensure they are fast

You can manage these small files yourself and learn more about them through "Internet browser cookies - what they are and how to manage them"

Our use of cookies

Cookies for improving service

Name: ASP.NET_SessionId
Typical content: Randomly generated string of letters and numbers
Expires: At end of session

Name: WT_FPC
Typical content: Randomly generated string of letters and numbers
Expires: 10 years

Data Protection

The Young People’s Learning Agency for England (referred to here as “the YPLA”) is registered with the UK Information Commissioner. The notification can be viewed on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.ico.gov.uk

What information is gathered and how it is used by the YPLA

The YPLA gathers certain types of information about visitors to this website. It is important, therefore, that visitors know what is gathered and how it is used. The YPLA may use information for the following purposes:

to fulfil your requests for certain services
to personalise your experience on the website
to keep you up to date on the latest service announcements or other information the YPLA thinks you'd like to hear about either from us or from our partners
to understand your needs and provide you with better services
to track usage.

Information sharing and disclosure

By providing personal information you are deemed to consent to your personal information being shared outside the YPLA in the following circumstances:

where the YPLA needs to share your information to provide the service you have requested
where the YPLA needs to send the information to third parties who work on behalf of the YPLA to provide a service to you (we will only provide the information they need to deliver the service, and they are prohibited from using that information for any other purpose)
where the YPLA wants to keep you up to date on the latest service announcements, software updates or other information the YPLA thinks you would like to hear about either from us or from our business partners
the YPLA will also disclose your personal information if required to do so by law in urgent circumstances, to protect personal safety, the public or our website.

YPLA data is stored in controlled servers with limited access. Your information may be stored and processed in the United Kingdom where the YPLA or its business partners are located.

Registration services, mailing lists and forums

The YPLA may offer services which require registration of personal data. When it does so, it will inform you how the data will be used including with whom it might be shared.

YPLA Recruitment and Employment

Applicants for employment vacancies will register separately for these services, enabling individuals to apply for employment vacancies with the YPLA and to be kept informed of possible employment opportunities. Personal data is retained for these purposes. Data will be processed by Oracle on behalf of the YPLA and where data is transferred and stored outside of EU boundaries, it will be protected and remain the responsibility of the YPLA. Data will be stored for up to six months after the completion of an employment application and retained further if an application results in an offer of employment being made for the purposes of processing that offer. The data will be periodically and securely destroyed.

Information is collected and used about employees of the YPLA for the purposes of operating the business of the YPLA, creating and maintaining an employment record, the provision of other services in connection with employment (for example, the provision of pension or flexible benefits) within the organisation, compiling information relating to employment for the inclusion in aggregated statistics to enable analyses of the organisation and responding to tax and pension enquiries. This includes information provided during the course of employment and through use of Oracle self service. Information will by processed by the YPLA, or on its behalf, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. The data will be periodically and securely destroyed.

Registration Services, Mailing Lists and Forums

Learner Support Registration and Services

Users of Learner Support Services register separately for these services, which enable individuals to apply for a range of grants, awards and allowances. The personal data provided is stored for the purposes of processing the application, including the need to establish an applicant’s entitlement. Wherever an applicant registers and makes an online application, the application form explains how the personal data provided will be used and offers the applicant opportunities to opt-out of their data being used for other purposes. The personal data is stored for seven years and then securely destroyed.

Users of any mailing lists and forums must register separately for these services. These services are free and on the whole will only require registration when posting messages. Details of how to register and remove personal details from mailing lists and forums are located with the mailing lists.

Do not register for mailing list or forum services if you do not want other subscribers to YPLA mailing lists and/or forums to have access to your email address. Subscribers should only use these services for authorised purposes, and should under no circumstances divulge the email addresses of other subscribers to unconnected third parties.

Any unauthorised use may result in the offending subscriber's subscription being cancelled and, depending on the severity of the unauthorised action, the commencement of civil proceedings against the offender. If any subscriber is unsure as to whether or not a particular course of action is authorised, he/she should contact the Skills Funding Agency in the first instance.

The views and opinions expressed in any email either to a notice board or to a subscriber's personal e-mail address are the author's own and may not reflect the views and opinions of the YPLA. In addition, the YPLA cannot be held responsible for any acts or omissions of subscribers or for any breaches of data protection legislation by subscribers.

Changes to this privacy policy

The YPLA may amend this policy from time to time. If we make any substantial changes in the way we use your personal information we will make that information available by posting a notice on this site.

Children and privacy

Our website does not target and is not intended to attract children under the age of 14. The YPLA does not knowingly solicit personal information from children under the age of 14 or send them requests for personal information.

Questions or concerns about personal data

If you have any questions or concerns about our collection, use, or disclosure of your personal information, please write to the YPLA’s Head of Records and Rights, Cheylesmore House, Quinton Road, Coventry, CV1 2WT.