Computing Quality Framework

Terminology

We means the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE), run by Department for Education (DfE) and STEM Learning.

Website means the Computing Quality Framework (CQF) website: computingqualityframework.org/.

You and Your is the user connecting to the website using a web browser.

Your IP Address is a numerical identifier assigned by the computer network to allow the website to communicate with your computer.

Cookie is a small piece of information sent by the website, stored by your web browser, and returned by your web browser to the website whenever your use our website.

Privacy Policy

The Computing Quality Framework (CQF) website, part of the NCCE, is a Government run programme to support computer science teachers and students in England. It is delivered by STEM Learning on behalf of the Department of Education

The overall aim of the NCCE, is to raise the quality of Computing related teaching.  This is achieved by providing quality CPD, support, Teacher certification, enrichment and industry outreach programmes to teachers in England.  NCCE also engage at school level, promoting planning, consultancy and collaboration (school engagement). 

We take the care of your personal data seriously. This privacy notice is here to explain how the personal data you supply to us is collected and used  in accordance with data protection law, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

We ensure that we use your information in accordance with all applicable laws concerning the protection of personal information. In this document we will explain:

1. Who we are
2. What information we collect about you and when
3. When we collect that information
4. How we collect and store that information
5. What we use your information for
6. On what legal basis we use your information
7. Who we share your information with
8. How long we keep your information for
9. Your rights
10. Information about cookies
11. About changes to this privacy policy
12. How to contact us about your data

1. Who we are

The NCCE is a programme funded by the Department for Education. The Department for Education is the data controller for all information collected as part of this programme of work. STEM Learning has been contracted by the Department for Education to deliver this programme as the data processor.

The Computing Quality Framework is a free to use online review tool for senior school leaders to better understand the level of Computer Science teaching and teacher knowledge at their school. It is intended to help schools review their progress in developing an exemplary computing curriculum. The framework takes schools through each aspect of computing, helping them to access the NCCE’s wide range of report functions, and resources for progress.

2. What information we collect about you and when

We aim to collect only the information that we think is required for the purpose for which we collect it, and to process this information in accordance with the terms of this Privacy Notice.

We collect and process minimal personal data about you when you interact with the CQF website. This includes personal information required to create an account, i.e., name and email address. This might also include your work address, information about your organisation and role.

When you visit our website, we may collect technical information relating to your use of our website, including your browser type or the Internet Protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the internet. For more on this, see section 10, “Information about cookies”.

As the information we collect about you will be stored on our IT infrastructures, it may also be shared with our data processors who provide email, relationship management, anonymous analytics and storage services.

3. When we collect that information

We collect your information when you:

• Visit our website
• as part of your registration to use our website.
• as part of your sign up to our progress emails.
• participate in surveys or research.
• have made a request for information from us

4. How we collect and store that information

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure that the information disclosed to us is kept secure, accurate, and up to date, and that it is kept only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it is used. You should be aware that the use of the internet is not entirely secure, and although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security or integrity of any personal information that is transferred from you or to you via the internet. Any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features such as encryption to try to prevent unauthorised access.

5. What we use your information for

We use the information we have collected:

• Administer any user accounts you have with us.
• Process a request that you have made for information from us
• To send you marketing and communications information where you have subscribed to receive those communications
• agreed to receive services from us via our website(s); and/or
• applied for and/or taken part in events run by us (or on our behalf).

6. On what legal basis we use your information

We have a lawful basis for collecting your data as set out in section 6, “On what legal basis we use your information”, and for using the data for the purposes described in section 5, “What we use your information for”.

We use several legal bases when processing your personal data. These are:

Consent: We may ask for your consent to process and share your personal information. You may withdraw your consent for us to process or share your personal data in this manner at any time. This can be done through the website interface.

Public interest: As a Public Authority as defined in the Freedom of Information Act. As such, we may receive requests which require us to process your personal data in fulfilment of our duties as either a government department (DfE). For example, a member of the public may ask us to calculate the total number of active users on the website in any given year.

7. Who we share your information with

We do not provide personal data to third parties for commercial purposes. We will only disclose personal data obtained for marketing and communication and service delivery purposes if:

1. required or authorised to do so by law;
2. it is necessary to enforce or apply our terms and conditions and/or other agreements; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of STEM, our customers, or others;
3. we sell or buy any business or assets, in which case we may disclose your personal data to the prospective seller or buyer of such business or assets; or if STEM or substantially all of its assets are acquired by a third party, in which case personal data held may be one of the transferred assets;
4. it is required to arrange attendance at an event or similar benefit; or
5. we have your consent to do so.
6. In the case of the Computing Quality Framework the data from the tool will be shared with the DfE and their partners: BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT.

We may employ third party companies and/or individuals to perform certain functions on our behalf (including delivering events, sending postal mail or email, academic/research projects related to our work, delivering certain aspects of STEM service(s), and processing card payments). To the extent that they require access to personal data (and where we are unable to achieve the desired outcome by providing them with this data in an anonymised manner), we will disclose your personal data only where:

1. the third party agrees to use it only for the agreed function(s) and not for any other purposes; and
2. the third party agrees to process the personal data in accordance with this Privacy Notice and as permitted by the UK’s data protection legislation.

We may share your information with other relevant organisations if you are asked and you agree that your information can be shared in that way.

As the information we collect about you will be stored on our IT infrastructure, it may also be shared with the data processors who provide us with email, relationship management, anonymous analytics, document management, and storage services.

As part of the services offered to you through the Computer Quality Framework, the information you provide may be transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area. These countries may not have similar data protection laws to the UK. By submitting your personal data, you’re agreeing to this transfer, storing or processing. When transferring your information outside of the EU in this way, we take steps to ensure that appropriate security measures are taken with the aim of ensuring that your privacy rights continue to be protected.

8. How long we keep your information for

The Department for Education will keep your personal data for the purposes of
evaluation of the Computer Quality Framework programme until 31/08/2027, which is two years after the end of the current programme.

9. Your rights

Right of access — you have a right to ask us to confirm whether we are processing information about you, and to request access to this information.

Right to rectification — it is your responsibility to see that the information held on the website is up to date. We may also update some information if we identify it is out of date, for example a school closes and reopens with a different name. You may ask us to rectify information you think is inaccurate, and you may also ask us to remove information which is inaccurate or incomplete. If you inform us that your personal data is inaccurate, we will inform relevant third parties with whom we have shared your data so that they may update their own records.

In order to ensure we do not hold any out of date information for individuals we regularly remove registered users for whom we do not have a valid email address; this includes those accounts to which the email address has been reported as undeliverable.

Right of portability — you have a right to obtain your personal data from us and reuse it for your own purposes.

Right to be forgotten — You have a right to seek the erasure of your data, for example where it is no longer necessary for us to continue holding or processing your personal data. This right is not absolute, as we may need to continue processing this information to comply with a legal obligation.

Right to restriction — you have a right to ask us to restrict our processing of your information if:

• You contest its accuracy and we need to verify whether it is accurate.
• You ask us to restrict use of it instead of deleting it.
• We no longer need the information for the purpose of processing, but you need it to establish or defend legal claims.
• You have objected to processing of your information being necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests. The restriction would apply while we carry out a balancing act between your rights and our legitimate interests. If you exercise your right to restrict processing, we would still need to process your information for the purpose of exercising or defending legal claims, for the purpose of protecting the rights of another person, or for public interest reasons

You can always unsubscribe from any marketing emails. There is a link at the bottom of each email. If you have any problems unsubscribing please email info@teachcomputing.org.

Accessing your personal information — you can find out if we hold any personal information by making a subject access request. If we do hold information about you we will:

• give you a description of it
• tell you why we are holding it
• tell you who it could be disclosed to
• let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form

To make a request for any personal information we may hold or exercise any of your rights, you need to put the request in writing addressing it to:

The Data Protection Officer, STEM Learning, University of York, York, YO10 5DD or emailing datasecurity@stem.org.uk

We may ask for your help in locating specific information and confirming your identity. We will act in accordance with your instructions as soon as reasonably possible, and there will be no charge.

If you agree, we will try to deal with your request informally, for example by providing you with the specific information you need over the telephone.

Alternatively, you can make a subject access request in writing or through the DfE contact form.

To make your request in writing, post your request to:

Data Protection Officer
Department for Education (B2.28)
7 & 8 Wellington Place
Wellington Street
Leeds
LS1 4AW

Our use of your data processed in the UK is regulated by the Information Commissioner. You have a right to report any of your concerns about our use of your data to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

10. Use of cookies by this website

A number of the cookies that we use on the website are essential for parts of the site to operate and some have already been set. You may delete and block all cookies from the site, but parts of the site will not work.

There are a number of different types of cookies which have different purposes:

• Necessary – enable you to use our site and services
• Functional – remember choices you make to improve site experience
• Analytics – anonymised and aggregated information collection about how visitors use our site and services

The following cookies are used by the website:

Necessary and Functional Cookies

These are necessary and/or functional types of cookies. Disabling these would affect the functionality and may restrict access to certain parts of the website.

Analytics (Performance) Cookies

These cookies collect information about how visitors use the website, for example which pages visitors go to most often. All information collected by these cookies collect is aggregated and anonymous.

How do I change my cookie settings?

Most web browsers allow some control of cookies through the browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set, visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org.

When someone visits our website we use Google Analytics to collect standard internet log information, details of visitor behaviour patterns and search terms being used on the site. To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics visit http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout..

To manage the cookie settings on our website visit: https://computingqualityframework.org/cookies/

11. Changes to this policy

We may occasionally need to make changes to this policy.

When we do make changes to this policy, we will provide you with a prominent notice e.g., by displaying a notice on the CQF website.

12. How to contact us or make a complaint

If you have a question, or feel your data has been mishandled, you can contact us by: using our secure DfE contact form

or writing to:

Data Protection Officer
Department for Education
(B2.28) 7 & 8 Wellington Place
Wellington Street Leeds
LS1 4AW

You can also complain to the ICO by writing to:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113. Or use the online ICO contact form

Last updated: 21/03/2023