Widening Participation and Outreach (WPO) Privacy Policy

This Privacy Notice sets out how we use your personal data and your rights regarding that information.

When you complete an application form for a Widening Participation outreach programme, whether via our online application system ‘Scholars Apply’ or an online/paper application form, you are sharing your personal data with us.

We use the data that you have shared with us for the purpose of determining whether you are eligible for a place on our outreach programmes, e.g. Liverpool Scholars, Summer Schools, Merseyside Young Health & Life Scientists. Once an offer of a place on our outreach programmes has been made, we use the data that you have provided to keep in touch with you about the programme, to comply with health and safety whilst you are attending our events, to evaluate and report on the impact and effectiveness of our activities, to conduct research to monitor equality of opportunity and in the case of Post-16 programmes, to make sure our student records database ‘Banner’ is ready for you to be able to register as a student in the future. We will contact you after participation in our activities in order to highlight relevant opportunities and benefits open to former participants of our programmes.

The processing of your data is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests of the University in enabling us to determine if you are eligible for a place on our outreach programmes and to manage your future application to study at the University of Liverpool. If you are offered a place on our outreach programmes and you accept it, a contract has been formed between us and from then until your future registration as a student, we process your data on the basis that we need to do so in order to fulfil our contractual obligations to you.

The University’s access and participation activities, and the financial spend associated with these activities, are regulated by the Office for Students (OfS). The University has an Access and Participation Plan that sets out how it will improve equality of opportunity for underrepresented groups so that they can access, succeed in and progress from higher education. The OfS monitors access and participation plans to make sure that the providers honour the commitments they make to students in these plans and act if they do not. The processing of your data is necessary in order for the University to comply with this regulatory obligation.

This privacy policy outlines what this means in practice and explains how the Widening Participation and Outreach (WPO) Team collects, stores, manages and protects your data during your relationship with us.

Who we are and what we do

The University’s Widening Participation and Outreach (WPO) Team run initiatives to provide students with a sustained programme of academic support, as well as information, advice and guidance. We work with a range of learners, from Year 5 with our primary programme, to our Year 9-11 programme for aspiring medics, to the Liverpool Scholars programme for post-16 students. These programmes are principally delivered to students from our partner schools. We also deliver a variety of programmes to targeted groups, such as mentoring programmes delivered in the community.

We receive applications for our outreach programmes in online and paper format and via our online system ‘Scholars Apply’. We use the data that you provide to determine whether your previous academic qualifications and other information that you have provided, meet the widening participation eligibility for our outreach programmes, to enable us to decide whether to offer you a place.

In order to provide this service, we gather information from you via the application form and any other information you may have supplied to us directly, and we may also use information we have received from third parties, including but not limited to:

• Your referees
• Your current place of study.

Our legal basis for processing personal data

Collecting personal data based on Public Task.

We may use personal data if it is considered to be of legitimate interest and if the privacy interests of the people we collect data about (data subjects) do not override this interest. Normally, to establish the legal basis for data collection, an assessment has been made during which a mutual interest between the University and the individual person has been identified.

This legal basis is primarily related to the delivery of the Widening Participation Outreach programme that you have applied for. We will always inform individuals about their privacy rights and the purpose for collecting personal data.

Where we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation – our regulatory duty to the Office for Students (OfS).

Collecting special category data

We may collect Special Category Data (as defined by the GDPR in article 9 of the Regulation) from students on application to our programmes or for specific activities in the case of health information. This includes information about your ethnic origin (collected under article 9 (2) condition (g) – significant public interest) and any disabilities or medical conditions you may have (collected under article 9 (2) conditions (c) and (h) for health emergency or occupational health reasons).

Who will my information be shared with?

Where we have a lawful basis to do so as described above, we may share your data with the following parties:

HEAT/Medical School Council –to facilitate the monitoring, evaluation, and research of Outreach Activities that are conducted by the University for the purposes of improving such activities and widening participation in higher education. Processing may be undertaken by a sub-division of the Medical School Council such as the Dental Schools Council

Office for Students and its designated data body HESA (Jisc) – In line with our legal obligations we may share anonymised aggregated data with the OfS/HESA for statistical analysis to enable it to carry out its functions related to regulation, funding, accountability, and improving student outcomes

The Parties above will process your data as independent controllers. For more information on how they use your data please see here:

What rights do I have when it comes to my data?

It is important that you understand your rights in relation to your Personal Information and how you can contact us if you have questions or concerns.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns about how we handle your Personal Information, then you may contact us by sending an email to widepart@liverpool.ac.uk

To help us to maintain accurate personal information, you must advise us of any changes to your personal information. In the event that the WPO Team becomes aware of any inaccuracy in the personal information that the WPO Team has recorded, the WPO Team will correct that inaccuracy at the earliest practical opportunity. If you become aware that the data we hold about you is incorrect, please contact us at widepart@liverpool.ac.uk, and we will correct the information where appropriate.

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation, you may have the following rights with regards to your personal data:

The Right to subject access – you have the right to see a copy of the personal data that the University holds about you and find out what it is used for.
The Right to rectification – you have the right to ask the University to correct or remove any inaccurate data that we hold about you.
The Right to erasure (right to be forgotten) you have the right to ask the University to remove data that we hold about you.
The Right to restriction – you have the right to ask for your information to be restricted (locked down) on University systems.
The Right to data portability – you have the right to ask for your data to be transferred back to you or to a new provider at your request.
The Right to object – you have the right to ask the University to stop using your personal data or to stop sending you marketing information or complain about how your data is used.
The Right to prevent automated decision making – you have the right to ask the University to stop using your data to make automated decisions about you or to stop profiling your behaviour (where applicable).

Please note that not all rights apply in all situations. To find out more about your rights under the UK GDPR, please visit the Information Commissioner’s website.

To request a copy of your data or ask questions about how it is used, contact the University Data Protection Officer.

Email: legal@liverpool.ac.uk
Post: Legal & Governance, University of Liverpool, Foundation Building, 765 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L69 7ZX

Who can I complain to if I am unhappy about how my data is used?

You can complain directly to the Data Protection Team by writing to the University Data Protection Officer.

Email: legal@liverpool.ac.uk
Post: Legal & Governance, University of Liverpool, Foundation Building, 765 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L69 7ZX

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office using the following details:

Post: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
Telephone: 08456 30 60 60 or 01625 54 57 45
Website: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

Further information

If you have any questions that you feel have not been answered by this Privacy Policy, please do not hesitate to contact Deborah Fish, Evaluation and Impact Manager.

Changes to the Privacy Statement

In the interests of being transparent, we may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any signification changes to this Policy or to the way in which we treat your data will be communicated via the University’s website.

Last update: 26 September 2025