As the regulatory body for education professionals in Wales one of the EWC's main functions is to establish and maintain a Register of Education Practitioners. The EWC Register of practitioners holds a lot of unique data. Every year we publish statistical analyses of the education workforce in Wales. This covers a wide range of practitioners across the seven groups we register. 

Where we obtain your information

When registering with EWC, you provide personal data as part of the registration process (See Qualifications and Registration section of the privacy notice). In order to ensure that the register of education practitioners is up to date, and that all required information is recorded, the Data Collection and Reporting team conduct periodic data collection exercises. The data for statistical analysis is derived from the Register of Education Practitioners or collected as part of research such as surveys, interviews or focus groups. In addition, data is captured via postal and online forms to check and update the data on the Register of Education Practitioners and to inform research.

What personal information we collect

To contact registrants, details from the Register or as part of a separate exercise.

The data usually includes:

• Name
• Address
• E-mail address
• Contact telephone number

When contacting the registrant, the data requested from the registrant will include any data we have a remit to hold, which usually includes the data set out in schedule 2 of the Education Workforce Council (Main Functions) (Wales) Regulations 2015. In addition, we will also ask for either identifying personal data i.e. date of birth or national insurance number for verification/accuracy purposes. Occasionally at the request of Welsh Government we are requested to collect additional data which is on a voluntary/opt in basis.

How we use your information

Once the personal data has been provided by either the registrant or employer, the personal data will be added onto the Register of Education Practitioners. The Register can only be updated by selected employees of EWC. Once the personal data has been added onto the Register, a sub-set of the data (forename, surname, employer, registration category and any disciplinary orders) as per our remit is made publicly available. We are not responsible for how the publically accessible information is used by those who access it.

The data held on the Register and from research is used for statistical analysis from the Register most data summarise are published on the EWC website. Statistics are presented in aggregate form so registrants cannot be identified.

Each year for statistical purposes, the EWC take a snapshot/data extract of the active registrants on the Register. This annual data extract contains the personal data of all Registrants. EWC regularly produce statistical and research reports which summarises key information from the Register. This information will feed into workforce planning and to inform policy development.

On occasion, we use the information detailed on the Register to keep you updated about professional issues (see Qualifications and Registration and Communications section of the privacy notice)

When conducting a mail out to registrants by letter, name and address may be sent to a mail distributor to send out the letters. In such instances a contract is in place with the data processor in advance of the activity therefore they cannot do anything with your personal information unless we have instructed them to do so. Furthermore, they will not share your personal information with any organisation apart from us and will hold it securely and retain it for the period that we specify.

Why our use of your personal data is lawful

In order for our use of your personal data to be lawful, we need to meet one (or more) conditions in the data protection legislation.

The lawful basis for this activity is Article 6(1) - legal obligation as EWC have a responsibility under The Education Workforce Council (Main Function) (Wales) Regulations 2015 to establish and maintain a Register of Education Practitioners.

The condition for processing special category data is Article 9(2)(d) as the processing is carried out in the course of its legitimate activities.

The lawful basis for this activity is Article 6(1)(e) – public task, as the processing is necessary for EWC to perform a task which is in the public interest and in order to perform its function.

The condition for processing special category data is Article 9(2)(j) as the processing is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest.