GDPR Subject access request for school

[Childandbird]

Hi all

I have asked for a copy of the reference letter sent to my daughter’s new school and the old school have declined this saying it’s not something shareable and confidential. But I thought this is my daughter’s personal data so should have a right to access this and what was written about her.

Could I obtain this under GDPR or are education settings exempted from this? The information on this report is only about my daughter. Thanks

What are you concerned it will show?

References are excluded from data subject access requests. There are a number of exemptions and that's one.

I don't know specifically about references but schools in general are not exempt from GDPR requests, and you are able to make a Subject Access Request for your child's school file in its entirety. If references are exempt, they will not be included, but the school file will probably contain most of the factual data that the reference would have been based on.

You can make a request for a copy of all the data they have and by law they must provide it within 15 school days. The school can charge a fee for the copy, however, the fee must not exceed the cost of supply.

https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/schools/pupils-info/

As a previous poster says, confidential references are specifically excluded from subject access requests.