Student Services privacy notice

Student Services at the University of Portsmouth provide a range of advice, guidance and support, with the aim of enabling you to effectively and safely navigate the non-academic aspects of university life.

Student Services is made up of several multidisciplinary services and include:

Chaplaincy
Disability Advice
International Student Advice
My Port (Student Centre)
People of the Global Majority
Residence Life
Safeguarding & Prevent
Student Life
Student Money
Student Wellbeing

This document outlines the data accessed and held by Student Services, how your data is used (processed), our basis for using it, and your rights as a data subject. This document should be read in parallel with our University of Portsmouth Privacy Statement for Students and the University of Portsmouth's Data Protection Policy

Information accessed or held by Student Services

Information accessed by Student Services

Student Services staff will use and maintain a record of your personal data when you engage with services, which may include the following:

Information found in your central student record such as name, student ID, addresses, email address, telephone number, course, year and mode of study, registration status, trusted contact details, visa status.
Referrals and relevant information from other university services such as academic departments and other professional services, related to attendance, engagement, progression, and concerns for your wellbeing or safety.
Records of your interactions with Student Services such as emails, telephone calls, appointments, drop-ins, live chat, online forms, clinical assessment tools.
Details about the information, advice and support offered to you.
Case notes maintained by staff – recording their professional observations.
Information you provide regarding your GP practice and other NHS support.
Information supplied by external parties such as your GP practice, NHS services, Student Loan Company, UCAS, or concerns from family/supporters or other relevant party.
Information relating to the need for, and implementation of, reasonable adjustments.
Information related to your financial circumstances and payments received from the university.

This may include sensitive personal information (special category data), such as:

Physical and mental health
Ethnicity
Religious or philosophical beliefs
Political opinions
Sexuality

Information held by Student Services

Information provided to Student Services by or about you will be recorded in the Student Services CRM system. Core information from your central student record will be available to view in the Student Services CRM system.

The Student Services CRM hosts specific role-based access controls. Greater controls are in place for:

Cases related to your interactions with Student Wellbeing (counselling, mental health and wellbeing)
Cases related to reports of sexual misconduct
Cases related to Safeguarding and Prevent concerns
Cases related to your interactions with Disability Advice

Other university systems may be used to record information relating to your interactions with Student Services.

How we use your data:

The University will maintain and use records of personal and special category data relating to staff, students, applicants and anyone else who provide their personal data to the University as is necessary and appropriate for its effective operation as an educational organisation, employer and research institution.

The University processes your personal data, special category data and potentially criminal offence data, for a variety of defined purposes. The list below describes the nature/purpose of processing your data:

To support and enable your engagement with your studies.
To support and enable your welfare.
To support and enable your financial wellbeing.
To support and enable your use of university facilities.
In accordance with university policies and procedures such as any complaints you raise, or any disciplinary matters relating to your time at the University.
For the purpose of equal opportunities monitoring.

Legal Basis for Processing

The legal bases for processing your information are defined within the University Data Protection Policy. Where Student Services processes special category data, the legal basis can be found in the table below:

Special Category Data	Legal Basis
Physical and mental health	Explicit Consent, Substantial Public Interest, Vital Interest
Ethnicity	Explicit Consent, Substantial Public Interest
Religious and philosophical belief	Explicit Consent, Substantial Public Interest
Political opinions	Explicit Consent, Substantial Public Interest
Sexuality	Explicit Consent, Substantial Public Interest

Information sharing

Student Services staff will share information within the different service teams represented by Student Services proportionately and securely to deliver an effective, holistic and coordinated approach to supporting you.

Information may also be shared with parties external to Student Services where necessary but will be limited to the minimum possible sharing of data to ensure appropriate support can be provided.

We may share information with:

Other university departments to ensure appropriate support can be provided or as required under relevant University policies or procedures, such as if there are concerns about professional standards (fitness to practice) in placement-based courses, health and safety incidents (accidents, injuries, near misses), or Student Conduct investigations.
External parties, if there are serious concerns about your safety or the safety of others (e.g., with NHS services or your Trusted Contact).

Where possible, we will discuss and obtain your consent before sharing information and will only share the minimum possible data to enable the relevant function or task.

Data Subject Rights

We respect your data subject rights under data protection legislation, as set out in the University’s Data Protection Policy. A full list of these rights and guidance on how to exercise them is available in the Data Protection policy referred to earlier.

Certain rights, such as the right to erasure or restriction, may not apply where the University is required to retain information for contractual, regulatory, and statutory obligations. Where this is the case, we will provide an explanation.

Who can you contact if you have any queries about this document?

All enquirers may contact the University’s Data Protection Officer by email at [email protected]

Relevant Documents

Data Protection Policy

University of Portsmouth Privacy Notice

Trusted Contact Procedure

Support from Student Wellbeing

Available to students in Portsmouth and London, find free mental health, wellbeing and counselling services including daily advice sessions, personalised 1:1 support, and other resources and guides.