Access to your child's school records - maintained schools and academies

If you are the parent of a child at an academy and you want to access your child’s educational records you should first check whether the information required is already in the public domain.

Unless mutually agreed otherwise, academies have to send parents an annual written report showing progress and attainment in the main subjects areas taught (paragraph 24(1)(f), Schedule 1, Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/1997)). An academy must also publish information including details of its curriculum and performance on its website, as required by its funding agreement.

If the information is not already published, then you will have to make a specific request for it as follows:

If your child is at a maintained school, you can request access your child’s educational records under the Education (Pupil Information) (England) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/1437). Your child’s consent is not needed. These regulations do not apply to academies.

If your child is at an academy, you can request access to your child’s educational records under the  Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA 1998), which applies to personal data held anywhere, including by all types of school. Under the DPA 1998 you, as parents,  will be exercising your child’s right to see his or her own educational records, on your child’s behalf. Your child could theoretically refuse to consent to you accessing their personal data under the DPA 1998 if your child has reached the required level of maturity (which is generally assumed to be aged 12 or over) (for more information, see Practice note, Pupil records and information: Subject access requests under section 7 of the DPA 1998).