How we use your personal information | Christs College Cambridge

1. What is ‘personal information’?

‘Personal information’ means any information which relates to or identifies you as an individual.

2. Who will process my personal information?

The University and the individual Colleges work together closely and share the personal information you provide in your application in accordance with agreed protocols. The information provided here applies to the use, sharing and disclosure of your personal information by the University of Cambridge (http://www.cam.ac.uk/), including its Departments, and by the Cambridge Colleges (http://map.cam.ac.uk/colleges) as part of the admissions process. Please note that the University and each of the Colleges are separate legal entities for these purposes.

3. What personal information will be processed?

For applicants to undergraduate degree courses:

Christ's College will use the details you provide on your UCAS application and in the additional questionnaires, together with supporting documents requested in those questionnaire(s) and in the College current applicants section, as well as further details provided by any referee and recorded following any interview process.

For certain courses (notably those such as Medicine leading to professional qualifications), we will also conduct screening checks for safeguarding purposes. If you are applying for Medicine and provide any information about relevant unspent criminal convictions during the application process, we will use this information as described at https://www.cambridgestudents.cam.ac.uk/new-students/rules-and-legal-compliance/disclosure-and-barring-service/dbs-faqs.

4. What is the purpose and legal basis of the processing?

The University and the Colleges will process the personal information provided on your application and the other information referred to above for the purposes of identifying you, processing your application, verifying the information provided, deciding whether to offer you a place and/or funding for the course you have applied for, and communicating that outcome (together with any feedback).

We may also use or disclose the information provided for the following statutory or public interest purposes:

To prevent or detect fraud.
For equal opportunities monitoring.
To help us to make reasonable adjustments for any disability, as requested by you.
To allow us to consider any future accommodation requirements.
To provide statutory returns required by applicable legislation.
For research and statistical purposes (which may include the receipt of applicant surveys), but no information which could identify you will be published.

We consider the processing of your personal information for the above purposes to be either necessary for us to take steps with a view to creating a contractual relationship with you (e.g. to assess your application to study with us), or necessary for compliance with a legal obligation (e.g. to administer visa applications), or necessary for the performance of tasks we carry out in the public interest (e.g. admissions research). Where we ask for any sensitive information, such as that concerning your ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious beliefs or health/disability, the use made of such information will be explained and you will often have the option to refuse your consent by not supplying it. We require you to provide us with the information we ask for during the application process in order to assess your application properly except where its supply is marked as optional. Admissions decisions are not automated.

5. Who will my personal information be shared with?

As well as circulating your application and related materials to the appropriate staff at the University and the Colleges, we will share your personal information for the above purposes as relevant and necessary with:

Your referees
Where relevant and as required and/or notified to you, your school/college or training organisation.
Your examination boards or awarding bodies.
Your student support assessment body.
Your funders and/or potential funders (including, as relevant, the Student Loans Company, the Gates Cambridge Trust, the Cambridge Commonwealth, European and International Trust and any consortium partners). These funders and/or potential funders may need to assess your financial situation.
In the case of international applicants, the British Council or appropriate agencies.
Where relevant and as required, UK Visas and Immigration in order to act as your sponsor for visa purposes.
Where relevant and as required, governmental bodies including local authorities, the Home Office, and the Department for Work and Pensions and its agencies.
Other Higher Education organisations, in order to assist with tracking and research into access to Higher Education.
Companies or organisations providing specific services to, or on behalf of, the University and/or one or more Colleges.

6. How is my personal information used if I am accepted?

If you are accepted, we will use your personal information for the purposes described at /current-applicants/data and https://www.information-compliance.admin.cam.ac.uk/data-protection/student-data, as amended from time to time. Further information about this will be provided in your offer of admission.

If you are accepted, the University will also return data about you to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (as described on HESA’s website at https://www.hesa.ac.uk/about/regulation/data-protection/notices) and other external agencies and funding bodies, as required.

7. How can I access my personal information?

You have the right to access the personal information that is held about you by the College. Further details are set out on the University’s data protection webpages at https://www.information-compliance.admin.cam.ac.uk/data-protection/subject-access-request.

You also have the right to ask us to correct any inaccurate personal information we hold about you, to delete personal information, or otherwise restrict our processing, or to object to processing (including the receipt of direct marketing) or to receive an electronic copy of the personal information you provided to us. Please note that all of these rights are qualified in various ways.

8. How long is my information kept?

We store your personal information for as long as necessary to complete the application process. If you are successful, your information will be kept as part of your student record for the duration of your studies (and it may be used as part of our assessment of any future application you make for further studies at Cambridge). If you are unsuccessful, your information will normally be retained for at least seven months after all applicants have received decisions in January, but not after the conclusion of the Admissions Cycle in which you have applied.

9. Who can I contact?

If you have any questions about how your personal information is used, or wish to exercise any of your rights, please consult the University’s data protection webpages at https://www.information-compliance.admin.cam.ac.uk/data-protection. If you need further assistance, please contact the College Admissions Office.

10. How do I complain?

If you are not happy with the way your information is being handled, or with the response received from us, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF (https://ico.org.uk/).

11. Are changes made to this webpage?

This webpage was last updated in September 2023. It is reviewed when necessary and at least annually. Any changes will be published here and you will be notified via this webpage.

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