At a recent webinar on ‘Practical Insight on the GDPR for schools’, Arena’s Neil Maude shared some of the most relevant features of the new data protection regulation for schools, the potential impacts, and next steps. This was followed with a survey to understand the state of play for education on individual schools’ journeys towards the May 2018 deadline, which has elicited some interesting insights. For example:

One of the undisputable diary dates for this scholastic year is 25th May 2018 – when the new data protection regulation will become enforceable. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) replaces the Data Protection Act, which was based on European legislation passed in 1995. Since then, the world of personal data has changed beyond all recognition so the rules needed a significant overhaul. This now means that schools have to go through a robust process to ensure compliance in time for the deadline.