Overview

The Education (Information Sharing) Bill aims to clarify and expand the rules around sharing information about students and former students in England and Wales, primarily to improve the evaluation of education and training programs and assist with career tracking. The bill allows for increased information sharing between educational institutions, government bodies, and other relevant organisations while maintaining safeguards around student privacy.

Description

This bill makes changes to existing legislation to allow for greater data sharing relating to students and former students. Key aspects include:

Student Information

The bill introduces a new section allowing the sharing of student information (on qualifications attained) with the Secretary of State, information collators, and other prescribed persons or categories. This information may not be published in a way that identifies individuals unless existing legislation allows for it. "Information collators" are bodies responsible for gathering or reviewing information on regulated qualifications.

Destination Information

It enables the Secretary of State and Welsh Ministers to provide information about former students' post-education activities (destination information) to further education institutions in England and Wales, to help institutions monitor student outcomes.

Information for Evaluating Effectiveness

The bill amends the Education and Skills Act 2008, removing restrictions on the sharing of information for evaluating education and training programs, expanding the data available for analysis, regardless of the students age.

Government Spending

The bill itself doesn't directly specify government spending figures. However, enabling improved data collection and analysis could lead to more effective resource allocation in the long term, potentially resulting in cost savings or improved efficiency. The exact financial impact is difficult to quantify without further analysis.

Groups Affected

• Students and Former Students: Their data will be more readily shared, impacting their privacy, although safeguards are included to protect their identities.
• Educational Institutions: They will be able to share more information with government bodies, potentially influencing funding and program development. They will also receive information on former student outcomes.
• Government Bodies (Department for Education and Welsh Government): They will gain access to more comprehensive data for monitoring and evaluation of educational programs and informing policy decisions.
• Information Collators: Organisations involved in collecting and analysing educational data will have a clearer legal basis for their work.

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