Record Keeping in Schools - Access Records Management

Efficient record keeping in schools is incredibly important – they are various types of documents and files these institutions must manage.

There are strict guidelines about which documents should be retained, how long schools need to keep them and when and to whom they should make them available.

Here’s a short guide to record keeping in education to provide a better idea about what schools need to consider.

Why do schools need to keep records?

All educational institutions have responsibilities when it comes to managing records. This mainly relates to their pupils, but record keeping in schools also involves recording information about staff members as well as processes and facilities.

When it comes to pupils, schools must keep records in order to monitor their progress and achievements, as well as to ensure that concerns about their safety and welfare are recorded.

Which records should schools keep?

The Department for Education requires that schools keep records of the progress of each pupil, relating to both academic and non-academic matters.

Curricular records form part of the educational record of each pupil. These are formal records of the academic achievements of the pupil, their skills, progress and abilities, and they need to be updated annually.

Schools must also keep records of issues relating to the welfare of each child and to issues relating to child protection. They must also keep attendance registers as well as files relating to absences and exam results.

Personnel records

Personnel records are one example of a kind of document that can have complex compliance requirements. Timesheets and sick pay, for example, must be retained for a period of the current year + six years; while staff personnel files must be kept from 25 years after the point of termination. Meanwhile, maternity pay records should be held for the current year + three years – so if any members of staff are pregnant or new mothers, you’ll need to take this into account.

Pupil records

Retention periods for pupils can also vary heavily; where children are concerned, the law can be especially sensitive. Attendance registers, for instance, must be held onto for a period encompassing the date of register plus three years; public examination results must be retained for the year of examination plus six years. For school trips, the rules tend to vary; records should be kept until the end of the trip if there is not a major incident, but if there is, records must be kept for 25 years.

Privacy and access of records

Schools have responsibilities under the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). To meet the DPA’s provisions, all information they hold that identifies pupils, parents and staff must be gathered and stored securely, and they have a legal responsibility to protect the information from outside intruders.

While information must be kept confidential, schools also need an open-access policy. Under the Pupil Information Regulations 2005, parents of pupils also have the right to access the records of their children. And public organisations must allow members of the public to access information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Sometimes, however, information may need to be withheld. This happens when sharing the information could cause harm to the pupil or an adult, or where a person has not given their permission to access information that they have provided.

The importance of compliance

When it comes to record keeping in schools, non-compliance with records retention responsibilities due to poor records management can lead to significant penalties. Badly managed records also pose security risks, leading to the loss or theft of documents. If sensitive information is lost, it could drastically affect the reputation of the school.

Large amounts of records take up space and can lead to disorganisation. Some documents may need to be accessed only very rarely and it can take up time and resources to find them when needed. Schools need a combination of secure storage and easy accessibility so they are able to retrieve files quickly when requested.

Professional records management can help in the storing and accessibility of these records, as well as the secure destruction of records when needed.

Document management and storage providers can take care of everything from collecting files to storing them securely and retrieving them when needed. They can provide archive storage for files not needed for a long time, and you can enjoy peace of mind in knowing that all the records are stored in a secure facility protected from environmental damage and theft, as well as knowing that you can get easy access to any records when needed.

In short, a professional document storage service can make it a lot easier for schools to ensure they are meeting their record keeping responsibilities.

Practice better record keeping

Record keeping in education is a huge responsibility, and it can sometimes cause difficulties for institutions that may have neither the people nor the physical space to dedicate to document management.

Ensure your school is keeping records efficiently. Outsourcing to a professional records management solution can help to ensure compliance while making document storage a lot easier for your institution. Contact us to learn more about our records management services.