Privacy Policy

The Prep School Online, a company registered in England and Wales (No. 13308716) with a registered office at: Henwood House, Ashford TN24 8DH, herein referred to as “TPSO” or “we” have created this privacy statement (“Statement”) in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to the privacy of the details that you provide to us when using this website, as the data controller for the purposes of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations EU 2016/679) and related UK legislation.

Unless otherwise indicated all definitions in the Client Policy and the Tutor Policy shall apply to this Statement. In this Statement, references to “you” and “your” are references to the User of i.e. www.theprepschoolonline.com (the “Site”) regardless of whether you are a Client or a Tutor or other user. It applies to information we collect about Users of our Site and amongst other things, this Statement describes what personally identifiable information “Personal Information” we collect from you, how and when it is used, how we protect it and who has access to it. This Statement incorporates our Cookie Policy the Terms of Service and the Tutor Policy and/or the Client Policy (where applicable) by this reference.

1.0 THIS POLICY

This Policy explains our processing of your personal data and your rights according to EU General Data Protection Regulation and UK data protection legislation. We reserve the right to modify this Statement at any time without notice by posting the changes on this page.

2.1 WHAT INFORMATION IS COLLECTED?

a. Personal information you give us that is necessary for the use of the TPSP Site

TPSO processes personal data as a necessary part of entering into and performing our contract with you, which is governed by our Terms and Conditions. As part of the process of using the Site and the Services, we require you to give us certain Personal Information which we need to provide our Service. Without this information we may not be able to fulfil our contract with you. This information includes:

• Account information: to enable us to create an account for you on the Site. Depending on whether you register as a parent, student, school pupil, or tutor, this information can include your name, email, telephone number, postal address, and date of birth.

• Tutor application details: so we can process your application to become a tutor. These details include your educational background and qualifications, your tutoring subjects, your profile picture and video resume, your resume, the prices you charge, your availability and your gender.

• Communication history: to enable communication with other users of the website and with the The Prep School Online team, we store details about your communication history including user messages, requests you have made, and your interactions with the The Prep School Online team (including call recordings).

• Booking history: to facilitate tutorials including information on booking requests, status of bookings, booking subjects and levels, results of your set-up tests whilst using the lesson space and recordings of your bookings (bookings include tutor interviews, free meetings, lessons and written sessions.)

• Promotions you redeemed: we record details of referral codes shared, redeemed and other promotions you interact with to be able to apply rewards to your account.

• Identity verification information: when you apply as a tutor we ask for verification that you study at the university you claim to, have a valid ID card and a clean DBS check (if applicable). We also ask for information to demonstrate that you have the right to work in the UK.

b. Information we automatically collect from your use of the TPSO Site

We collect some information from all users of the TPSO site regardless of whether you are registered with us as a customer or tutor, to fulfil our contract with users and to enable our legitimate interests in providing the TPSO site and services.

• Automatically tracked information includes: Cookie information, your IP address, details of the device you use to access the Site, the pages you visit and the actions taken, the times and dates of actions you take on our website, your interactions with our email, text and in-app messages, the source of your visit and/or previous webpage before visiting our Site, and your page response times.

• Tutor capacity information: If you have a profile as a tutor on the Site we collect information on your on-site behaviour, capacity and interactions with other users to help show you the most relevant requests and show customers the most relevant tutors.

c. Information we collect from third parties

• Other sources: we reserve the right, where permitted by law, to collect and use information on you from third party providers.

d. Financial information

We may require you to provide us with Financial Information to authorise or process payment and bill you or pay you for the Services. These details include for tutors: your nominated bank account, your invoices and your payment history, and for customers your payment history and payment card details.

When you book Tutoring Services via the Site (if you are a Client) or when you receive payment for delivering Tutoring Services via the Site (if you are a Tutor), we will pass your Financial or Personal Information to those third parties necessary to process your transactions with us, such as credit card companies and banks.

The legal basis under GDPR by which we are permitted to process this information in this way is that it is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party, or to take steps prior to entering into a contract with you or where we need to comply with a legal obligation.

This includes exchanging information with other companies and organisations for fraud protection and credit risk reduction. Except as provided above, we will not share Financial Information with third parties without your prior consent.

2.2 HOW IS THE INFORMATION USED?

The Site asks you to provide various types of Personal Information to enhance the quality of the Services we can provide to you and the more accurate the information you provide, the better we are able to respond to your requirements.

Any Personal Information that is held with TPSO shall be retained in accordance with the GDPR. TPSO is the data controller in respect of all of the Personal Information which TPSO collects and receives about you when you use the TPSO Services.

a. Data processing to provide and improve the TPSO Site and Services

We use your information primarily to fulfil our contract to provide you with the Services that you request, and related services (this includes providing this Site, website administration and security). We run the following processes to fulfil our contract with you:

• Enabling you to access the Site and create an account

• Enabling you to communicate with other users, and receive updates from TPSO about your account

• Enabling bookings between customers and tutors

• Providing recordings

• Enabling payments

• Providing support for customers and tutors

• Providing photos and videos to create trust and enable better connections between users

We also use your information to support our legitimate interests in developing the Site and the Services. These processes include:

• To aid the technical administration of the Site

• To ensure quality of service

• To better understand how the Site is functioning for Users to inform our product development

• To draw conclusions upon demographic information

• Preventing fraud, spam and abusive or inappropriate behaviour

• Fulfilling our safeguarding and legal obligations

You acknowledge that your Personal Information may be used by TPSO to contact you by post, phone or by electronic mail when necessary in connection with the Services requested by you on the Site.

b. Data processing to provide, tailor and improve our marketing activities

We also use your information to support our legitimate interests in marketing our Site and the Services. These processes include:

• Marketing activities to promote our services to registered users. These communications may be personalised to you and your interactions with the Site and can be delivered by email, social media advertising and other digital marketing channels

• Notifying you about upcoming promotions, Referral Discount Codes, services or customer surveys

• Undertaking impact reporting to understand the efficacy of our Services

• Undertaking research to better understand our customers interests

• Analysing your interactions to improve the efficiency of our marketing activities

c. Direct marketing

From time to time, TPSO may contact you by post, by telephone (which may be recorded for quality assurance purposes) or by electronic mail, with information or offers relating directly to the Site and the Services.

When you register on the Site, you accept that your contact information may be used by TPSO for direct marketing purposes relating directly to the Site and the Services.

Opting out: If you do not wish to be contacted by TPSO in respect of future marketing communications, in the case of our own promotional communications please contact TPSO by sending an email to contact@theprepschoolonline.com with “UNSUBSCRIBE REQUEST” or similar statement in the subject line.

d. Third party direct marketing

If you have given your consent when submitting your information on the Site for your Personal Information to be provided to specific categories of third parties (other than TPSO), or for TPSO to send you marketing communications relating to products and services from third parties, then we/they may contact you by post, telephone (which may be recorded for quality assurance purposes) or email with information or offers regarding their products and services.

Opting out: If you decide to withdraw your consent to receive communications from or regarding third party goods and services please follow the unsubscribe link in the email, or email contact@theprepschoolonline.com with the subject line “THIRD PARTY UNSUBSCRIBE REQUEST” or similar. Please note that our systems may take a little time to fully register your opt-out, so if you continue to receive emails in the forty-eight (48) hours after making changes, please accept our apologies and ignore them.

e. The legal grounds under GDPR for processing your personal data described above are as follows

• It is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party, or to take steps prior to entering into a contract with you, for us to provide you with our products and services. Where we require information from you for these purposes we have set out above which information it is necessary for us to process, without which we will be unable to provide you with our services.

• It is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests, such as fraud prevention, child protection, maintaining quality of service, error detection and cybersecurity, except where our interests are overridden by the interests, rights or freedoms of affected individuals (such as you). To determine this, we shall consider a number of factors, such as what you were told at the time you provided your data, what your expectations are about the processing of the data, the nature of the data, and the impact of the processing on you. In order to protect children from harassment and abuse, we video record and store tutoring sessions.

• You have given us explicit opt-in consent to the processing of your personal data for one or more specific purposes, namely where you have given us consent to receive electronic Direct Marketing by us and/or by third parties as described in this notice.

• Where we need to comply with a legal obligation; or in rare circumstances:

• Where we need to protect your interests (or someone else’s interests); and/or

• Where it is needed in the public interest or for official purposes

3.0 WHO ELSE HAS ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION?

a. Other users on the TPSO site

Your Personal Information may also be viewed by Tutors (where you are a Client) or by a Client or Tutor (where you are a Tutor) for the sole purposes of enabling Tutors to deliver their Tutoring Services direct to you and to provide you with information about their Tutoring Services and access to the Tutoring Services themselves.

If you as a Client make a request for Tutoring Services with a Tutor via the Site, your Personal Information will be shared with the Tutor to enable the Tutor to deliver the Tutoring Services or to follow up on any enquiry. Such details may include: first name and initial of surname, the contents of your message, and the subject and level you requested.

If you as a Tutor submit Personal Information on the Site for example by creating a profile, Personal Information in your profile may be accessible by any User who visits the Site. The personal information shared may include: first name and initial of surname, university details, the resume you write for TPSO, your profile picture and video, your grades, your tutoring subjects and price band, your tutoring record and reviews. Releasing this Personal Data is necessary for you to make use of the Site and the Services.

If you as a user send a message to another user on the Site, you acknowledge that TPSO may monitor the content of your message to fulfil our safeguarding obligations and to protect our legitimate interests.

b. Third party companies and service providers

We use a variety of third party companies to provide the services and we may need to pass some Personal Information to these third parties. If we pass Personal Information to third parties, we minimise as far as possible what Personal Information is shared. The categories of third party providers we share personal data with include:

• Analytics providers

• Sponsors of tutorials

• Payment providers

• Communications platforms for email, text and in-app communications

• Marketing platforms

• Business operations tools

• Identity verification tools

• Surveys and research providers

• Accounting and finance platforms

• Customer support platforms

c. Disclosure of your personal information and financial information in compliance with laws

You should be aware that we may release your Personal Information or Financial Information when we believe it is necessary to comply with laws or regulations, to assist law enforcement, to enforce the terms under which you transacted with TPSO, or to protect the rights, property or safety of TPSO, Site Users or others.

d. Transfer of your personal information and financial information outside of the EEA

We may transfer personal data to entities outside of the EEA including in the United States, which countries may not have data protection laws as strict as those in the EEA. Where we transfer your information outside the EEA we will either undertake an assessment of the level of protection in light of the circumstances surrounding the transfer or:

• Only transfer it to a non-EEA country with privacy laws that give the same protection as the EEA; or

• Ensure we have an agreement in place with the recipient under which they are under a duty to protect your data to the same standards as those in place in the EEA; or

• Transfer it to US organisations that are signed up to the EU-US Privacy Shield scheme; or

• We will make sure that any transfers are not repetitive and only limited to the minimum amount of information possible. In certain circumstances we may need to seek your consent unless there is an overriding legal need to transfer the information; and

• In all cases where your information is transferred outside the EEA, you have a right to contact us for information on the measures we have put in place.

e. Other sites/third party vendors and their privacy policies and cookie policies

This Site may contain links to other websites. TPSO is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites or for the privacy policies, cookie policies and practices of other third parties, and so you should be careful to read and understand those website policies independently.

4.0 HOW DO WE PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION?

The privacy and protection of your Personal Information is important to us. You acknowledge that email messages sent over the internet are not encrypted and are not secure. Despite efforts to protect your Personal Information, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us, or to or from our online Services. You accept that TPSO cannot be held liable for any breaches of confidentiality that may occur as a result of the use of email. If there is any sensitive or confidential information which you do not wish to communicate by email, please contact TPSO by telephone or post to arrange an alternative method of communication. You transmit all such information at your own risk. However, once we receive your transmission, we use our best efforts to ensure its security on our systems.

The Site has security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. We use 128-bit industry standard Secure Server Software (SSL) for your transactions with us. It encrypts all your Personal Information, including credit card number, name, and address, so that it cannot be read as the information travels over the Internet.

5.0 COOKIES

For information about cookies and how they are used on this website, visit our Cookie Policy.

6.0 COMPLAINTS OR QUERIES

TPSO tries to meet the highest standards when collecting and using Personal Information. For this reason, we take any complaints we receive about this very seriously. We encourage people to bring it to our attention if they think that our collection or use of information is unfair, misleading or inappropriate. We would also welcome any suggestions for improving our procedures.

This Statement does not provide exhaustive detail of all aspects of TPSO’s collection and use of Personal Information. However, we are happy to provide any additional information or explanation needed. Any requests for this should be sent to the address below. If you are not satisfied with our response or believe we are processing your personal data not in accordance with the law you can complain to the UK data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office. Further details can be found at ico.org.uk or 0303 123 1113.

7.0 HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION FOR?

We will retain your personal data for different periods depending on the service you have chosen to use us for, which may be a longer period than that for which we need to hold your data to provide those services, i.e. where we are under regulatory or statutory duties to hold your data for a longer period. Data will be held by us for the period necessary to meet the purposes for which we initially collected the information.

• By default, we retain personal data for six years after you have last been active on the Site. This is to allow you to continue to use your TPSO account for the duration of the average lifecycle of an TPSO user.

• After that period has passed, or after you request us to delete your data (whichever is earlier) we will delete your personal data except where we have specific reason which means we need to keep it for longer.

• Records that you have shared publicly or have shared with another user, for example reviews you leave, messages you send and bookings you make, may remain on the Site after your personal information has been deleted but will no longer have identifying information which links them to you associated with them.

• We may retain records where necessary to fulfil our regulatory or statutory duties.

8.0 ACCESS TO AND RECTIFIATION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

TPSO tries to be as open as it can be in terms of giving people access to their Personal Information. Individuals can find out if we hold any Personal Information by making a “subject access request”, normally free of charge, under the data protection legislation. If we do hold information about you we will let you have a copy of that information unless a legal exception applies, in which case we will inform you of this at the time. You also have the right to request that information we hold about you which may be incorrect, incomplete, or which has been changed since you first told us, is updated or removed.

To make a request to exercise either of these rights, please either put the request in writing addressing it to the address provided below or email us your request to contact@theprepschoolonline.com with the subject line “Subject Access Request”.

9.0 MOVING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

In the event that we process your data by automated means where you have either provided us with consent for us to use your information or where we used the information to perform a contract with you, you have the right to request that we send to you or to another organisation, an electronic copy of the personal data we hold about you in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, for example when you are dealing with a different service provider. If you would like us to provide you, move, copy, or transfer your information in this manner, please let us know by email to contact@theprepschoolonline.com  We will respond to you within one month after assessing whether or not this is possible, taking into account the technical compatibility with the other organisation in question.

10.0 DELETION OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

You can ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal data where you have successfully exercised your right to object to processing (see below), where you have withdrawn consent for us to process it (as explained below), where we may have processed your information unlawfully or where we are required to erase your personal data to comply with local law. Note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons which will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.

To request that we delete your personal data please send an email with the subject line “Personal data deletion” to contact@theprepschoolonline.com  

11.0 HOW CAN YOU WITHDRAW CONSENT TO OUR PROCESSING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

You have the right at any time to withdraw any explicit consent you have given us to process your personal data. Please note if you withdraw your consent it will not affect the lawfulness of any processing of your personal data we have carried out before you withdrew your consent. Should you wish to do so you can change your consent preferences at any time. To withdraw your consent for us to send your Third-Party Promotions change your preferences on your account settings and/or by contacting us at contact@theprepschoolonline.com.

12.0 HOW CAN YOU RESTRICT OR OBJECT TO OUR PROCESSING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

You can ask us to suspend the way in which we are using your information in certain scenarios, or object to our processing your data where we are relying on a legitimate interest ground (or those of a third party) and you feel it impacts on your fundamental rights and freedoms, or where we are processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes. In some cases where you object, we may demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate grounds to process your information which override your rights and freedoms.

Please note that if you want us to restrict or stop processing your data this may impact on our ability to provide our services. Depending on the extent of your request we may be unable to continue providing you with our service.

Any queries or concerns about the way in which your data is being used can be sent to contact@theprepschoolonline.com

13.0 AUTOMATED DECISION MAKING AND PROFILING

To provide you with our services, it is necessary for us to conduct profiling and automated decision making on your data consisting of:

• Screening applications from prospective tutors to check that your qualifications match our criteria and you have the right to work in the UK

• Screening user messages sent on the Site to ensure contact details are kept private

• Compiling metrics for Tutors on behaviours, activity on the Site, and availability to determine which requests you receive

• Monitoring log in activity to determine whether tutors’ profiles remain active on the Site

Should you wish to discuss or contest this decision or request that a person is involved in this automated decision, which you have a legal right to do, please email contact@theprepschoolonline.com.

14.0 HOW TO CONTACT US AND REQUEST INFORMATION

Requests for information about our Statement can be emailed to contact@theprepschoolonline.com or requested in writing to:

The Prep School Online (Internal Compliance Department)
Henwood House
Henwood, Ashford, Kent TN24 8DH

We keep our Statement under regular review. This Statement was last updated on 2 August 2021.

Cookie Policy

Our website uses cookies. The Prep School Online, a company registered in England and Wales (No. 05769753), with a registered office at: Henwood House, Ashford TN24 8DH herein referred to as “TPSO” or “We”, have created this cookie policy (“Cookie Policy”) in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to the privacy of the details that You provide to us when using this website and the data that We collect about You online. We ask you to consent to our use of cookies in accordance with the terms of this Cookie Policy when you first visit our website. By using our website and agreeing to this Cookie Policy, You consent to our use of cookies in accordance with the terms of this policy. In this Cookie Policy, references to “You” and “Your” are references to the user i.e. the person (or company) visiting www.The Prep School Online.co.uk (the “Site”). When You use the Site, You agree that this Cookie Policy applies to that use in addition to any other terms and conditions which may apply including those contained in our Privacy Policy, the Terms of Service and the Tutor Policy and/or the Client Policy (where applicable) and which are duly incorporated by this reference. TPSO reserves the right to change this Cookie Policy at any time without notice, effective immediately upon posting on the Site. Please check this page of the Site periodically. Read it carefully and ensure that You understand its effect before proceeding to use the Site. Your continued use of the Site is taken as meaning that You agree to such changes or updates.

1.0 WHAT IS A COOKIE?

A cookie is a small text file that some websites store via the browser on Your computer’s hard drive when You visit them. Cookies are widely used in order to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the owners of the Site. Some expire at the end of Your session on the Site, others will remain on Your computer for a little longer. When You return to websites or visit websites that use the same cookies, these cookies and therefore Your browsing device, are recognised. Cookies do lots of different and useful jobs such as letting You navigate between pages efficiently, remembering Your preferences and generally improving Your browsing experience. Cookies can also be used to customise areas of content online to be more relevant to You and Your interests. We use cookies on our Site to make Your browsing experience better. By using this Site, You accept our use of cookies.

2.0 FIRST PARTY COOKIES

First-party cookies are cookies set by the specific website visited by the user i.e. the website displayed in the URL window.

3.0 THIRD PARTY COOKIES

Some third party cookies are set by services that appear on our pages. They are set by the operators of that service and are not in our control. They relate to the ability of users to share content on this site, as indicated by the icons on the Site. When and if You decide to share TPSO content using social media sharing tools on our Site, You may be presented with cookies from third party sites such as Facebook, Twitter or Google+. TPSO does not control how these sites use cookies, therefore You should refer to the relevant sites own privacy and cookie policy to understand how they use cookies.

4.0 COOKIE CATEGORIES

The type of cookie used on this Site can be put into 1 of 4 categories, based on the International Chamber of Commerce guide to cookie categories:

a. Strictly necessary cookies

These cookies are essential, as they enable You to move around a website and use its features, such as accessing secure areas. Without these cookies, Services You’ve asked for (such as access to secure areas) cannot be provided. These cookies don’t gather information about You that could be used for marketing or remembering where You’ve been on the internet. These cannot be restricted or blocked.

b. Performance cookies

These cookies collect information about how You use a website, for example which pages You go to most often and if You get any error messages from certain pages. These cookies don’t gather information that identifies You. All information these cookies collect is anonymous and is only used to improve how a website works. These cookies are not used to target You with online advertising. Without these cookies we cannot learn how our Site is performing and make relevant improvements that could better Your browsing experience. These can be restricted or blocked.

c. Functionality and profile cookies

These cookies allow a website to remember choices You make (such as Your user name, language or the region You are in) and tailor the website to provide enhanced features and content for You. For instance, they remember Your log-in details and allow You to watch videos. They also ensure the onsite marketing and experience is relevant to You. These cookies can also be used to remember changes You’ve made to text size, font and other parts of pages that You can customise. The information these cookies collect may be anonymous and they cannot track Your browsing activity on other websites. Without these cookies, a website cannot remember choices You’ve previously made or personalise Your browsing experience. These can be restricted or blocked.

d. Targeting cookies

These cookies gather information about Your browsing habits. They remember that You’ve visited a website and share this information with other organisations such as advertisers. They do this in order to provide You with ads that are more relevant to You and Your interests. Although these cookies can track Your visits to other websites, they don’t usually know who You are. Without these cookies, online advertisements You encounter will be less relevant to You and Your interests. These can be restricted or blocked.

5.0 TPSO’S USE OF COOKIES

Cookies on our Site are used for the following purposes:

a. To enable You to register and submit Your information on to the relevant online form to request the Services and to have said details remembered for later;

b. To improve the Site’s usability

These cookies collect information about how You use a website, for example which pages You go to most often and if You get any error messages from certain pages. These cookies don’t gather information that identifies You. All information these cookies collect is anonymous and is only used to improve how a website works. These cookies are not used to target You with online advertising. Without these cookies we cannot learn how our Site is performing and make relevant improvements that could better Your browsing experience. These can be restricted or blocked.

c. To analyse the use of our Site through Analytics software

This software is used to evaluate how users interact with the site and helps us make site improvements and suggest new features. A list of the analytics software we use along with details on how these cookies are used can be found below:

We use Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager, popular web analytics services provided by Google, Inc. The information generated by the cookie about Your use of our Site (including Your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google Analytics will use this information for the purpose of evaluating Your use of our Site, compiling reports on Site activity and behaviour – such as the typical length of stay on the Site or the average number of pages a user views or for the purpose of providing other services relating to Site activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google undertakes not to associate Your IP address with any other data held by Google. If you wish to opt out of Google Analytics tracking you may do so using the tool provided by Google https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

6.0 WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT COOKIES?

You can manage these small files and learn more about them from the Directgov article: Internet Browser cookies - what they are and how to manage them.

7.0 WANT TO RESTRICT OR BLOCK ANY COOKIES?

By using our Site, You agree that We can place cookies on Your device. However, if You would like to restrict or block cookies used on our Site (or on any website), You will need to change the browser settings in each browser You use and on each device You use to access the internet. Click here to see full instructions for all browsers.

Please be aware that some of our Services will not function if Your browser does not accept the cookies.

More information about cookies can be found at:

• Allaboutcookies.org

• Internet Advertising Bureau

• Guide to online advertising and privacy

• International Chamber of Commerce United Kingdom cookie guide

We keep our Cookies Policy under regular review. This Cookies Policy was last updated on 2 August 2021.