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SOLAR Privacy Statement

SOLAR (Scottish OnLine Assessment Resources) is SQA’s digital assessment platform, used to develop and deliver formative and summative digital assessments across a range of qualifications. 
 
This privacy statement explains how the Digital Assessment Team collects and uses information about you in order to provide our services. 
 
The nature of our relationship with you will determine what personal information we collect about you and how we use it. Further detail for each relationship is set out below. 
 
Use the tabs below to open each section individually. 
 
Candidates

What information do we collect about you?
If you are studying for or have undertaken an SQA qualification that includes SOLAR assessment, we will collect information about you. The types of information we collect include:

 Name, date of birth, and email address
Scottish Candidate Number (SCN)
 Assessment evidence and/or materials
 Special arrangement requirements, where applicable.

How do we collect your information and what do we use it for?
We collect information about you from your school, college, or training centre and from assessments completed on SOLAR. We will also collect information directly from you when you use our SOLAR website.

We use the information we collect about you:

to enable you to undertake SOLAR assessments
to mark and grade SOLAR assessments
to respond to enquiries or complaints
to contact you directly – this will only occur in specific circumstances, such as during investigations or the closure of your centre
for statistical and research purposes
to monitor standards over time and for quality assurance purposes
to provide content in the most effective way
to analyse user activity to assess and improve the content and performance of our website. 

Who do we share your information with?
We share your personal information with:

your school, college, or training centre
Surpass Assessment, who we contract to support delivery of the SOLAR services. They process your personal data in accordance with their Privacy Statement.

How long do we keep your information?
We keep your information only for as long as we need it to support us in carrying out our functions, legal and/or regulatory responsibilities. This will vary depending on the circumstances. Details about how long we keep your information are available in SQA's record of processing
 

 

Centre Use

What information do we collect about you?
We collect information from individuals involved in the delivery of SOLAR assessments, including those within schools, colleges, and training centres. The types of information we collect include:
name and email address

How do we collect your information and what do we use it for?
We collect information about you when you contact us to request access to SOLAR or make a change to your SOLAR access. We will also collect information directly from you when you use our SOLAR website.

We use the information we collect about you:

to provide you with access to deliver SOLAR assessments
to respond to enquiries or complaints
to contact you directly
to provide content in the most effective way
to analyse user activity to assess and improve the content and performance of our website.

Who do we share your personal information with?
We share your personal information with:

your school, college, or training centre
Surpass Assessment who we contract to support delivery of the SOLAR services. They process your personal data in accordance with their Privacy Statement.

How long do we keep your information?
We keep your information only for as long as we need it to support us in carrying out our functions, legal and/or regulatory responsibilities. This will vary depending on the circumstances. Details about how long we keep your information are available in SQA's record of processing
.

 

Your Rights Regarding Personal Information

What are my rights?

Access to your information
You have the right to ask us for a copy of the information that we hold about you. More information about how to do this.

Correcting your information
We always want to make sure that your information is accurate, complete, and up to date. You can ask us to correct any information about you that you believe is incorrect or incomplete.

Deletion of your information
You have the right to ask us to delete information about you if:

you think that we have kept it longer than we need to
you have objected to our use of your personal information - see ‘Objecting to how we use your information’ below
SQA is using your information unlawfully

Objecting to how we use your information
You have the right to ask us to stop using your information to:

send you marketing materials
carry out some of our public roles and functions
carry out research

If you object to us sending you marketing material, we will stop this as soon as you contact us. Where we use your information to carry out some of our public roles and functions, or for research, we may not stop using it if we have a justified reason to continue doing so, even if you object.

Restricting how we may use your information
You have the right to ask us to restrict how we use your personal information in certain circumstances. For example, where you have asked us to check the accuracy of your information or where we no longer need your information, but you would like us to keep it to help you make a legal claim.

 

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the information we hold about you, or the way we use it, please contact us:

Data Protection Team, SQA, Optima Building, 58 Robertson Street, Glasgow G2 8DQ, Scotland
Data Protection Officer: Kirsty Hurt, Data Protection and Records Manager, 0345 213 5229
 
Changes to this privacy statement
We regularly review this privacy statement and may update it from time to time. When we update our privacy statement, we will put an updated version on our website and, if the changes are significant, will try our best to bring it to your attention.

This privacy statement was last updated on 15 April 2024.

Complaints
If you wish to make a complaint about how we use your information, please contact the Data Protection Officer using the contact details provided above.

We will try to resolve your complaint but if you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
 
Telephone: 0303 123 1113 (local rate)