Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Last Updated: 22^nd of July 2026

Open College UK Limited (“we”, “our” or “us”) is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information responsibly, securely and in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and all applicable data protection legislation.

We respect the privacy of every visitor, customer, student and member who uses our website or purchases our products and services. We are committed to ensuring that your personal information is collected, stored and processed fairly, lawfully and transparently.

We do not sell, rent, lease or trade your personal information, including email addresses, to any third party for marketing purposes.

Data Protection Registration

Open College UK Limited is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as a data controller.

ICO Registration Number: ZA361896

You can verify our registration on the ICO’s public register.

Who We Are

Throughout this Privacy Policy and website, references to Open College UK Limited, Open College UK, or Open College refer to the same organisation.

This Privacy Policy explains:

• what personal information we collect;
• why we collect it;
• how we use it;
• how long we retain it;
• who we may share it with;
• how we protect it; and
• the rights you have regarding your personal information.

Lawful Basis for Processing Personal Data

When you enrol on one of our courses, purchase a product or service, contact us, or otherwise interact with us, we process your personal information only where we have a lawful basis to do so under UK GDPR.

Depending on the circumstances, our lawful basis may include:

• performing a contract with you;
• complying with legal or regulatory obligations;
• our legitimate interests in operating and improving our business; or
• your consent, where consent is required.

Where we rely on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time, although this will not affect any processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

Information We Collect

When you enrol on one of our courses or purchase our products or services, we may collect personal information including:

• your name;
• billing and delivery address;
• email address;
• telephone number; and
• any other information you voluntarily provide to us during your enquiry or enrolment.

We collect only the information necessary to administer your course, provide our products and services, communicate with you, issue qualifications where applicable, and meet our legal and contractual obligations.

We may also collect limited technical information automatically when you use our website, such as your browser type, operating system, device type, Internet Service Provider, pages visited and general website usage statistics. This information is used to help us improve our website, monitor performance and enhance the overall user experience. Wherever possible, this information is analysed in an aggregated or anonymised form and is not used to identify individual visitors.

How We Use Your Personal Information

We use your personal information only for legitimate business purposes connected with the services we provide. Depending on your relationship with us, we may use your information to:

• process your course enrolment or purchase;
• supply course materials and learning resources;
• issue certificates, diplomas, qualifications or membership documents where applicable;
• communicate with you regarding your course, studies or purchases;
• respond to your enquiries and provide student support;
• process refunds where appropriate;
• comply with legal, accounting and regulatory obligations; and
• improve our website, services and customer experience.

We will only use your personal information for the purposes for which it was collected unless we are legally required or permitted to do otherwise.

Course Administration and Communications

During your enrolment, we may contact you by email, telephone, SMS or post where necessary to administer your course or purchase.

Examples include:

• confirming your booking;
• providing payment receipts;
• advising when your course materials have been dispatched;
• responding to study support enquiries;
• notifying you about issues affecting your course; and
• sending replacement course materials or replacement certificates where requested.

These communications are considered part of the service we provide and are not marketing communications.

Statistical Information

We may analyse information about how our website is used in order to understand visitor behaviour, improve website performance and develop our services.

Where possible, this information is aggregated or anonymised and is not used to identify individual visitors.

Student Membership and Register Information

Where applicable, students enrolling on eligible courses may receive an introductory student membership or similar benefit associated with the SFTR National UK Therapists Register. See each course webpage for details.

Unless you separately choose to register for public listing, your details will not appear on any publicly accessible register.

Any public profile or directory listing requires separate action by you through the relevant website.

Where appropriate, we reserve the right to approve, refuse or remove any listing in accordance with our policies and procedures.

External Websites

Our website may occasionally include links to carefully selected third-party organisations or external websites for your convenience or information. Examples may include regulatory bodies, professional organisations, payment providers or government services.

Selecting one of these links will take you to another website which operates under its own privacy policy and terms of use.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content, availability or security of third-party websites and recommend that you review their privacy policies before providing any personal information.

The inclusion of any external link does not imply endorsement or acceptance of responsibility for the services, products or information provided by that organisation.

Website Security

We take the security of your personal information seriously and use appropriate technical and organisational measures designed to protect the information we hold against unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration or destruction.

Although no website or method of electronic transmission can ever be guaranteed to be completely secure, we regularly maintain and update our systems and take reasonable steps to safeguard the information entrusted to us.

Spam Policy

Open College UK Limited is firmly opposed to unsolicited marketing communications (“spam”).

We do not sell or distribute customer email addresses to third parties for marketing purposes and will only send communications that are necessary to provide our services or where you have specifically requested or agreed to receive them.

Financial Information and Payment Security

We take the security of payment information seriously.

Payments made through our website are processed securely by trusted third-party payment providers, which may include Barclays, PayPal, Stripe or other authorised payment service providers used by Open College UK Limited from time to time.

When you make a payment online, your payment card details are entered directly into the secure payment system provided by the relevant payment processor. We do not store, retain or have access to your full debit or credit card details.

The information we receive in connection with a payment is limited to the information necessary to identify your transaction, administer your order and provide customer support where required.

If a refund is approved, it will normally be processed using the original payment method wherever possible.

In some circumstances, such as where payment was originally made by bank transfer (BACS) or cheque, we may require your bank account details in order to process an authorised refund. Any such information will be used solely for that purpose and handled securely.

Cookies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to improve your browsing experience, maintain website functionality, analyse website usage and help us improve our services.

Cookies may collect information such as:

• pages visited;
• products viewed or purchased;
• website navigation;
• device information; and
• general browsing behaviour.

For detailed information about the cookies we use and how you can manage your cookie preferences, please refer to our separate Cookie Policy.

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics, a website analytics service provided by Google, to help us understand how visitors use our website.

Google Analytics collects anonymous statistical information, including website traffic, page usage and visitor behaviour. This information helps us improve our website, monitor performance and enhance the user experience.

We do not use Google Analytics to identify individual visitors, and we do not attempt to discover the identity of anyone visiting our website through Google Analytics.

Marketing Communications and Mailing Lists

At the time of writing, Open College UK Limited does not operate a general marketing mailing list or send regular promotional newsletters.

If this changes in the future, any marketing emails will only be sent where permitted by law, and recipients will be able to unsubscribe at any time using the unsubscribe link included within the email or by contacting us directly.

Service-related emails concerning your course, purchase or account are not considered marketing communications and may still be sent where necessary.

Third-Party Service Providers

In order to operate our business efficiently, we may share limited personal information with carefully selected third-party organisations where necessary to provide our services or meet our legal obligations.

These organisations may include:

• payment service providers;
• banking institutions;
• accountants;
• website hosting providers;
• IT service providers;
• HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC); and
• other professional advisers or regulatory bodies where required by law.

These organisations are only given access to the information necessary to perform their specific role and are expected to process personal information securely and in accordance with applicable data protection legislation.

We do not sell, rent or share your personal information with third parties for their own marketing purposes.

Information Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational security measures to help protect the personal information we hold.

These measures may include secure hosting, firewalls, anti-malware protection, access controls, software updates and other industry-standard security practices designed to reduce the risk of unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration or loss of personal information.

While we take reasonable steps to protect your information, no method of transmitting or storing electronic data can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Accordingly, we cannot guarantee absolute security, although we continually review and improve our security measures wherever reasonably practicable.

Your Rights

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), you have a number of rights regarding your personal information. These include the right to:

• request access to the personal information we hold about you;
• request that inaccurate or incomplete information is corrected;
• request the deletion of your personal information where applicable;
• request that the processing of your information is restricted in certain circumstances;
• object to certain types of processing; and
• withdraw your consent where we rely upon consent as the lawful basis for processing.

Some of these rights are subject to legal exceptions and may not apply in every circumstance.

Access to Your Personal Information

You may request a copy of the personal information we hold about you at any time.

If you wish to access, correct or request the deletion of your personal information, please contact us using the contact details provided on our website.

For security purposes, requests relating to personal information should be made in writing by email or post. We may ask you to provide sufficient information to verify your identity before processing your request.

We will respond to your request in accordance with the timescales required under applicable data protection legislation.

How Long We Keep Your Information

We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected and to comply with our legal, regulatory and business obligations.

Certain financial and accounting records are retained for a minimum period required by UK law, including HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) requirements.

Where appropriate, some student records may be retained for longer to enable us to verify qualifications, provide replacement certificates, confirm course completion or meet our legitimate business interests.

Archived records are stored securely with appropriate safeguards.

Information We Retain

Depending upon the services you have used, the information we may retain includes:

• your name;
• postal and billing address;
• delivery address;
• email address;
• telephone number;
• course enrolment records;
• qualification details;
• examination or assessment results; and
• correspondence relating to your course or purchase.

We collect and retain only the information reasonably necessary to provide our services and meet our legal obligations.

Telephone, SMS and Email Communications

Where you provide a telephone or mobile number, we may use it to contact you regarding your course enrolment, delivery of course materials, student support or any issue relating to your purchase.

We do not use your telephone number for unsolicited sales or marketing calls.

Where you provide a mobile telephone number, we may send SMS messages relating to your enrolment, such as booking confirmations, dispatch notifications or other important service updates.

Your email address will be used to send confirmations, receipts, course information, study support and other communications directly connected with your enrolment or purchase.

Requesting Deletion of Your Information

You may request the deletion of your personal information where you have the legal right to do so.

Please note that we may be unable to delete certain records where we are required to retain them to comply with legal, regulatory or accounting obligations.

Where your information can lawfully be deleted, you should be aware that this may prevent us from:

• issuing replacement certificates or diplomas;
• confirming qualifications to employers or other organisations;
• verifying that you completed a course with us; or
• providing replacement copies of historical records.

Once information has been permanently deleted, it cannot normally be recovered.

Course Results

We retain records of course completion and assessment results to enable us to verify qualifications where appropriate.

These records may include:

• course completion dates;
• examination or assessment results;
• qualification grades;
• certificate or diploma reference numbers; and
• related administrative records.

Where retained, these records are stored securely and access is restricted to authorised personnel.

Examination Papers and Coursework

Where coursework, examination papers or assessments are submitted to us for marking, they may be securely destroyed after they have been processed and marked in accordance with our internal document retention procedures.

Students are strongly advised to retain copies of all coursework before submission, as submitted work will not be returned.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in legislation, regulatory guidance, technology or our business practices.

Any updated version will be published on our website and will replace all previous versions.

We recommend that you review this Privacy Policy periodically to ensure you remain informed about how we collect, use and protect your personal information.

Last Updated: 22^nd of July 2026