Guidance

Retention schedule for data processed by DfE

Guidance to help users identify the retention periods for data processed by DfE.

Applies to England

Documents

Details

How DfE manages the retention of information in line with business requirements and legal obligations.

Updates to this page

Published 2 December 2025
Last updated 26 February 2026 href="#full-history">+ show all updates
  1. Added retention periods for Intercountry adoption cases, Get Information About Schools (GIAS), Student Load Company data extracts, External users of DfE’s Microsoft365 environment, Attendance at breakfast clubs, Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA), Pseudonymised datasets deposited on Office for National Statistics (ONS) and UK Data Service (UKDS) (University of Essex), Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) accreditations, and referrals relating to teacher misconduct.

  2. First published.

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