The Data Protection Act gives you a right to access the data we have about you. However, the Act also gives us a duty of confidentiality to third parties which includes referees. So we need to ask for the referee's permission before we can send you a copy of either of your references.
We suggest that, where possible, you discuss the reference with your referee but if you want to request copies of your references from us, or see the other data we have about you, please contact us (see the Contact Us page for our details). We will then send you details of our process.
We treat all applications in strict confidence. The information you provide is used to process your application, for staff administration purposes and for research. For details of how we process applications please see the After You Apply section of our website. For details of how we use the equal opportunities monitoring information please see our Equal Opportunities page as this is treated separately.
When you submit your application you will be asked to agree to the following declaration:
"I certify that the information I have submitted in my application as a whole is correct and complete to the best of my knowledge. I give my consent for the information to be used for application/staff administration and research purposes, for the Clearing House and Course Centres to contact third parties to verify the information, and for those third parties to release personal data about me in the verification process, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998."
When you agree to the declaration and submit your application you are confirming that the information you give is correct and complete. If the Clearing House or any Course Centre believes that you or any other person has given false information in your application or in your references; has omitted any information requested in the application, references, guidance, or on our website or our online application system; has omitted other material information; or has made any misrepresentation in the information given; we will take the necessary steps to check the authenticity of your application. The Clearing House and the Course Centres reserve the right at any stage to ask you to give further details on any aspect of your application eg proof of identification, status, academic qualifications, work experience etc. If you do not provide satisfactory information within the given time period, or if any part of your application is found to be fraudulent in any way, the Clearing House and each Course Centre reserves the right to cancel your application and withdraw any offers.
The factual content of a sample set of applications may be checked and referees may be contacted on a random basis. For the purpose of preventing fraud, the Clearing House and the course centres reserve the right to disclose information from your application to outside agencies eg universities, employers, the British Psychological Society, the Home Office etc. Fees paid for applications cancelled due to fraud are not refundable.
This information website and our application website are both managed through the University of Leeds. Please see the University of Leeds privacy notice for further information on website privacy and use of cookies.