Student Record Management – Best Practices For Storage and Disposal

ShredPro is a professional paper shredding company that offers secure, efficient and cost-effective shredding and recycling services to achieve the highest standards in the industry to ensure maximum protection of your confidential information while helping the planet.

Adhering to the highest industry standards to ensure maximum protection of confidential information, we provide timely and reliable services. Whether you are a school, college, university, training provider, or an independent education professional, we ensure you meet legal requirements on the collection, storing and certified destruction of confidential information.

Rather than risk data or GDPR breaches, our secured destruction services ensure you stay compliant.

Why you should act now

As a school or educational institution, you are responsible for the safe and secure storage of student records. These records can contain sensitive information, such as student names, addresses, and grades. It is important to have a plan in place for storing and disposing of student records in a way that protects student privacy.

The Information Commissioner’s Office, which oversees the enforcement of GDPR, says:

“You must ensure that you have appropriate security measures in place to protect the personal data you hold.”

The ICO adds:

“Deleting records that you no longer need, or are not proportionate to retain any longer, is an essential part of a good records management system.”

Best practice advice

Secure paper recycling is the process of shredding confidential documents into tiny pieces that cannot be reassembled. This ensures that your sensitive information is protected, and it also makes your paper recyclable.

ShredPro identifies the following steps to take:

• Create a retention policy: A retention policy is a document that outlines how long different types of student records should be kept. This will help you to determine which records can be destroyed and which records need to be kept for a longer period of time.
• Store records securely: Student records should be stored in a secure location that is accessible only to authorised personnel. This could be a locked cabinet, a secure room, or a cloud-based storage system.
• Shred records when they are no longer needed: When student records are no longer needed, they should be shredded into tiny pieces that cannot be reassembled. This will help to protect student privacy.
• Enhanced DBS check: You need to ensure child protection measures are in place for those handling your shredding. At ShredPro all our drivers and shredding operatives are enhanced DBS checked and vetted to BS7858 regulations, covering every record not just the last three years.
• Obtain a certificate of destruction: You need to be able to prove your information has been destroyed in a compliant, safe manner. Issued electronically on site, we confirm your confidential documents have been destroyed in line with industry regulations so you are no longer liable.
• Comply with environmental regulation: Partnering with a firm with the correct credentials is vital. With ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 accreditations, we promote environmentally friendly services and recycle all paperwork. We have invested in multi service shredding vehicles to cut fuel consumption and emissions by taking care of more work at once.

About us

In education, every document is filled with confidential information. Fully GDPR compliant, ShredPro specialise in the destruction and recycling of a wide range of information including student documents, class lists, emergency contact numbers, development plans and projected grades, financial assistance applications and financial reports and accounts.