You can download a copy of this privacy policy here (89 KB pdf)
The Communicate Partnership, trading as Communicate-ed (“Communicate-ed”), is a partnership registered in England. Our registered office is at: 61 Switchback Road South Maidenhead Berkshire SL6 7QF.
Communicate-ed provides professional training courses, membership services, online learning resources, conferences and educational materials. We are the data controller for the personal information covered by this notice.
Communicate-ed is a sister organisation of Include-ed Limited. We work closely together in the delivery and administration of SEND, access arrangements and related training services, and personal data may be shared between the two organisations where necessary for these purposes. Further details are set out in Section 10 below.
If you have any questions about how your information is handled, please contact:
Katie Coles
Designated Data Protection Lead
katie at communicate-ed dot org dot uk
Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect:
For some face-to-face events or accessibility arrangements, we may also collect limited information about:
In many cases, course bookings are made by schools, employers, colleagues or finance staff on behalf of the person attending the training. This means some contact and booking information may be supplied to us by a third party acting on your behalf.
In some cases, limited professional role-holder contact details may also be obtained from publicly available school or organisation websites in order to keep our CRM records accurate and ensure relevant services are directed to the correct SENCo or equivalent professional contact.
We use personal data to:
Data protection law requires us to have a lawful reason for processing personal data. The table below sets out the main purposes for which we process personal data and the lawful basis we rely on for each.
| Purpose | Personal Data Used | Lawful Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Processing course bookings and delivering training services | Identity, contact, employment information | Contract |
| Creating and administering online learner accounts | Name, email address, course completion data | Contract |
| Administering annual membership and member access | Identity, contact, membership and account information | Contract |
| Maintaining training completion records and issuing certificates | Identity, course history, completion data | Contract / Legitimate interests |
| Processing payments and maintaining accounting records | Name, contact, payment and invoice details | Contract / Legal obligation |
| Delivering webinars, conferences and events | Name, email address, registration details | Contract |
| Making reasonable accessibility arrangements | Special category data: disability, dietary or adjustment information | Legal obligation / Substantial public interest |
| Responding to enquiries and providing customer support | Identity and contact information | Contract / Legitimate interests |
| Sending relevant professional updates and training information to existing customers | Name, role, email address | Legitimate interests |
| Email marketing newsletters where opted in | Name, role, email address | Consent |
| Introductory professional communications to relevant role holders sourced from public websites | Name, role title, school/organisation, work email | Legitimate interests |
| Website analytics and performance monitoring | Technical and usage data, IP address | Consent |
| Website security and spam prevention | Technical and browser information | Legitimate interests |
| Gated video resource access (Vimeo) | Name, email address, video engagement records | Contract / Legitimate interests |
Where consent is relied upon, you may withdraw your consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.
Where we collect disability, dietary or reasonable adjustment information, this is used only for the limited purpose of making appropriate arrangements.
Communicate-ed may send occasional information about relevant training courses, resources, conferences or professional updates by email or post.
Where you have actively opted in, we will use your stated preferences. Where you have previously booked services or engaged with us, we may occasionally contact you about similar Communicate-ed services unless you have opted out.
We may also send limited introductory professional email communications to relevant school-based role holders whose publicly available contact details have been added to our CRM for database accuracy and service awareness purposes.
You can unsubscribe from email marketing at any time using the unsubscribe link in our emails or by contacting us directly. We retain minimal suppression information to ensure opt-out requests are permanently honoured.
We will only retain personal data for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including legal, accounting and regulatory requirements. The table below sets out the main retention periods that apply.
| Type of Record | Retention Period |
|---|---|
| Delegate booking and course completion records | 8 years from last booking activity |
| Website member account records | 6 years from membership lapse |
| General customer contact records | 8 years from last meaningful interaction |
| Prospective professional contacts sourced from public websites | Reviewed every 2 years; deleted or anonymised where no ongoing relevance or opt-out received |
| Website enquiries and contact form submissions | 3 years from last contact unless converted to an active customer record |
| Downloadable resource registrations | 3 years unless converted to a subscriber or customer relationship |
| Marketing subscriber records | Until unsubscribe or inactivity review |
| Marketing suppression / opt-out list | Retained indefinitely in minimal form to honour opt-out requests |
| Payment, invoicing and accounting records | 7 years plus the current financial year |
| Special category adjustment or access data | Removed or securely deleted within 12 months of the relevant event or course unless an ongoing need exists |
| Email correspondence | Retained while operationally relevant and periodically reviewed |
| Venue delegate registers and event badges | Securely destroyed within 1 month of the event |
| Temporary spreadsheet exports and shared registers | Deleted within 3 months of task completion |
Personal data may be retained longer where required by law or where necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
Communicate-ed takes appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure or access.
These measures include:
Some of the software providers we use may store or process personal data outside the United Kingdom. Where this applies, we seek to use reputable providers operating recognised safeguards for international data transfers, such as Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) or the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA). Details are included in the third-party table in Section 10 below.
Our website uses cookies and similar technologies in order to:
When you first visit our website, you will be presented with a cookie banner allowing you to accept or manage non-essential cookies. You may change your cookie preferences at any time through your browser settings or the website cookie controls.
Our website uses Google Analytics to help us understand how visitors use the site. Some pages may also include embedded Vimeo video content, which may set third-party cookies.
Further information is available in our Cookie Policy.
We do not sell personal data.
We may share personal data where necessary with trusted third-party providers supporting our services. The table below lists the main providers we use, the services they provide, and where they are based.
| Provider | Service | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Exe-Squared Limited | CRM hosting, website hosting, development and technical maintenance | UK |
| Stripe | Payment processing | USA |
| Digital Chalk (Sciolytix) | Online learning platform | USA |
| vTiger CRM | CRM database platform | Possible international hosting |
| Microsoft 365 (Outlook and SharePoint) | Business email and document storage | UK / EU / USA |
| pCloud | Cloud storage and file sharing | EEA |
| Dropbox | Shared file transfer and temporary storage | USA |
| Mailchimp | Marketing email distribution | USA |
| SendGrid (Twilio) | Transactional email delivery | USA |
| QuickBooks Online (Intuit) | Accounting software | USA |
| Zoom | Webinar delivery | USA |
| Whova | Virtual conference and event platform | USA |
| Google Analytics | Website analytics | USA |
| Vimeo | Gated video hosting and viewer registration | USA |
| Bishops Printers Ltd t/a The Mailing People | Direct mail printing and fulfilment | UK |
| Associate trainers | Course delivery support | UK |
Where providers are based outside the UK, we rely on Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), the UK IDTA, or the provider’s own internationally recognised data protection terms as the appropriate safeguard for the transfer.
We may also share personal data:
Under UK data protection law, you have the following rights:
Communicate-ed does not carry out automated decision-making or profiling.
We would always appreciate the opportunity to resolve concerns before you contact the ICO. Most questions can be resolved quickly by contacting us directly.
Further information about your rights is available at: ico.org.uk
For any privacy or data protection enquiries, please contact:
Katie Coles
Designated Data Protection Lead
katie at communicate-ed dot org dot uk
Postal Address: 61 Switchback Road South, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 7QF
Communicate-ed may update this Privacy Notice from time to time to reflect changes in law, guidance or business practices. The latest version will always be available on our website.
Last updated: May 2026