Privacy Policy

 CANDIDATE PRIVACY NOTICE

Education recruitment and supply staffing

Organisation

Hiregrade Group Ltd

Effective date

4 September 2026

Last reviewed

4 September 2026

1. About this notice

This notice explains how Hiregrade Group Ltd collects and uses personal information about candidates, prospective candidates, temporary workers, contractors and applicants. It applies whether you contact us directly, respond to an advertisement, register with us, or we identify your details through CV Library or another recruitment source.

Hiregrade Group Ltd is the controller of the personal information described in this notice. We specialise in education recruitment and operate as an employment agency for permanent introductions and an employment business for temporary assignments. Temporary workers are normally engaged and paid through an approved umbrella company.

We currently recruit candidates who are based in the United Kingdom. We may still need information about earlier overseas residence, employment or qualifications when completing role-appropriate checks.

2. Who we are and how to contact us

Legal name: Hiregrade Group Ltd

Company number: 17107297

Registered office: 4 Chapman Gain, Tregarne Terrace, St Austell, England, PL25 4BE

Privacy contact: James Patrick Stevens, Director

Email: hello@hiregrade.co.uk

Telephone: 07857 007850

Website: https://hiregrade.co.uk

ICO registration number: ZC200458

3. The information we collect

Depending on the role and stage of recruitment, we may collect and use the following categories of information:

identity and contact details, including current and previous names, date of birth, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses and photographs;

CVs, application and registration forms, work preferences, availability, pay expectations and communications with us;

education, qualifications, professional memberships, Teacher Reference Number, QTS or other teaching status, induction status, training and work history;

references, referee details, reasons for leaving, employment gaps and information received from current or former employers;

identity documents, Right to Work evidence, immigration status, share-code results and any work restrictions or expiry dates;

DBS application and certificate details, Update Service results, barred-list information where legally permitted, criminal-record declarations and suitability assessments;

results of checks with the Department for Education, Teaching Regulation Agency, awarding bodies and relevant professional or overseas regulators;

safeguarding declarations, allegations or concerns, disciplinary information and information necessary to assess suitability to work with children or adults at risk;

overseas residence and employment history, overseas criminal-record information, certificates of good conduct and overseas references;

health, disability and reasonable-adjustment information where relevant and lawfully collected, normally at the appropriate stage of recruitment;

equality-monitoring information where supplied, which is normally separated from selection decisions;

payroll, tax, National Insurance, pension, bank, timesheet, attendance, performance and assignment information;

driving-licence, vehicle, insurance or role-specific training information where the assignment requires it; and

technical and website-usage information, such as IP address, browser information, pages viewed and interaction data collected through analytics technologies, subject to our cookie information and your choices.

4. Where we obtain your information

We may receive information directly from you and from third parties. These may include:

CV Library, where you have made your CV or profile available to recruitment businesses;

other job boards, recruitment platforms, professional networking sites and publicly accessible professional sources;

referees, current and former employers, schools, colleges and other hiring organisations;

DBS Registered Bodies or umbrella bodies, digital identity providers and Right to Work services;

the Department for Education, Teaching Regulation Agency, Home Office, Disclosure and Barring Service, awarding bodies and professional regulators;

an approved umbrella company chosen for a temporary assignment, together with payroll, pension, accounting and other service providers; and

another recruitment business or introducer where the disclosure is lawful.

When we obtain your details from CV Library or another source, we will provide privacy information within the period required by law and ordinarily no later than our first communication with you.

5. Why we use your information

to identify and contact you about potentially suitable work;

to assess your skills, experience, qualifications, suitability and availability;

to register you, manage applications and arrange interviews or assignments;

to complete identity, Right to Work, DBS, barred-list, teacher-status, qualification, reference, employment-history, overseas and other lawful checks;

to provide appropriate candidate information and vetting assurance to prospective or actual hirers;

to administer permanent introductions and temporary assignments, including working time, pay, holiday pay, tax, pensions and expenses through an approved umbrella company where applicable;

to manage performance, conduct, complaints, safeguarding matters, accidents and legal claims;

to meet legal, regulatory, auditing, insurance and record-keeping obligations;

to secure our systems, prevent fraud and maintain business records; and

to understand website use and improve our website through analytics used with the required cookie consent; and

to send requested job alerts and, where permitted, recruitment marketing by email or text, subject to your right to object or withdraw consent where consent is used.

6. Our lawful bases

We use one or more lawful bases depending on the purpose:

Legitimate interests. We may use information to operate our recruitment business, identify and contact suitable candidates, respond to hiring needs, manage relationships, prevent fraud, protect our business and establish or defend legal claims. We balance these interests against your rights and reasonable expectations.

Steps before a contract and performance of a contract. We use information when you ask us to progress your registration or application and to manage any worker, contractor or placement agreement with you.

Legal obligation. We use information to meet duties relating to recruitment businesses, Right to Work, safeguarding, tax, pay, pensions, health and safety, equality and regulatory record keeping.

Consent. We use consent only where it is appropriate and genuinely optional, for example for certain marketing or to obtain a reference where consent is required. You may withdraw consent, but this does not affect earlier lawful processing.

Electronic job alerts and marketing. Where an email or text is direct marketing, we send it only where you have specifically consented or another route permitted by the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations applies. Email and text preferences are managed separately. Every marketing message will identify us and provide a simple way to opt out. An unsubscribe request will not prevent necessary communications about an application or assignment.

Candidate text messages. We may send individual text messages where you are actively working with us, for example about your registration, availability, an application, interview or assignment. We do not currently use a third-party bulk text-messaging service. We will distinguish necessary recruitment communications from optional marketing.

Legal claims and substantial public interest. These bases may apply where information is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims or for another purpose recognised by data-protection law.

7. Special-category and criminal-offence information

Some information requires additional protection, including health, disability, racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, trade-union membership, sexual orientation and biometric information used for unique identification. We process such information only when an Article 6 lawful basis and an applicable Article 9 condition are satisfied. Depending on the circumstances, relevant conditions may include employment and social-protection law, substantial public interest, explicit consent, legal claims, or information you have manifestly made public.

We process criminal-offence, DBS and barred-list information only where authorised by law and necessary for an eligible role or safeguarding purpose. We apply an Article 6 lawful basis and an applicable condition under the Data Protection Act 2018, which may include employment-law obligations, regulatory requirements, preventing or detecting unlawful acts, or safeguarding children and individuals at risk. Where required, we maintain an Appropriate Policy Document describing our safeguards and retention arrangements.

A criminal-record disclosure does not automatically prevent registration. Relevant information is assessed fairly, confidentially and in relation to the particular role, subject to safeguarding duties and DBS filtering rules.

8. Education-sector vetting

For school and education assignments, we may verify identity, previous names, addresses, Right to Work, employment history, references, qualifications, professional status and overseas history. Where lawful and relevant, we may also obtain or review enhanced DBS and children's barred-list information, DBS Update Service results, DfE or Teaching Regulation Agency records, teaching prohibitions or restrictions, QTS and induction status, safeguarding declarations and role-specific checks.

We will not request a higher level of DBS information than the role is legally eligible for. Schools and other hirers may receive written confirmation of completed checks and relevant information needed to make their own safeguarding decision. Where a DBS certificate contains information, additional secure disclosure may be required in accordance with safeguarding guidance and law.

Where we rely on the DBS Update Service, we obtain your permission, verify your identity and inspect the original DBS certificate. The certificate must be for the correct workforce and level and must include the children's barred-list check where the role requires it. If those conditions are not met, the status has changed, or no suitable Update Service subscription exists, we may arrange a new DBS check through a registered umbrella body. We retain limited details of the check and suitability decision rather than routinely retaining the certificate itself.

9. Who we share information with

Where necessary and lawful, we may share relevant information with:

schools, academies, trusts, colleges, nurseries and other current or prospective hirers;

DBS Registered Bodies or umbrella bodies, the DBS and digital identity providers such as TrustID;

the Department for Education, Teaching Regulation Agency, Home Office, HMRC, pension providers and other public authorities;

referees, former employers, awarding bodies, training providers and professional or overseas regulators;

Clipper Contracting Group Limited, where selected and approved for a temporary assignment, together with other approved umbrella, payroll, pension, accounting, banking, insurance, legal, occupational-health and auditing providers;

Giig Hire as our recruitment CRM, applicant-tracking and bulk candidate-email provider, Microsoft 365 for communications and business files, GoDaddy for website hosting, and other e-signature, security and cloud-service providers;

local authorities, designated safeguarding officers, police, courts, regulators and professional advisers where required; and

a purchaser, investor or successor in connection with a proposed or completed business transaction, subject to appropriate confidentiality and legal safeguards.

We share only information that is reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose. We do not sell candidate information.

When introducing you to a prospective hirer, we normally provide a formatted CV with direct contact details such as your personal email address and mobile number removed. We may share further identifying, contact or vetting information when necessary to progress an application, complete safeguarding checks or administer a placement, and where there is a lawful basis to do so.

For a temporary assignment, we share only the information reasonably required by the approved umbrella company to engage and pay you, meet tax and employment obligations, and administer the assignment. We carry out supplier due diligence, but accreditation or UK establishment alone is not treated as a guarantee of compliance.

10. International transfers

Some suppliers, including providers of recruitment software, Microsoft 365 and website or cloud services, may store or permit access to personal information outside the United Kingdom. Before making a restricted transfer, we assess the destination and recipient and use an applicable legal mechanism, such as UK adequacy regulations, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, the UK Addendum to approved standard contractual clauses, or another lawful safeguard. You may contact us for information about the safeguards relevant to your information.

11. Website analytics and cookies

Our website may use analytics cookies or similar technologies to help us understand matters such as visitor numbers, pages viewed and how people interact with the website. Analytics technologies that are not strictly necessary will not be set unless you consent through our cookie controls. You can reject non-essential cookies or change your preferences. Further details, including the providers, purposes and duration of cookies, will be given in our Cookie Notice once the website's live cookie scan and configuration have been confirmed.

12. How long we keep information

We keep information only for as long as reasonably necessary for recruitment, placement, safeguarding, legal, tax, regulatory, insurance and dispute-resolution purposes. Our intended core periods are:

Record

Indicative retention approach

Prospective or unsuccessful candidate records

Normally two years after our last meaningful contact or recruitment activity. We may ask whether you wish to remain registered; otherwise we delete or anonymise records that are no longer needed.

Placed candidates and assignment records

Normally up to seven years after the last placement or business relationship ends where needed for contracts, tax, insurance, safeguarding, disputes or legal claims.

Other work-seeker compliance records

At least the period required by the Conduct Regulations and longer only where a documented recruitment, safeguarding or legal purpose continues.

Right to Work evidence

For the engagement and two years after it ends, or any longer period required by law.

DBS certificate copies

Normally no longer than six months unless exceptional lawful reasons justify longer retention. Limited check and decision records may be retained separately.

Payroll, tax and accounting records

Normally six years after the relevant financial or tax period, subject to applicable requirements.

Safeguarding and allegation records

According to applicable safeguarding guidance, referral duties, limitation periods and the circumstances of the matter.

We may retain minimal suppression information where necessary to respect a request not to be contacted. We securely delete or anonymise information when it is no longer required.

13. Your choices and obligations

You are not generally required to provide information merely because we contact you. However, some information is needed to progress an application, enter into or perform a contract, pay you, or meet legal and safeguarding duties. If you do not provide required information, we may be unable to register, introduce, employ, engage or place you.

You must provide accurate information and tell us about relevant changes. This does not require you to disclose information that the law protects from disclosure.

14. Your data-protection rights

Depending on the circumstances and lawful basis, you may have rights to:

be informed about how we use your information;

request access to your personal information;

ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;

request erasure or restriction of processing;

object to processing based on legitimate interests or to direct marketing;

receive certain information in a portable format;

withdraw consent where processing is based on consent; and

challenge certain decisions made solely by automated means.

These rights are not absolute and exemptions may apply. We may ask for information needed to verify your identity. We do not normally charge a fee, but the law permits a reasonable fee or refusal in limited cases, such as manifestly unfounded or excessive requests.

RIGHT TO OBJECT: You may object at any time to direct marketing. You may also object to processing based on legitimate interests. Use the unsubscribe option in a marketing message or email hello@hiregrade.co.uk.

15. Automated decision-making

We do not currently make recruitment decisions based solely on automated processing that produces legal or similarly significant effects. Our systems may help us search, organise or match records, but a person reviews suitability and placement decisions.

16. Security

We use proportionate technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information, including access controls, confidentiality requirements, secure systems, supplier due diligence, staff training and procedures for managing security incidents. Access to sensitive vetting and safeguarding information is restricted to people who need it for their role.

17. Complaints

Please contact us first at hello@hiregrade.co.uk so that we can try to resolve your concern. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or by calling 0303 123 1113.

18. Changes to this notice

We may update this notice to reflect changes in our services, suppliers or legal obligations. The current version will be published on our website with its effective and review dates. Where a change materially affects how we use existing information, we will take reasonable steps to bring it to the attention of affected individuals.