Dear Parent,

Your child’s school the “Institution”, has chosen to enter into and administer the Scottish Online Formative Assessments (SOFA) programme to its students. SOFA:

  1. is an assessment program designed by The Australian Council for Educational Research Ltd (ABN 19 004 398 145) (“ACER Ltd”) and licensed for ACER International United Kingdom Limited (ACER UK) for use within institutions within the UK or EEA for students in years Primary 2 to Secondary 1; and
  2. seeks to measure students’ levels of proficiency in English reading, writing and overall performance in  relation to the Curriculum for Excellence in years Primary 2 to Secondary 1.
  3. Anonymous or “De-identified” data from the SOFA program may be used for the purpose of Educational Research by ACER Ltd for the public benefit.

The above sets out the purpose (“the Purpose”) for which your child’s personal information may be collected and processed by ACER UK. Personal information is defined as any information that could lead directly or indirectly to the identification of a specific individual such as name and date of birth.

Should ACER UK not be granted access to your child’s personal information there is no consequence for your child other than not being able to participate in SOFA. The platform and assessments require your child’s information to set up their personal profile and for their own individual results reports to be generated.

Privacy is very important, and ACER UK takes every precaution to ensure your child’s personal information is protected.

ACER UK will collect and handle your child’s personal information, as provided by your child’s institution, in accordance with applicable privacy and data laws including: The UK Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 which incorporates the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) as applied to the UK. Your institution will have sought your explicit consent to participate in this programme.

Under the applicable privacy law, you and your child have various rights afforded to you including the right to:

  • Request and inspect his or her personal information;
  • The legal basis for processing;
  • Details of any sharing to third parties;
  • Request amendment of personal information where it is believed to be incorrect;
  • Make a complaint in respect of a possible breach of your child’s privacy if you believe this to be the case;
  • You are also entitled to know any appropriate protections and safeguards used if data is transferred outside the EEA, and if allowed you can seek the right to be forgotten;
  • The assessments use automated profiling which you are able to request further information on.

For more information about the SOFA and privacy including how to exercise your rights please visit www.acer.org/gb/privacy-policy  and click on the link to the privacy statement at the bottom of the page or:

If you are resident in the EU/UK and would like to contact ACER UK in regard to this project please feel free to contact either the administration office on: sofa@acer.org

Or you can contact the DPO directly as follows:

Raymond Ford
Telephone: (+ 44) (0) 7989305294
Email DPO@acer.org

Yours faithfully,

Colin Watson's signature

Colin Watson

CEO

ACER International United Kingdom Ltd.