🔒 Your data, your rights

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 26 October 2026

Privacy for students: the short version

This is a quick guide to how Peak Grades looks after your information. The full privacy policy below has all the details.

What we know about you Your name, email, school year, exam board, which tier you're on, and how you're getting on in lessons and homework. If you're under 18, we also have your parent or guardian's contact details.

Why we need it So we can put you in the right class, plan lessons around your exam board, mark your work and let your parents know how you're doing.

Who else sees it Only the tools we use to run lessons and the website, like Zoom, our online whiteboard and our email. We never sell your information or use it for adverts.

Lessons on Zoom You choose whether your camera is on. We'll always ask before recording a lesson.

How long we keep it While you're having lessons with us, and for up to 12 months afterwards. Then we delete it.

You're in control You can ask us to:

show you what information we have about you
fix anything that's wrong
delete your information
stop sending you emails

Just email hello@peakgrades.co.uk. You can ask a parent or guardian to help if you'd like.

Not happy? Tell us and we'll try to sort it out. You can also contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which makes sure organisations follow data protection law: ico.org.uk.

1. Who we are

Peak Grades provides online GCSE Maths tutoring, revision courses and free revision resources through peakgrades.co.uk. Peak Grades is the controller of your personal data, which means we decide how and why it is used, and we're responsible for looking after it.

If you have any questions about this policy or your data, email hello@peakgrades.co.uk.

2. Who this policy covers

This policy covers parents and guardians, students, newsletter subscribers and anyone who visits our website or contacts us. Many of our students are under 18, so we've also written a shorter, plain-English version for students.

3. What information we collect

Information you give us:

When you enquire: your name, email address, the student's qualification level and exam board, the service you're interested in, and anything you tell us in your message
When you book tutoring: the student's name and school year, and a parent or guardian's name, email address and phone number (for students under 18)
During tutoring: attendance, homework, test and mock results, progress notes, and any learning needs you choose to tell us about
When you pay: your name, payment reference and the amount paid (we don't see or store full card details)
When you subscribe to our newsletter: your email address and, if you tell us, whether you're a student or a parent

Information collected automatically:

Basic technical information our website host needs to deliver and protect the site, such as your IP address and browser type, held in server logs
During live lessons on Zoom, information such as your display name and, if you turn it on, your camera and microphone

Sensitive information: if you tell us about a learning difficulty, disability or health condition so we can support the student, we will only use it with your explicit consent and only to adapt our teaching.

4. How we use your information and our lawful basis

What we do	Lawful basis
Reply to your enquiry and arrange your free week	Legitimate interests (responding to people who contact us) and taking steps before entering into a contract
Deliver lessons, set and review homework, and track progress	Contract (with the parent or guardian, or with the student if they are 18 or over)
Send progress updates to parents and guardians	Contract and legitimate interests (keeping parents informed)
Take payments and keep financial records	Contract and legal obligation (tax and accounting)
Send our newsletter	Consent — you can withdraw it at any time
Use information about learning needs	Explicit consent
Keep the website secure and working	Legitimate interests
Handle complaints and legal claims	Legal obligation and legitimate interests

We do not use your data for automated decision-making or profiling, and we never sell it.

6. International transfers

Some of our providers, such as Zoom, are based in or store data in the United States or other countries outside the UK. Where this happens, we make sure the transfer is protected by an approved safeguard, such as the UK–US Data Bridge, a UK adequacy regulation, or the ICO's International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum.

7. Children's data

We design our service with students' interests in mind. For students under 18, we collect a parent or guardian's contact details when booking, and the agreement to provide tutoring is with the parent or guardian. Students can still contact us directly about their own data. We don't knowingly provide our services to children under 13.

8. How long we keep your information

Information	How long
Enquiries that don't lead to tutoring	12 months from last contact
Student records and progress notes	Until tutoring ends, plus 12 months
Financial and payment records	6 years, for tax purposes
Lesson recordings (if any)	30 days, unless you ask us to delete them sooner
Newsletter subscribers	Until you unsubscribe
Complaints	2 years from the complaint being closed

9. Your rights

You have the right to:

access the personal data we hold about you
ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data
ask us to delete your data
ask us to restrict how we use your data
object to us using your data based on legitimate interests
ask for your data in a portable format (data portability)
withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent

To use any of these rights, email hello@peakgrades.co.uk. We'll respond within one month. Parents and guardians can usually exercise these rights on behalf of younger children, but students who are mature enough to understand their rights can also make requests themselves.

10. Cookies

Our website only uses cookies and similar technologies that are strictly necessary for it to work, such as remembering what you've typed into a form. We do not use analytics, advertising or tracking cookies. If this changes, we'll update this policy and ask for your consent where the law requires it. You can block cookies in your browser settings, although some parts of the site may not work properly.

11. Keeping your information secure

We use secure, password-protected accounts with two-factor authentication, encrypted connections (HTTPS), and limit access to your information to the people who need it to deliver our service.

12. Complaints

If you're unhappy with how we've handled your personal data, please tell us first so we can put it right — see How to make a data protection complaint. We'll acknowledge your complaint within 30 days.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK regulator for data protection, at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on 0303 123 1113.

13. Changes to this policy

We'll update this policy when our services or the law change. The date at the top shows when it was last updated.

How to make a data protection complaint

If you think we've mishandled your personal data — for example, we've kept it too long, shared it when we shouldn't have, or not responded properly to a request — you can complain to us directly.

How to complain: email hello@peakgrades.co.uk with "Data protection complaint" in the subject line. You don't need to use any particular form or wording, and you can complain on behalf of your child.

What happens next:

We'll acknowledge your complaint within 30 days, usually much sooner.
We'll look into it and may ask you for more information.
We'll keep you updated and tell you the outcome, including what we've done to put things right, without undue delay.

If you're not satisfied with our response, or at any time, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on 0303 123 1113.