Thank you for becoming an RBGE student. We value your interest in learning about plants - and your privacy.

The type of personal information we collect

• Name, address, email address, telephone numbers, and other contact data;
• Date of birth;
• Details of employment, educational background, nationality:
• Coursework and portfolios;
• Records of attendance, completion and performance;
• Qualifications, professional background, and your reason for applying for the course;

We use your personal information for the following purposes:

• To administer your education and training, including evaluation of your work;
• To manage our financial transactions; for example, by processing and keeping a record of course fees and charging;
• For the evaluation and quality assurance of courses;
• For the accreditation of awards;
• To evidence RBGE’s contribution to education in plant science.

We carry out these activities to fulfil our public interest role under Section 11 of the National Heritage (Scotland) Act 1985 to promote education and training in plant science in Scotland, and to fulfil our contracts with you, our students, to provide education and training.

Application and enquiry information is held on onlinecourses.rbge.ac.uk, stored on RBGE servers.

Online Courses

The storage of your personal information

If you are participating in one of our online courses through PropaGate, your personal data (Name, email address, IP address and any photographs you have uploaded) will be held on propagatelearning.rbge.ac.uk and where appropriate, myportfolio.rbge.ac.uk hosted for RBGE by Synergy Learning. Synergy Learning stores the sites securely on their servers. PropaGate student accounts will normally be removed after 18-24 months of inactivity.

Recordings

In some courses, class/lecture recordings are made to allow students to review classes or for catch up purposes. Recordings and live-stream broadcasts (where used) containing your image, voice and any personal opinions you express will be made available to your class group after your class, provided you have consented to this taking place. These recordings can be viewed by students and staff enrolled on the course with which your recording is associated, along with any site managers or administrators. RBGE uses Microsoft Stream to process the recordings. RBGE ensures that the recordings are only available to students within your class group. RBGE will hold the personal data you provide within a recording for up to two years from the date of recording. These recordings are held by Microsoft within the European Union.

Who we share your data with

For online students using PropaGate Learning, RBGE shares your information with Synergy Learning. Synergy Learning accesses your information in order to provide technical assistance.

If you are a student on a course which RBGE delivers in partnership with another institution, your information will be shared as appropriate with that institution (for example, Royal Horticultural Society, Scottish Rural College, Glasgow University, Edinburgh University, Edinburgh College of Art).

Coursework

Student coursework will be kept for no longer than 24 months after a student has finished their course. Other student records are retained for evaluation and quality purposes and will be deleted or destroyed 6 years after the end of your course. Selected coursework may be permanently preserved in the RBGE archive as historical records.

For more information about how RBGE processes your personal data and on your data rights, please see our Privacy Notice at www.rbge.org.uk/privacy.