Medr, the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research in Wales, has commissioned IFF Research to carry out a survey of learners in further education, apprenticeships and adult community learning. The aim of the survey is to provide feedback on learners’ experiences to help improve the quality of learning. This privacy notice explains how your personal data will be used during this research.
The information collected during the research will be used anonymously to report findings to your college or learning provider and Medr, and to create published reports on learner satisfaction.
Medr is the data controller for the research but will not receive any personal information about you.
Your participation in this research is completely voluntary. However, your views and experiences are important in order to help inform Medr’s work.
What data is collected and how is it used?
Personal data is defined under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) as ‘any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified by reference to an identifier’.
Acting on behalf of Medr, IFF Research will be gathering information through a survey. IFF Research is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and adheres to its guidelines regarding data security.
In undertaking research with learners, IFF Research may collect and analyse the following categories of personal data:
- Contact details (name, email, address, phone number)
- Demographic details (gender, age)
- Education and training details (course, qualification level)
- Programme related information (your opinions, experiences and views relating to your learner experience)
Data you provide in the survey will be used for research purposes, namely, to manage participation in the survey, to analyse findings, and to generate reports. It will not be used for marketing or automated decision-making. Outputs from the survey will be anonymised and carefully screened prior to reporting to ensure the risk of indirect identification of individuals is minimised.
IFF Research may ask you to share characteristics about yourself that come under the category of ‘special category data’ as defined under UK GDPR. This is data such as your ethnicity or any disabilities you may have. If you share data that falls under special category data during the survey process, this data will be handled with additional safeguards in line with UK GDPR requirements.
IFF Research will not share your personal data with Medr. However, if IFF Research is concerned about your safety or the safety of someone else, they may need to share your information with Medr who will liaise with your provider so they can help keep you safe.
What is the lawful basis for collecting your data?
The lawful basis for processing information provided during the research is our public task as set out under Article 6(1)(e) of the UK GDPR, whereby processing personal data is ‘necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest.’
In addition, the research also relies on the lawful basis of ‘consent’, as set out under UK GDPR Articles 6(1)(a) for personal data and 9(2)(a) for special category data, whereby participation and information shared in the survey is entirely voluntary. This means that there is no requirement for you to participate, and you can choose to withdraw from the survey at any time. If you would like your survey responses to be removed from the research records after completing the survey, please send an email to learnervoicesurvey@iffresearch.com stating your request, and IFF Research will delete your survey responses from their records
How secure is your personal data?
Personal information provided to IFF Research is always stored on a secure server. The data can only be accessed by a limited number of researchers working on this project. IFF Research will only use this data for research purposes. IFF Research has Cyber Essentials certification and ISO/IEC 27001.
IFF Research has procedures to deal with any suspected data security breaches. If a suspected breach occurs, IFF Research will report this to Medr who will notify you (via your college or learning provider) and any applicable regulator where we are legally required to do so.
How long is your personal data kept for?
IFF Research will hold personal data during the contract period, which is until July 2029, and any personal data will be deleted by IFF Research within six months of the end of the contract. This includes your contact details.
Individual rights
Under data protection legislation, you have the following rights in relation to the personal information you provide as part of this survey, specifically you have the right:
- To access a copy of your own data;
- For us to rectify inaccuracies in that data;
- To object to or restrict processing (in certain circumstances);
- For your data to be ‘erased’ (in certain circumstances).
All of these rights have certain limitations depending on the request and on the purpose of our processing. Medr welcome any queries in relation to your rights. Further information about your rights is available on the ICO website.
To exercise your rights, please get in touch with our Data Protection Officer using the contact details below.
The right to request a copy of your personal information is known as making a subject access request. You are entitled to know what information we hold on you, and can make this request, in writing, to any of our employees or via dataprotectionofficer@medr.cymru. We will need to confirm your identity in order to process your request.
Complaints about the use of your personal data
Medr is fully committed to the processing of your personal information in line with data protection legislation, but do welcome any queries relating to the processing of your data and will listen to any concerns you may have.
If you are unhappy with the way in which your personal information has been handled by Medr, please contact us at dataprotectionofficer@medr.cymru and Medr will try to resolve your issue informally.
If Medr is unable to resolve the issue to your satisfaction, you can also make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), who are the UK’s data protection regulator.
The contact details for the Information Commissioner’s Office are:
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire,
SK9 5AF.
Phone: 0303 123 1113
Website: www.ico.gov.uk
The contact email for Medr as Data Controller is dataprotectionofficer@Medr.cymru
The contact email for IFF Research is Marie Gallagher, learnervoicesurvey@iffresearch.com
Medr’s data protection registration reference is ZB552558.
This privacy notice was last updated on 7 April 2026.
Terms & conditions of the prize draw
Learner Voice Survey: prize draws
1. Promoter:
IFF Research is conducting the Learner Voice Survey on behalf of Medr and is responsible for conducting the prize draws in relation to these surveys. IFF is a company registered in England and Wales, registered number 00849983, whose registered offices are situated at 5th Floor, The Harlequin Building, 65 Southwark Street, London,SE1 0HR.
2. Eligibility:
The prize draws are open to learners on eligible courses who participate in the survey online, by phone or by completing and returning a printed copy of the questionnaire to IFF Research.
The prize draw is not open to employees of IFF Research.
3. Promotion period:
Entries will be accepted during the survey fieldwork period. The survey period is scheduled to run from 13 April and run until 15 May. There will be one prize for each learning provider, and each prize will be a standard iPad.
4. Entry:
Entry is by ticking or saying that you would like to take part in the prize draw, at the end of the survey. No purchase or payment is required.
5. Limitation of entries:
Only one entry per eligible learner will be accepted. Automated entries, bulk entries or third party entries will be disqualified.
6. Prizes:
There will be one winner for each learning provider, receiving one standard iPad.
Please contact the research team on learnervoicesurvey@iffresearch.com if you have any queries.
No transfer or assignment of prizes will be permitted. There is no cash or other alternative.
7. Draw:
Winners will be chosen by a random draw from all eligible entries at each provider. The random draw will be verified by an observer independent of the research team conducting the draw.
IFF Research reserve the right to postpone each draw until a later date without notice. All decisions are final and binding.
8. Notification:
IFF will contact winners to let them know they have been successful within a maximum of six weeks of the date of the draw. Notification will be sent to the winners’ email address, or by a telephone call, as appropriate. The winners can choose to remain anonymous.
Prizes will be administered by IFF Research who will need winners to provide their postal address to be able to send them the prize. This will only be used for sending the prize and it will be securely deleted from our systems no later than six months after the date of the draw.