The standard record retention for student SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) records is 25 years. However, some local authorities state that you should keep them for 35 years, ready to be produced in the event of a “failure to provide sufficient education” case. Managing these records is a difficult but essential task for providing a comprehensive history of students.
How important is SEND?
Schools can find it a challenge to store this volume of paperwork securely and for long periods of time. Some schools have even moved to scanning these records in compliance with BS 10008 – the British Standard for the Evidential Weight and Legal Admissibility of Electronic Information.
GDPR states that records must be kept no longer than necessary, so schools must be careful not to hang on to paperwork beyond the required number of years. Retention policies are not easy to implement with physical SEND files to ensure that GDPR is adhered to. Applying document types to scanned documents with retention periods can automate the process. Working digitally will save you a considerable amount of time when compared to working with paper files.
Electronic files are also more convenient to use day-to-day. It’s quicker and easier to produce updates and copies and the files can be easily accessed and shared so that the team can collaborate on them.
Paper files require a great deal of storage space, and many of the documents must be both readily accessible and adequately protected to ensure confidentiality. Paper files can also be easily mislaid or destroyed, so schools may look to store their physical files in off-site storage with a trusted supplier like Storetec.
At Storetec, our specialist facilities provide a secure way to store this sensitive information, saving your storage space. Our Scan-On-Demand service means that we can scan any SEND files back to you within eight working hours of the request.
At the end of the retention period, you must dispose of the file securely. Using our i-Trac records management system, you can manage the retention periods of your documents in storage and request for them to be destroyed in line with British Standards.
Are you interested in streamlining your SEND record filing? Contact us for a free quote. We are available for video/phone calls at your convenience to discuss your project or if you just want some more information.
