Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

StudentAid.uk ("we", "us", "our") is an independent education consultancy based in London, United Kingdom. We help people already living in the UK on a valid visa to understand whether they may qualify for government student finance through Student Finance England (SFE).

We are the data controller for the personal information collected through this website. You can contact us about any data matter at: [email protected]

We are not affiliated with Student Finance England, the Student Loans Company, or any UK government body.

2. What Personal Data We Collect

When you submit the eligibility check form on our website, we collect:

• First name
• Contact details — your WhatsApp number or email address
• Immigration status — the visa or leave type you currently hold
• Length of residence — how long you have been living in the UK
• Study preference — whether you are interested in full-time or part-time study
• Contact preference — whether you prefer to be reached by WhatsApp or email

If you contact us directly via WhatsApp or email, we may also retain the content of that conversation.

We do not collect any special category data (such as health information, nationality, or biometric data) and we do not ask for it.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

• To assess whether you may qualify for student finance based on your circumstances
• To contact you with an honest eligibility assessment within 24 hours
• To refer you to our London-based education consultancy partner if your situation looks promising (see Section 5)
• To respond to any follow-up questions you have

We do not use your data for automated decision-making, profiling, or marketing without your explicit consent.

4. Legal Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we rely on the following legal bases:

• Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)) — processing your enquiry to provide the eligibility guidance service you have requested. We have assessed that this does not override your privacy rights.
• Contract performance (Article 6(1)(b)) — where you engage us to carry out an eligibility assessment on your behalf.

5. Who We Share Your Data With

We may share your personal data with the following parties:

• Our London-based education consultancy partner — if your situation suggests you may qualify, we will refer your details to our partner consultancy who will contact you to arrange a free consultation. They are also bound by UK GDPR.
• Formspree, Inc. — we use Formspree to process form submissions. Formspree is based in the United States and processes data in accordance with the UK GDPR via Standard Contractual Clauses. You can read their privacy policy at formspree.io/legal/privacy-policy.

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data to any third party. We do not share your data with Student Finance England or any government body on your behalf — you remain in full control of any SFE application.

6. How Long We Keep Your Data

We retain your personal data for no longer than 24 months from the date of your enquiry, unless:

• You ask us to delete it sooner (see Your Rights below)
• We are required to keep it longer by law
• You engage in an ongoing consultation, in which case we retain it for the duration of the engagement plus 12 months

After this period, your data is permanently deleted from our systems.

7. Cookies and Tracking

This website uses no advertising or analytics cookies. We do not use Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, or any other behavioural tracking tools.

The only external resource loaded is Google Fonts (for typography), which may result in a request to Google's servers. Google may log this request in accordance with their own privacy policy. No personal data from our forms is sent to Google.

8. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Right to rectification — ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data
• Right to erasure — ask us to delete your data ("right to be forgotten")
• Right to restriction — ask us to limit how we use your data
• Right to data portability — receive your data in a commonly used, machine-readable format
• Right to object — object to processing based on legitimate interests

To exercise any of these rights, email us at [email protected] with the subject line "Data Request". We will respond within 30 days.

9. Data Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, or disclosure. Form submissions are transmitted over encrypted HTTPS connections. We do not store full form data on our own servers — submissions are processed via Formspree and delivered to our secure email inbox.

10. Links to Other Websites

This website may contain links to external sites (such as GOV.UK or university websites). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites and recommend you read their own privacy policies.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page will always reflect the most recent version. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

12. How to Complain

If you have a concern about how we handle your personal data and are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) — the UK's supervisory authority for data protection.

• Website: ico.org.uk
• Helpline: 0303 123 1113

We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to address your concern directly before you contact the ICO — please reach out to us first at [email protected].