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Terms and conditions

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From: Education and Skills Funding Agency

Welcome to the Customer Help Centre. 

Registration and use of the Customer Help Centre is free. 

By using this service, you agree to these terms and conditions.

Views and opinions expressed on Communities are the author’s own and may not reflect those of their employer or the Department for Education or Education and Skills Funding Agency. (DFE/ESFA)

The DFE/ESFA cannot be held responsible for any acts or omissions of registered users or for any breaches of data protection legislation by registered users.

The DFE/ESFA is not responsible for the actions of registered users or any breaches of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as a result of their use.

Our responsibilities

We do our best to make sure this service is constantly available, virus free and that the information we provide is accurate and complete

However, the DFE/ESFA accepts no liability for:

  • you being unable to access the service (for example, because of excessive demand or because we've taken the service down for maintenance)
  • delay or failure in receiving data
  • indirect damages arising from you using the service or relying on its content 
  • the content and availability of external websites that link to the service or which are linked from it

We may remove, or amend:

  • a user's rights to use this service if you are in breach of these terms
  • any posts made if you are in breach of these terms

Our decision in the event of a breach shall be final.

We will use your information to establish your identity and permissions when using this service.

We may also from time to time use your contact information to ask you if you would like to take part in research or surveys we’re doing.

Participation by DFE/ESFA staff

DFE/ESFA staff will, where appropriate, contribute to a community discussion. However, please be aware that:

  • we are bound by the Civil Service Code, and cannot engage on issues of party politics
  • we cannot comment on the likely policy outcome of any consultation
  • we are bound by the Department rules on customer confidentiality and so cannot answer customer-specific questions on this service

Therefore, we may not be able to respond to every comment, even if a direct question is asked.

However, we will generally participate in discussions in order to:

  • answer any direct questions, subject to the restrictions given
  • correct any factual inaccuracies, or provide some detail that may aid the discussion
  • explain any policy details that users are unsure of

This input is to ensure the smooth and efficient working of Communities and should not be read as a formal government response to any consultation. 

Your responsibilities

You are responsible for all activities associated with your username and password and accept responsibility for all activities associated with your account.

You agree to comply with any amendments to these Terms and Conditions.

You must:

  • create a valid account and keep your log in details confidential
  • comply with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and ensure that any personal data (as defined by GDPR) is protected, used only for the purposes for which it was obtained and disposed of accordingly
  • comply with the UK Computer Misuse Act 1990
  • contact us if you’re aware of any security breach
  • not use Communities for any unlawful purpose
  • not post any inappropriate material
  • only use Communities to discuss issues relating to further education, training and skills

Moderation policy

Communities allows you to post comments that will remain viewable on this website.

DFE/ESFA therefore has a user approval and moderation process to ensure that:

  • users work in the education and training sector
  • comments are appropriate and not harmful to others

Comments posted, are regularly moderated by DFE/ESFA staff and we reserve the right to remove any posts that contravene this moderation policy.

When posting comments, please observe our participation ‘house rules’:

  1. Do not post personal information in comments, such as learner numbers, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses or other online contact details that identifies you or others.
    Specific queries should use the Customer Help Portal.
  2. Be respectful of others who use the site
  3. Do not submit any comments that are unlawful, harassing, abusive, threatening, harmful, obscene, profane, sexually orientated or racially offensive. This includes comments that are offensive to others with regards to religion, gender, nationality or other personal characteristic
  4. Do not impersonate or falsely claim to represent a person or an organisation

This moderation policy is subject to change.

Contact

If you have any problems using communities or want to flag any content that you think is inaccurate or inappropriate, please email Programme.IMPROVEMENT@education.gov.uk