Records Retention Schedule
Introduction
Records Retention Schedule provides generic guidance on the retention of common records generated by Albion in the course of its normal work.
The following template should be viewed as a guide in determining the retention periods for particular document types. The retention periods noted in the template are largely derived from JISC best-practice documents although in some cases the suggested retention periods have been adjusted to Albion’s requirements.
Staff should refer to the JISC Higher Education Records Retention Schedule (please see ‘Printable RRS’) at the following link for a more granular breakdown of records by function, activity and record group.
Staff can also refer to JISC guidance on records management.
Departments should use this template to inform their local decision-making regarding retention and refer to the JISC guidance at the links above for further advice. Retention periods may vary from the template where there are particular legislative/statutory requirements.
| Document Type | Activity Type | Retention Period* |
| Records documenting the institution’s governance arrangements. | Records documenting information that defines the governance arrangements of the organisation, as well as those documenting the business of statutory [Council] committees (agenda, minutes / supporting papers) | Permanent |
| Records documenting the institution’s relationships and responsibilities to statutory bodies and in meeting its legal responsibilities. | Records documenting information that: • The institution is legally obliged to provide to the funding and statutory bodies • Underpin the institution’s arrangements in meeting legislative requirements (e.g. health and safety strategies / equality and diversity policies) | Permanent |
| Core student data held in student records system. | Personal identifiers and final award details (including confirmed module result data) | Permanent |
| Records documenting the institution’s strategic and corporate plans and those defining relationships with trade unions. | All corporate / strategic level documents (both at institutional and functional level) for example: • Strategic Plan • Research / Teaching and Learning Strategy • Risk / Performance Management Plans • Agreements with Trade Unions • Details of Funding Allocations | Superseded + 10 years then review for archiving value |
| Records documenting the institution’s regulations and policies. | Records documenting the establishment of all key policies and regulations, including those related to staff and student behaviour. For example: • Academic Regulations • Tuition Fees Policies • HR Policies | Superseded + 10 years then review for archiving value |
| Records documenting the handling of enquiries made by those external to the institution (statutory). | Records documenting enquiries and requests from individuals/organisations. For example: • Freedom of Information requests • Subject access requests • Correspondence with Information Commissioner’s Office | Last action + 3 years, then destroy |
| Records documenting relationships with collaborative partners. | Records relating to cooperative partnerships and collaborative arrangements with other institutions. | End of partnership + 6 years, then review for archiving value. |
| Records documenting the organisation’s financial management arrangements. | Records detailing Albion’s accounts, payroll handling, procurement, tax arrangements, investments, insurance management etc. | End of current financial year + 6 years, then review for archiving value |
| Records documenting assessment and non-assessment related advice given to students and decisions made about a student, including documents that support the decision making. | Records documenting the conduct and results of: • Course and Module / Award Boards of Examiners • Disciplinary hearings • Academic appeals / student complaints • Fitness to practise • Notes from ‘advisory’ meetings with tutors • Assessment offence hearings • Assessment feedback documents (not the assessment itself) • Admissions documentation | Last action on case, or formal confirmation of outcome by appropriate body or, completion of award+ 6 years, then destroy |
| Research Degrees. | Records documenting the agreement of proposals, supervisions, the conduct of formal assessment undertaken and submission of final artefact. | Completion of award + 6 years, then review for archival value |
| Records documenting the institution’s procedural arrangements for its operations, and the work of non-statutory committees (e.g., not Council committees). | Records documenting the establishment of key operating procedures. For example: • Records documenting the conduct of the business of a non-statutory committee (agenda, minutes, supporting documents) • Procedures for the validation and review of taught programmes • Procedures for undertaking administrative tasks in a student’s programme | Superseded + 5 years then review for archiving value. |
| Records documenting the review, analysis, monitoring and performance of operations. | Records documenting the establishment and use of activities used to monitor the impact or measure the performance of particular activity. For example: • Customer Satisfaction Surveys • Performance Management Reviews • Retention analysis NB: If data not anonymised, it must meet requirements set out in ICO anonymisation guidance to comply with Data Protection legislation | Current Year + 5 years then review for archiving value |
| Records documenting the handling of non-statutory communications with those external to the organisation. | Records documenting general communications with those external to the organisation and the internal handling of related responses. For example: • Press release • Marketing campaigns | Last Action + 2 years, then review for archival value. |
| Records documenting the planning and completion of specifically defined activities, and the completion of day-to-day administrative tasks. | Non-strategic / non-sensitive administrative information (not required to be retained for external reporting purposes) documenting the design, organisation, operation and summary results of a specific set of activities for a defined end point: • Induction Programmes • Open Days • Examinations • Award Ceremonies | Completion of activity +1 year, then destroy |
| Records documenting the handling of enquiries made by individuals/organisations external to the institution (non-statutory). | Records documenting enquiries, public complaints and requests from individuals/organisations. For example: • Reference requests • Complaint by resident | Last action + 1 year, then destroy |
| Records documenting membership of professional associations and maintenance of accreditation. | Records documenting the establishment of corporate or individual (institutionally funded) membership of: • Professional associations • Institution’s official representation on committees of other organisations in the sector • Attainment and maintenance of accreditation under an independent quality management scheme. | Termination of membership + 1 year, then destroy |
| Assessments (taught students). | Work submitted by students for assessment: • Assignments / Examination scripts /Portfolios / Dissertations (these are assessments held by the assignment room) | Mark confirmed by Board of Examiners + 3 months, then destroy |
| Assessment (taught students). | Samples of assessed work include: • Coursework Examination scripts • Major/final year projects (samples should comprise good, intermediate, bare-pass and fails) | Current year +5 years, then destroy |
Please refer to the Human Resources Management Records Retention Schedule for retention periods relating to the following activities:
- Recruitment
- Induction
- Training and Development
- Performance Management
- Remuneration and Reward Management
- Employee Welfare Management
- Workforce Relations
- Industrial Relations
- Employee Contract Management
- HR Strategy
- Policies and Procedures
- Workforce Planning
*At the end of the specified retention period, departments are required to record what has happened to a document (retained for archival value or destroyed) and when the action happened.
Records which may be routinely destroyed
As a rule, the following types of records have no significant operational, informational, or evidential value. They can therefore be destroyed as soon as they have served their primary purpose.
Examples
- Announcements and notices of meetings and other events, and notifications of acceptance or apologies;
- Requests for stock information such as maps and travel directions, brochures etc;
- Requests for, and confirmations of, reservations for internal services (e.g. meeting rooms, car parking spaces, pool cars) where no internal charges are made;
- Requests for, and confirmations of, reservations with third parties (e.g. travel, hotel accommodation, restaurants) when invoices have been received;
- Transmission documents: letters, fax cover sheets, e-mail messages, routing slips, compliments slips and similar items which accompany documents but do not add any value to them;
- Message slips;
- Superseded address lists, distribution lists etc.;
- Duplicate documents such as: ‘CC’ and ‘FYI’ copies;
- Unaltered drafts;
- ‘Snapshot’ printouts or extracts from databases;
- ‘Day Files’ (chronological copies of correspondence);
- Personal diaries, address books etc.;
- Working papers, where the results have been written into an official document and which are not required to support it; and/or
- Stocks of in-house publications which are obsolete, superseded, or otherwise useless e.g., magazines, marketing materials, prospectuses, catalogues, manuals, directories, forms, and other material produced for wide distribution.
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