Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on what legal basis the personal information and exam results of up to 28 million children were made available to gambling firms; who made the decision to make this information available; and what the legal limitations are on the provision of such information.

Examination result information was not made available to gambling firms. A third party made the decision to use their lawful access to the Learning Records Service without discussion with, or the agreement of, the Department. This was outside their conditions of use. The third party used the system to verify the age that individuals had given to gambling firms. When their actions became known, the Department immediately removed their access to the system. The Department reported itself to the Information Commissioner’s Office and has continued to work with them since to improve Departmental processes.