Last updated: November 2026
This privacy policy explains how the Medical Schools Council, trading as the Dental Schools Council (“we”, “us” or “our”), collects, uses and protects your personal information when you visit our website https://www.dentalschoolscouncil.ac.uk.
The Dental Schools Council is a separate sub-division of the Medical Schools Council (MSC). The MSC, under the trading name of the Dental Schools Council, is the representative body for all UK dental schools.
This policy covers information collected through this website. We also publish separate privacy notices for other activities, listed under Related privacy notices below.
What information do we collect about you?
Depending on how you use our website, we may collect the following personal information:
- Name
- Email address
- IP address
- Topics of interest (when you subscribe for updates)
- Username and password (members area)
- Profile picture (optional, members area)
- Enquiry details (the subject and message you send us)
How do we collect this information?
Information you give us
You give us information when you contact us through our website, subscribe to our email updates, or use your account in our members area.
Information we collect automatically
When you visit our website, we may automatically collect certain information from your device, such as your IP address, including through the use of cookies. Our forms record the IP address of the person submitting them, and our contact form uses Google reCAPTCHA to protect against spam.
Cookies and similar technologies
Cookies are small files placed on your device that allow a website to remember information such as your login details and your preferences. For more information, please see our cookie policy. You can change your cookie preferences at any time using the cookie settings on our website.
Do Not Track requests
We do not currently respond to browser “Do Not Track” signals, as there is no agreed industry standard for them. You can manage or withdraw consent for non-essential cookies at any time using the cookie settings on our website.
Why do we collect information about you?
We use the information we collect to:
- Provide and maintain our website
- Manage your account in our members area
- Respond to enquiries you send us
- Send email updates you have subscribed to, based on the topics you select
- Protect our website from spam and misuse
Legal basis for processing
Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, we must have a legal basis for processing your personal information. We rely on the following:
- Consent: for sending you email updates you have subscribed to, and for non-essential cookies. You can withdraw your consent at any time.
- Legal obligations: where we need to process information to comply with the law, including our duties under the Equality Act 2010, or to respond to a court order or other legal process.
- Public task: as the representative body for UK dental schools, we carry out tasks in the public interest, including supporting dental education and research and processing data for historical, statistical and research purposes.
- Legitimate interests: facilitating communications between our members and organisations involved in dental education, the higher education sector and higher education funding; responding to enquiries submitted through our website; providing and securing access to our members area; and protecting our website from spam and misuse.
We do not use your personal information for automated decision-making or profiling.
How long do we keep your information?
We keep your personal information only for as long as it is necessary for the purposes it was collected for, unless a longer period is required or permitted by law. Some information may be kept for longer for historical, statistical and research purposes, and is subject to regular review.
When we no longer need your personal information, we will delete or anonymise it. If this is not immediately possible (for example, because it is held in backup archives), we will store it securely and isolate it from any further processing until it can be deleted.
Do we share your information?
We do not sell your personal information. We will only share it:
- With your consent: where you have given us explicit consent to share it.
- To meet legal obligations: where we are required to by law, for example to comply with a court order.
Service providers
We use trusted third-party services to run our website. They process personal information on our behalf and only as we instruct:
- Pantheon: website hosting
- Google reCAPTCHA: spam protection on our contact form
- CookieYes: managing cookie consent
- SendGrid (Twilio): sending emails from our website
Some of these providers may process information outside the UK. Where this happens, we make sure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as adequacy regulations (including the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework) or standard contractual clauses.
Your rights
Under data protection law you have rights in relation to your personal information. Not all of these rights apply in every case, and they may be subject to exceptions.
- Right of access: to ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
- Right to rectification: to ask us to correct information you think is inaccurate or complete information you think is incomplete.
- Right to erasure: to ask us to delete your personal information in certain circumstances.
- Right to restrict processing: to ask us to limit how we use your personal information in certain circumstances.
- Right to object: to object to us processing your personal information in certain circumstances.
- Right to data portability: to ask us to transfer information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.
- Right to withdraw consent: where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time.
You do not have to pay to exercise your rights. If you make a request, we will aim to respond within one month. To exercise any of these rights, please use the contact details below.
Children’s privacy
Our website is not aimed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children through it. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has given us personal information through this website, please contact us and we will delete it.
Security of your information
We take appropriate measures to keep your personal information secure. However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.
If we experience a breach of our data security, we have procedures in place to deal with it, including protecting the personal information within our control and, where we are legally required to, notifying you and the relevant authorities.
Links to other websites
Our website may link to external websites and services that we do not operate. This privacy policy does not cover them, so we recommend reading their privacy policies before giving them any personal information.
Changes to this privacy policy
We review this privacy policy regularly and may update it to reflect changes in the law or in how we handle personal information. Any changes will be published on this page, with the date it was last updated shown at the top.
Contact us
The Medical Schools Council (trading as the Dental Schools Council) is the data controller for the personal information collected through this website. If you have any questions about this policy or how we use your personal information, or you want to exercise your rights, please contact us:
Email: admin@dentalschoolscouncil.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7419 5494
Post: Data Protection, Dental Schools Council, Woburn House, 20 Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9HD
We are registered as a data controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office (registration number: ZA043047).
Making a complaint
We would always welcome the chance to resolve any concerns you have. However, you also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s data protection regulator:
Website: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint
Helpline: 0303 123 1113
Post: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF