Keeping school records

Schools must hold onto certain records for their own administrative and legal purposes. You should have a records management and retention scheme to manage this.

You can also hold onto records for as long as you like for your historical legacy. 

See GOV.UK for data protection information for schools.

If your school is closing or wants to dispose of records, please contact us first. We may be able to store your records in the archive at Bruce Castle.

Please do not destroy any records without talking to us first.

Records to keep and for how long

Follow this advice for which records to keep and for how long:

• school logs should be kept permanently – for the first 6 years they should be kept by the school and then moved to the archives
• admission registers should be retained permanently either by the school or archive service
• class registers are kept while the pupil is still at school and for 3 years after the last date in the register and then destroyed
• governors' minutes and school head reports are moved to the archive service when they’re no longer needed for administrative or legal purposes
• pupil record cards or printouts:
  • primary school records are kept while the child is at school then moved to the relevant secondary school
  • secondary school records are kept until the child is 25 then shredded

Other materials play an important part in recording school activities. They should be moved to the archives for permanent preservation. This includes:

• school newsletters
• magazines
• visitors’ books
• photographs
• publicity
• open day programmes

Please ask us what can be destroyed or preserved at the archive.

Access to these records is managed under the Data Protection Act (2018) and other information legislation and regulation as required.