British Government Offers School Pupil Data To Private Companies

Data relating to every school pupil in England is now available for use by private companies thanks to a change in legislation implemented last year. The move is part of a wider government initiative to "marketise" data, which includes initiatives such as the much-criticised Care.data and the selling off of taxpayer data by HMRC.

Education Secretary Michael Gove launched a public consultation back in November 2012 on proposal to let the Department for Education share extracts from the National Pupil Database "for a wider range of purposes than currently possible" to "maximise the value of this rich dataset".

The National Pupil Database (NPD) contains detailed information about pupils in schools and colleges in England, including test and exam results, progression at each key stage, gender, ethnicity, pupil absence and exclusions, special educational needs, first language...