Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share and protect your personal information when you:

• Visit www.edu-consultancy.com
• Contact us by telephone, email, WhatsApp, social media or an online form
• Book a consultation
• Register for one of our services or courses
• Apply to a school, college, university, scholarship programme or examination through us
• Attend an event, webinar, exhibition or seminar organised by us
• Otherwise communicate or do business with IEC

We process personal information in accordance with applicable data-protection legislation, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation, the Data Protection Act 2018 and, where applicable, the UAE Personal Data Protection Law.

IEC is an international education consultancy supporting students with educational assessment, course and university selection, admissions, scholarships, examination preparation, visa guidance, accommodation and related services.

The organisation responsible for your personal information is:

• Legal name: IEC Management Consultants LLC
• Trading name: IEC Edu Consultancy / Edu Consultancy
• UK address: 31 Sandy Drive, Feltham, TW14 8BE
• UAE address: Ground Floor, 57th St, Al Garhoud, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Telephone: UK +44 7442 978718 · UAE +971 58 275 0963
• Website: www.edu-consultancy.com
• Company registration number: 1760401

For questions about this Privacy Policy or the use of your information, please contact us using the details above.

Depending on your relationship with IEC and the services you request, we may collect the following information.

Identity and contact information

This may include:

• Full name
• Date of birth
• Gender
• Nationality and country of residence
• Postal address
• Email address
• Telephone and WhatsApp numbers
• Passport, national identity card and residency information
• Photographs
• Parent, guardian or emergency-contact information

Academic and professional information

This may include:

• School, college and university records
• Certificates, diplomas and transcripts
• Predicted and final grades
• Language-test and entrance-examination results
• Personal statements, CVs and references
• Employment history
• Professional qualifications
• Admission decisions and correspondence
• Information about your educational interests, preferences and career plans

Application and immigration information

Where relevant to the services requested, this may include:

• University and course applications
• Scholarship and financial-support applications
• Passport and travel information
• Visa history and immigration status
• Previous visa decisions or refusals
• Sponsorship and guardianship information
• Accommodation requirements
• Travel plans
• Information required by educational institutions, examination providers, embassies, consulates or immigration authorities

Financial information

This may include:

• Payment and transaction details
• Invoices and payment history
• Bank statements and evidence of funds
• Sponsorship information
• Scholarship-related financial documents
• Information concerning the income or assets of an applicant, parent, guardian or sponsor

We do not normally retain complete payment-card details. Payments may be processed securely by an authorised third-party payment provider.

Special-category and sensitive information

When necessary, we may process sensitive information such as:

• Health conditions, disabilities and accessibility requirements
• Dietary or accommodation requirements
• Racial or ethnic origin where required for an application
• Biometric or immigration-related information
• Criminal-conviction information where legally required
• Information relating to students under the age of 18

We only collect sensitive information when it is necessary and when we have an appropriate legal basis, such as explicit consent, compliance with a legal obligation or the protection of an individual's vital interests.

Website and technical information

When you use our website, we may automatically collect:

• Internet Protocol address
• Browser and device information
• Operating system
• Approximate location
• Pages visited and time spent on the website
• Referring website or advertising source
• Form submissions and campaign interactions
• Cookie and analytics information

Communications

We may retain records of communications with you, including emails, telephone-call notes, WhatsApp messages, online chats, social-media messages, consultation records and enquiries submitted through our website.

We may record calls or online meetings only where permitted by law and after giving appropriate notice.

We may collect personal information:

• Directly from you
• From your parent, guardian, sponsor or authorised representative
• Through our website, enquiry forms or booking systems
• During consultations, exhibitions, webinars or events
• From schools, colleges, universities and examination providers
• From referees, teachers, agents or professional advisers
• From visa, immigration, document-verification or scholarship authorities
• From our service providers and business partners
• From publicly available sources where lawful

If you provide information about another person, you must ensure that you are authorised to do so and that the person has been informed about how IEC will use their information.

We may use personal information to:

• Respond to enquiries and arrange consultations
• Assess eligibility for courses, institutions, scholarships and destinations
• Recommend suitable education or training options
• Prepare and submit applications
• Communicate with institutions and application partners
• Assist with document verification, legalisation and translation
• Provide visa, immigration and interview guidance
• Support accommodation, insurance, guardianship and travel arrangements
• Register applicants for examinations or preparation courses
• Deliver teaching, mentoring and examination-preparation services
• Monitor attendance, academic progress and service quality
• Process payments, issue invoices and manage refunds
• Maintain customer and application records
• Communicate important deadlines and application updates
• Send marketing communications where permitted
• Improve our website, services and customer experience
• Prevent fraud, misuse and security incidents
• Handle complaints and disputes
• Comply with legal, regulatory and contractual obligations
• Establish, exercise or defend legal claims

We will not use your information for a materially different purpose without informing you and, where required, obtaining your consent.

Depending on the circumstances, IEC may rely on one or more of the following legal bases:

• Contract: Processing is necessary to provide services you have requested or to take steps before entering into a contract.
• Legal obligation: Processing is necessary to meet our legal, tax, accounting, regulatory or compliance obligations.
• Legitimate interests: Processing is necessary for the proper administration, improvement, security and promotion of our business, provided your rights do not override those interests.
• Consent: You have given us permission to process information for a particular purpose. You may withdraw consent at any time.
• Vital interests: Processing is necessary to protect someone's life or physical safety.
• Legal claims: Processing is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal rights.

Where we process special-category information, we will also identify an additional lawful condition, such as explicit consent or another condition permitted by applicable law.

With your consent, or where otherwise permitted by law, we may send information about:

• Study-abroad opportunities
• University and school admissions
• Scholarships
• Examination-preparation courses
• Webinars, exhibitions and events
• Application deadlines
• Other relevant IEC services

You may unsubscribe at any time by:

• Selecting the unsubscribe link in an email
• Replying “STOP” to an applicable marketing message
• Contacting us at info@edu-consultancy.co.uk

Unsubscribing from marketing will not prevent us from sending necessary communications relating to an enquiry, application, contract or service you have requested.

We do not sell personal information to third parties.

Where necessary to provide our services, we may share personal information with:

• Schools, colleges, universities and training providers
• Examination and language-testing organisations
• Scholarship providers
• Embassies, consulates, visa-processing centres and immigration authorities
• Government departments and regulatory authorities
• Document-verification, legalisation and translation providers
• Accommodation, insurance, travel and guardianship providers
• Tutors, mentors and education professionals
• Payment processors, accountants, auditors and professional advisers
• Customer-relationship management, cloud-storage, website-hosting and communication providers
• Marketing, analytics and advertising providers, subject to applicable consent requirements
• Our authorised employees, representatives and business partners
• Law-enforcement agencies or courts where disclosure is required by law

We require service providers processing information on our behalf to apply suitable confidentiality, privacy and security measures. We only share information reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose.

IEC operates internationally, and education applications frequently require information to be transferred to institutions, authorities and service providers in other countries.

Some recipients may be located in countries that do not provide the same level of legal protection as the UK, the UAE or your home country. Where required, we use appropriate safeguards, which may include:

• International data-transfer agreements
• Contractual data-protection clauses
• Transfers to countries recognised as providing adequate protection
• Your explicit consent, where appropriate
• Transfers necessary to perform a contract or complete an application requested by you

You may contact us for further information about the safeguards used for an international transfer.

IEC provides services to school-age students and applicants under the age of 18. We take additional care when processing children's information.

Where required, we will obtain consent or authorisation from a parent, legal guardian or other authorised adult. We may also communicate with that person regarding the child's assessment, application, welfare, accommodation or education.

Parents and guardians must ensure that the information supplied to IEC is accurate and that they have the legal authority to act for the child.

We do not knowingly use children's personal information for behavioural advertising.

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to:

• Operate essential website functions
• Remember user choices and preferences
• Maintain website security
• Understand how visitors use the website
• Measure advertising and marketing performance
• Improve website content and functionality

Where required, non-essential cookies will only be used after you have provided consent.

You can also control cookies through your browser. Disabling certain cookies may affect website functionality.

We use reasonable organisational and technical measures to protect personal information against:

• Unauthorised access or disclosure
• Accidental loss or destruction
• Unlawful use
• Alteration
• Cybersecurity threats

These measures may include access controls, secure systems, password protection, encryption, staff training, confidentiality obligations, backups and service-provider assessments.

No internet transmission or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. You should avoid sending highly sensitive documents through unsecured communication channels and notify us immediately if you believe your information has been compromised.

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including the provision of services and compliance with legal, accounting, regulatory and dispute-resolution requirements.

We may retain information for longer where required by law or where it is relevant to a complaint, investigation or legal claim. When information is no longer needed, it will be securely deleted, anonymised or destroyed.

Depending on your location and applicable law, you may have the right to:

• Request access to your personal information
• Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
• Request deletion of your information
• Restrict the way we process your information
• Object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing
• Withdraw consent at any time
• Receive certain information in a portable format
• Request the transfer of information to another organisation
• Ask for information about international transfers
• Object to certain automated decisions
• Submit a complaint to a data-protection authority

These rights are not absolute and may be limited by legal, regulatory or contractual requirements.

To exercise a right, email info@edu-consultancy.co.uk. We may request proof of identity before responding. We normally do not charge a fee unless a request is manifestly unfounded, excessive or repetitive, where permitted by law.

IEC does not normally make decisions that have a legal or similarly significant effect using solely automated processing.

We may use technology to organise enquiries, assess general eligibility indicators or recommend possible education options. These tools support our advisers and do not replace the final decisions made by universities, schools, scholarship providers, examination bodies or immigration authorities.

Our website may contain links to universities, schools, application portals, social-media platforms or other third-party websites.

IEC is not responsible for the privacy practices, security or content of external websites. You should read the privacy policy of each external organisation before providing personal information.

Please contact us first if you have a concern about our use of your personal information. We will investigate and respond as soon as reasonably possible.

If your concern is not resolved, you may have the right to complain to the relevant supervisory authority.

For matters subject to UK data-protection law, you may contact:

• Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)
• Website: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/
• Telephone: 0303 123 1113

If another country's data-protection law applies, you may also contact the competent authority in that jurisdiction.

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our services, technology, legal obligations or business practices.

The latest version will be published on this page with the revised “Last updated” date. Where a change materially affects how we use personal information, we will provide additional notice where appropriate.

For privacy questions, requests or complaints, contact:

• IEC Management Consultants LLC
• Trading as IEC Edu Consultancy / Edu Consultancy
• Email: info@edu-consultancy.co.uk
• UK address: 31 Sandy Drive, Feltham, TW14 8BE
• UAE address: Ground Floor, 57th St, Al Garhoud, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Telephone: +44 7442 978718
• Website: www.edu-consultancy.com