How to Request Your Child's School Records Under GDPR: A Parent's Guide

If you are preparing for a dyslexia assessment or applying for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), you will need evidence.

The quickest way to get this evidence is to ask your child's school for their educational records. Under data protection law, you have a legal right to see these files. This is called a Subject Access Request (SAR).

This guide explains how to make this request calmly and legally. We also provide a free, polite email template you can send to your child's headteacher today.

Why you might need your child's official school records

When you arrange a private dyslexia assessment, or when the local authority looks at an EHCP request, they need a paper trail.

They want to see:

• Spelling and reading age scores over time.
• Internal school screening results.
• Notes on any extra reading help your child already gets.
• Classroom observations from teachers.

Sometimes, schools are busy and these papers do not get shared. Gathering them yourself ensures your specialist assessor has everything they need from day one.

If your child is anxious about their reading progress, acting quickly helps. You can read our guide on how to build a morning routine that eases school anxiety to support them at home while you wait for the paperwork.

Your rights: Understanding Subject Access Requests (SARs)

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you have the right to see the personal data any organisation holds about your child. This includes state schools, academy trusts, and independent schools.

Because your child is likely under 12, you can make this request on their behalf.

You do not need to use a special legal form. A simple, polite email to the headteacher is enough.

By law, the school must give you this information for free. They cannot charge you a fee for gathering the records.

What about records held by the government?

Most of your child's daily work and teacher notes are held by the school itself. However, if you ever need to access personal data held centrally by the government, you can make a request directly to the Department for Education.

You can read more about this in our guide on how to request your child's school records from the DfE, which covers the official GOV.UK guidance on requesting your personal information from the DfE.

Step-by-step: How to request the data from the school

To keep the process simple and fast, follow these steps:

1. Find the right contact email. Look on the school website for the headteacher's email address or the school's Data Protection Officer (DPO).
2. Be specific. You do not need to ask for "everything ever written" since Reception. Ask for specific items like reading intervention logs, spelling test scores, and SENCO notes. This makes it easier for the school to reply quickly.
3. Put "Subject Access Request" in the subject line. This flags the email as a formal legal request, which triggers their statutory deadline.
4. Keep a copy. Save a copy of the email you send, and note the date.

What to do if the school delays or refuses your request

By law, schools must respond to a Subject Access Request within one calendar month.

Sometimes, schools may ask for extra time if the request is complex, or if you ask during school holidays. However, they must write to you within the first month to explain any delay.

If the school ignores your request or refuses to share the files, you can take these steps:

• Write a polite reminder. Remind them that the one-month legal deadline under GDPR has passed.
• Contact the Data Protection Officer. Every school or academy trust has a named DPO. Ask the school office for their contact details.
• Contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). The ICO is the UK's data watchdog. You can lodge a formal complaint on their website if the school fails to provide the data.

Remember, keeping the tone calm and professional usually gets the best results. School staff are often stretched, and a polite but firm approach works wonders.

A free, polite email template to send to the headteacher

You can copy, paste, and edit this template. Fill in the bracketed details before sending.

Subject: Subject Access Request (SAR) - [Child's Full Name] - [Child's Date of Birth]

Dear [Name of Headteacher or Data Protection Officer],

I am writing to make a formal Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK GDPR, on behalf of my child, [Child's Full Name], who is currently in [Child's Year Group].

I am gathering evidence to support an upcoming dyslexia assessment. To help the specialist assessor, I require copies of the following personal data held by the school:

1. All reading and spelling age assessment scores from the last two academic years.
2. Any internal screening results or learning profile assessments.
3. Individual Education Plans (IEPs) or learning support plans.
4. Any written notes, emails, or minutes from meetings involving the SENCO regarding my child's reading progress.

Please provide these records in an electronic format if possible.

As you know, the statutory response time for a Subject Access Request is one calendar month. I look forward to hearing from you by [Date - one month from today].

Thank you for your help and support with this.

Kind regards,

[Your Name] [Your Phone Number] [Your Email Address]

Next steps while you wait

While you wait for the school to gather your child's records, you can support their reading journey at home.

At Dyslexia.ai, we build a multisensory reading app called Lexy. It is designed for iOS and Mac, and it uses structured literacy methods to help children practice phonics and build reading fluency. It is not a formal diagnosis or a replacement for a specialist teacher, but it offers a gentle, daily way to build confidence.

You can explore how it works on our features page or download it to try with your child while you prepare for their assessment.