Last Updated 4th December 2025. All organisations in the UK, including schools, have a responsibility to comply with data protection laws. Institutions such as schools and colleges handle large volumes of personal data about students and staff, including contact details and ethnicity. If your personal information has been compromised because of a failure to abide by data protection legislation, affecting you financially and/or psychologically, you may be eligible to start the school data breach compensation claims process.
With a personalised approach, our solicitors at Legal Expert work hard to support clients as they navigate the process of claiming for a data breach in school, whilst ensuring to fight for a settlement that is reflective of the harm they have suffered. So, if you’re looking to secure data breach compensation, one of our specialist solicitors is ready to help you every step of the way.
What You Need To Know
- What Personal Data Do Schools Have Access To? Schools can collect personal data covering names, home addresses, racial origin, biometrics, and medical information.
- How Can A Data Breach At School Happen? Breaches can occur due to poor data protection training, letters or emails sent to the wrong recipient, cyberattacks, or devices being stolen or lost.
- What Happens If A School Breaches UK GDPR? If a school fails to comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation, it may be investigated by the data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), and be subject to a compensation claim for any financial and/or psychological harm resulting from a breach.
- How Long Do I Have To Claim For A School Data Breach? You will typically have 6 years to start your school data breach claim.
- What Kind Of Mental Harm Can Be Covered By A School Data Breach Claim? It can cover various severities of general psychiatric damage and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Contact our advisory team today to learn more about making a school data breach claim.
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How To Make School Data Breach Compensation Claims
Personal data is any information that can be used to identify someone. Schools have legal responsibilities to protect personal data under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. These legislations outline that data controllers (parties that decide the purpose for processing personal data), and data processors (parties who process the data for the controller) have a responsibility to protect personal data while it is handled, stored, and processed. Schools can be data controllers as well as processors.
Failure to follow the responsibilities set out in data protection legislation is known as wrongful conduct and could potentially lead to a personal data breach.
As such, under Article 4 of the UK GDPR, you must satisfy this criterion to make a school data breach claim:
- The school (the data controller or processor) failed to follow data protection legislation.
- Due to their wrongful conduct, there was a personal data breach.
- Due to the personal data breach, you suffered emotionally and/or financially.
Additionally, the UK Government has put together a toolkit for schools to use when implementing policies and procedures to ensure UK GDPR compliance. This involves raising data protection awareness among all staff and ensuring that those who process personal data are educated on how to do so in accordance with the UK GDPR.
Contact us to find out whether you are eligible for school data breach compensation.
What Is A Data Breach?
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) defines a data breach as a security incident that affects the availability, integrity or confidentiality of personal data. It could involve data being subject to:
- Unauthorised/ unlawful access or destruction.
- Loss of personal data or loss of availability of data.
- The disclosure, transmission or alteration of personal data without permission.
- Data theft.
Examples Of Data Breaches In Schools
Under the UK GDPR, you may be eligible for compensation if you have suffered emotional distress or financial harm after a breach of data protection in schools.
You might be unsure about what a valid data breach claim might entail. However, below you will find examples of data breaches in schools to give you an idea:
- A school could send a letter containing your child’s personal data to the wrong postal address, despite having your correct address on file.
- A teacher might breach your child’s personal data if they fail to safely store your child’s educational records, meaning an unauthorised person can access the information.
- A school may fail to update their computer systems, and without having adequate security measures implemented, the systems could be susceptible to attacks from cybercriminals. Subsequently, your child’s personal data could be breached.
Don’t worry if you can’t relate to the UK GDPR breach examples featured above. If a school has caused a data breach in which your personal data was compromised, and you experienced a psychological injury or financial loss, you could make a data breach claim. Get in touch for more information.
What Happens If A School Breaches UK GDPR?
A school should have robust procedures to act when data breaches occur. Under UK GDPR, any breach of personal data that affects the freedoms and rights of individuals should be reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). This means that any breach that could risk harm to an individual in any of the following ways should be reported:
- Discrimination, including harassment
- Reputational damage
- Loss of confidentiality of personal data under protection by professional secrecy
- They must also ensure that they report any data breaches where sensitive personal information is compromised.
Schools must also inform individuals whose data has been breached about the incident.
How Long Do I Have To Claim For A School Data Breach?
When claiming due to a breach of data protection in schools, the time limit can differ depending on the status of the school in general.
Typically, you have 6 years to claim if you are claiming against a public body. However, if you are claiming against a private body, then the time limit is just 1 year.
It is important to know the status of your school when making a claim against it, as this could affect your time limit. There are other factors that could affect the time you have to claim as well. If you’d like to find out whether you are still within your time limit, get in touch with our advisors today.
Do I Need Evidence For School Data Breach Compensation Claims?
School data breach claims require evidence that the breach occurred and caused psychological suffering to you or your child. Your proof can include:
- A copy of your or your child’s medical records
- Confirmation from the ICO that the data was breached- if you report the breach to the ICO, they can look into it for you, and their findings may lend support to your claim for compensation
- A notification letter- the school may have sent a letter to confirm that a data breach occurred and specify what data was impacted
- Bank statements or payslips to show lost income due to time taken off work to recover from psychological harm
If you have any questions about the evidence required to claim school data breach compensation, why not contact an advisor?
How Much Could I Claim For A School Data Breach?
If you make a successful school data breach claim, then you may receive compensation for material and non-material damage. Non-material damage covers any psychological injuries you’ve suffered because of the breach of your personal data.
Those who value the psychological harm caused by a data breach may consult the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This document includes compensation guidelines for numerous forms of psychological harm. You can view some of these below. The first bullet point is not based on the JCG, and these are guidelines only.
Compensation Examples:
- Compensation for multiple types of severe mental harm, plus material damage, could be worth up to £250,000 and above.
- Compensation for severe psychiatric damage, which affects the claimant’s ability to cope with work or relationships with family and friends, could be worth £66,920 to £141,240.
- Compensation for moderately severe psychiatric damage includes injuries where injuries are similar to severe cases but with a more optimistic prognosis, and could be worth £23,270 to £66,920.
- Additionally, compensation for moderate psychiatric damage, where the prognosis is optimistic but the claimant still suffers with getting through aspects of their life, could be worth £7,150 to £23,270.
- In less severe cases, the compensation will be based on the length of time that the person was disabled for and the extent to which their daily life was impacted. This may be worth between £1,880 to £7,150.
- Compensation for severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which prevents the claimant from functioning near the pre-trauma level, could be worth £73,050 to £122,850.
- In moderately severe PTSD cases, a person will have a better prognosis but still some chance of future disability. This could be worth £28,250 to £73,050.
- Additionally, compensation for moderate Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, where any continuing effects will not be grossly disabling, could be worth £9,980 to £28,250.
- In less severe PTSD cases, the person will make a nearly full recovery within one to two years, with only minor symptoms persisting and could be worth £4,820 to £9,980.
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Financial Losses
Material damage could potentially be claimed to cover any financial losses you have suffered because of a data breach in a school. For example, if you’ve suffered psychological harm because of the breach and you took unpaid time off work to recover from this, then the loss of earnings in that period may be covered under material damage.
To claim material damage, you will need to provide certain documents as evidence, such as wage slips, bank statements or invoices.
Contact our advisors for free today if you have any questions about how much you could claim for a data breach in a school.
No Win No Fee Data Breach Solicitors
You may find it extremely beneficial to work with one of our expert No Win No Fee solicitors, as they can provide the following services throughout your data breach at school claim:
- Help with gathering your evidence.
- Ensuring your case is presented in full within the relevant time limit.
- Corresponding on your behalf with all relevant parties, such as the eligible school.
- Ensuring your compensation accurately represents all of your harm.
- Sorting out your legal representation (only if your claim needs to go to court, which will be unlikely).
- They’ll explain your rights as a claimant, define legal jargon, and explain the full legal process.
- Assist you in finding rehabilitation services if necessary.
What’s more, all of these services (and more) are provided under the terms of a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This means:
- You pay nothing upfront, or throughout the entire school data breach compensation claims process, for your solicitor’s services.
- You pay nothing at all for your solicitor’s services if your claim isn’t successful.
- If your claim is successful, just a small success fee gets taken out of your compensation. Success fees are a legally capped percentage.
So, please contact us for free today to find out whether one of our specialist solicitors can help you claim or a school data breach on a No Win No Fee basis.
Start Your School Data Breach Claim
Whether you’d like us to offer you a free eligibility check on your case, or you’re ready to talk to a data breach solicitor about your claim, we could help. Our expert advisors can answer your questions and check your eligibility to claim. We could then provide you with a No Win No Fee data breach lawyer who could help you fight for the maximum payout for your claim. To get in touch about a school data breach, all you need to do is:
- Call 0800 073 8804
- Use our live chat.
- Fill out our contact us online form.
We hope these examples of data breaches in schools have been helpful, but if you have any more questions, get in touch with our team.