JOYFUL TUTORS PRIVACY NOTICE

Last updated: 15 July 2026

1. Who we are

Joyful Tutors Ltd provides online tutoring, academic support, tutor matching, parent guidance and related educational services.

Joyful Tutors Ltd is the data controller responsible for deciding how and why personal information is collected and used.

Company name: Joyful Tutors Ltd
Website: www.joyfultutors.com
Email: hello@joyfultutors.com
Registered office: 71–75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, United Kingdom, WC2H 9JQ
ICO registration reference: ZB758092

The address above is our registered office only. It is not a tutoring venue or customer-facing office. Please contact us by email in the first instance.

Questions about this Privacy Notice or the way we use personal information should be sent to hello@joyfultutors.com.

2. Who this Privacy Notice applies to

This Privacy Notice applies to:

• parents, guardians and authorised adults making enquiries or arranging tutoring;
• students receiving tutoring or academic support;
• prospective and existing clients;
• tutors and prospective tutors;
• visitors to our website;
• people who contact us through email, telephone, WhatsApp, website forms or social media;
• suppliers, contractors and professional advisers; and
• other individuals whose information we process in connection with our services.

Enquiries and bookings should be made by a parent, guardian or authorised adult. We may process information about children where necessary to provide tutoring, manage safeguarding and communicate with families.

3. Personal information we may collect

Parent, guardian and client information

We may collect:

• name;
• email address;
• telephone number;
• billing address;
• relationship to the student;
• preferred method of contact;
• correspondence with Joyful Tutors;
• payment and invoice information;
• lesson availability;
• consultation and booking information;
• cancellation information; and
• records of enquiries and communications.

Student information

We may collect:

• student name;
• age, date of birth or school year;
• school or educational setting, where relevant;
• subjects and academic level;
• examination board or entrance examination, where relevant;
• learning goals;
• areas of difficulty or knowledge gaps;
• confidence, motivation and preferred learning style;
• lesson availability;
• tutor-matching information;
• attendance records;
• lesson notes;
• progress information;
• assessment results or predicted grades, where provided;
• revision needs and academic targets;
• reasonable adjustments or additional learning needs; and
• relevant communications between the student, family, tutor and Joyful Tutors.

We aim to collect only the information reasonably necessary to arrange, provide and manage appropriate educational support.

TutorCruncher records

We use TutorCruncher to help manage our tutoring services.

Tutors may record attendance, lesson notes and progress information within TutorCruncher so that Joyful Tutors can:

• administer lessons;
• manage student and tutor records;
• monitor attendance;
• review academic support;
• communicate appropriately with families;
• manage scheduling;
• process invoices and payments; and
• maintain appropriate business records.

Access to information held in TutorCruncher is limited according to role and business need.

Safeguarding and sensitive information

In limited circumstances, we may need to process information relating to:

• health or disability;
• special educational needs;
• emotional wellbeing;
• safeguarding concerns;
• medical information relevant to tutoring;
• racial or ethnic origin;
• religious or philosophical beliefs; or
• other sensitive circumstances affecting a student’s welfare, safety or education.

We only process this information where it is necessary, proportionate and legally permitted.

We apply additional protections to sensitive and safeguarding information and restrict access to those who have a genuine need to know.

Tutor and applicant information

We may collect:

• name and contact details;
• employment and education history;
• qualifications;
• teaching and tutoring experience;
• subject specialisms;
• right-to-work information;
• references;
• identity information;
• background-check and DBS information;
• interview and assessment notes;
• availability;
• payment information;
• lesson allocation information;
• performance information;
• parent or student feedback; and
• safeguarding, conduct or complaint records where relevant.

Website and technical information

When someone visits our website, we may collect:

• IP address;
• browser type;
• device type;
• operating system;
• approximate location;
• referring website;
• pages visited;
• time spent on pages;
• website interactions;
• cookie preferences; and
• technical information required to operate, secure and improve the website.

Enquiries and communications

We may retain information shared through:

• website enquiry forms;
• email;
• telephone;
• WhatsApp;
• video calls;
• social media;
• consultations;
• reviews and feedback; and
• other correspondence with Joyful Tutors.

Please avoid sending unnecessary sensitive information through WhatsApp, social media or ordinary email.

4. How we collect personal information

We may collect information:

• directly from parents, guardians, students, tutors or applicants;
• through our website and enquiry forms;
• during consultations, meetings and tutoring sessions;
• through email, telephone and WhatsApp;
• from tutors providing attendance, lesson or progress updates;
• through TutorCruncher;
• from payment and invoicing providers;
• from professional referees;
• from publicly available professional sources;
• through website cookies and analytics tools; and
• from another authorised person involved in arranging educational support.

Where information about a student is provided by a parent, guardian, school or another authorised adult, we expect that person to have the authority to provide it.

5. Why we use personal information

We may use personal information to:

• respond to enquiries;
• understand a student’s educational needs;
• recommend and match a suitable tutor;
• arrange consultations and lessons;
• provide tutoring and academic support;
• prepare appropriate lesson plans and resources;
• monitor attendance, engagement and progress;
• provide progress updates to parents or guardians;
• manage tutor relationships;
• administer TutorCruncher accounts and records;
• process payments and issue invoices;
• manage contracts;
• manage scheduling and cancellations;
• provide customer support;
• handle feedback, concerns and complaints;
• recruit and assess tutors;
• carry out safeguarding responsibilities;
• prevent fraud, misuse or unlawful activity;
• protect students, tutors, families and Joyful Tutors;
• comply with legal, regulatory, tax and accounting obligations;
• maintain and improve our website and services;
• understand how visitors use our website;
• send important service communications;
• send marketing communications where legally permitted; and
• establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

6. Our lawful bases for processing personal information

We rely on one or more of the following lawful bases, depending on the circumstances.

Contract

We may process information where it is necessary to:

• take steps requested before entering into a tutoring agreement;
• arrange tutoring;
• deliver agreed services;
• manage lessons;
• communicate about the service;
• collect payment; or
• perform our contractual obligations.

Where the tutoring agreement is with a parent or guardian rather than the student, we may rely on legitimate interests to process the student’s information where necessary to provide and manage the service.

Legal obligation

We may process information where necessary to comply with legal obligations, including:

• tax and accounting requirements;
• company record-keeping requirements;
• safeguarding responsibilities;
• responding to lawful requests;
• preventing unlawful activity; and
• complying with court orders or regulatory requirements.

Legitimate interests

We may process information where it is necessary for our legitimate interests or those of another person, provided those interests do not override the rights and interests of the individual.

Our legitimate interests may include:

• providing and improving tutoring services;
• matching students with suitable tutors;
• communicating with parents, students and tutors;
• maintaining appropriate attendance, lesson and progress records;
• monitoring service quality;
• managing our business;
• preventing fraud;
• handling complaints;
• protecting legal rights; and
• maintaining the security of our website and systems.

Where processing involves a child, we give particular consideration to the child’s rights, welfare and best interests.

Consent

We may rely on consent for:

• optional marketing communications;
• non-essential cookies and analytics where consent is required;
• testimonials or photographs where consent is required;
• certain uses of sensitive personal information; and
• other optional activities that are not necessary to provide the tutoring service.

Consent may be withdrawn at any time by contacting hello@joyfultutors.com.

Withdrawing consent does not affect processing that was lawful before consent was withdrawn.

Vital interests

In an emergency, we may process or share information where necessary to protect someone’s life or physical safety.

7. Special-category and sensitive information

Certain information receives additional protection under data-protection law. This includes information concerning health, disability, ethnicity, religion and some safeguarding circumstances.

Where we process this information, we identify:

• a lawful basis under Article 6 of the UK GDPR; and
• an additional condition permitting the processing of special-category information under Article 9 of the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Depending on the circumstances, this may include:

• explicit consent;
• protecting vital interests;
• establishing, exercising or defending legal claims;
• safeguarding children or individuals at risk;
• substantial public interest grounds permitted by law; or
• another applicable legal condition.

We restrict access to sensitive and safeguarding information and only use or share it where necessary and proportionate.

8. Safeguarding and information sharing

The safety and welfare of students is a priority.

Where a safeguarding concern arises, we may record and share relevant information with appropriate people or organisations, including:

• the student’s parent or guardian;
• Joyful Tutors’ designated safeguarding lead;
• the tutor involved;
• schools or educational settings where appropriate;
• children’s social care;
• the police;
• healthcare or emergency services;
• the Disclosure and Barring Service;
• local authorities; or
• other safeguarding or regulatory bodies.

We may share safeguarding information without consent where there is an appropriate lawful basis and where sharing is necessary to protect a child or another person.

We consider the best interests of the child and limit any sharing to information relevant to the safeguarding purpose.

9. TutorCruncher

We use TutorCruncher as a tutoring-management platform.

TutorCruncher may process information on our behalf, including:

• parent and guardian contact details;
• student details;
• tutor details;
• lesson schedules;
• attendance information;
• lesson notes;
• progress information;
• communications;
• invoicing records;
• payment information; and
• other information required to administer tutoring services.

Joyful Tutors remains responsible for determining why this information is processed.

TutorCruncher acts as a service provider or data processor where it processes information on our instructions. Appropriate contractual and data-protection arrangements should apply between Joyful Tutors and TutorCruncher.

10. Tutoring session recordings

Joyful Tutors does not routinely record tutoring sessions.

Tutors should not record lessons unless this has been expressly authorised by Joyful Tutors and the family has been informed in advance.

Should our recording practices change, we will:

• inform affected families in advance;
• explain why the recording is required;
• identify an appropriate lawful basis;
• obtain any consent required by law;
• explain who may access the recording;
• explain how long it will be retained; and
• apply appropriate security measures.

11. Who we may share information with

We may share personal information with:

• tutors engaged by Joyful Tutors;
• parents, guardians and authorised adults;
• TutorCruncher;
• payment processors;
• accounting and invoicing providers;
• website providers, including Shopify;
• email and cloud-storage providers;
• WhatsApp and Meta services where used;
• Google services, including Google Analytics, Google Reviews and business tools where used;
• video-conferencing providers used to deliver online tutoring;
• IT and cybersecurity providers;
• professional advisers, including accountants, solicitors, insurers and consultants;
• safeguarding organisations;
• schools or education professionals where authorised or legally permitted;
• government departments;
• regulatory bodies;
• law-enforcement authorities;
• courts and tribunals; and
• a purchaser, investor or successor if Joyful Tutors is reorganised, sold or transferred.

Tutors and service providers are expected to use personal information only for authorised purposes and to protect it appropriately.

We do not sell personal information.

12. Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our website.

Google Analytics may help us understand:

• which pages visitors view;
• how visitors reach our website;
• how long visitors spend on different pages;
• what devices and browsers are used;
• approximate visitor location;
• website performance; and
• how visitors interact with website content.

Google Analytics may use cookies and collect technical information such as:

• IP address;
• device information;
• browser type;
• approximate location;
• pages visited;
• referring website; and
• interaction data.

Where consent is legally required, Google Analytics and other non-essential analytics technologies will not be activated until the visitor has accepted them through our cookie controls.

Google Analytics uses cookies to distinguish visitors and report website-usage statistics to website operators.

13. International transfers

Some of our technology, communication and service providers may store or process personal information outside the United Kingdom.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, we take reasonable steps to ensure that it receives an appropriate level of protection.

This may include relying on:

• UK adequacy regulations;
• the UK International Data Transfer Agreement;
• the UK Addendum to approved contractual clauses;
• approved standard contractual clauses; or
• another lawful international-transfer mechanism.

Further information about the safeguards used for a particular provider may be requested by contacting hello@joyfultutors.com.

14. How long we keep information

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and to meet legal, safeguarding, contractual, insurance and regulatory responsibilities.

Our general retention approach is:

Enquiries that do not proceed

We normally retain unsuccessful enquiry information for up to 12 months after the last meaningful contact.

Active family and student records

We retain active client and student records for the duration of the tutoring relationship.

Former family and student records

We may normally retain service, contractual and communication records for up to six years after the tutoring relationship ends where needed for contractual, insurance, complaint, accounting or legal purposes.

Lesson and progress records

Attendance records, lesson notes and progress information held in TutorCruncher may be retained for the duration of the tutoring relationship and for an appropriate period afterward where required for service management, complaints, safeguarding, insurance or legal purposes.

Payment and accounting records

Invoices, payments and accounting records are normally retained for at least six years, or for any longer period required by law.

Tutor applicant records

Information relating to unsuccessful tutor applicants is normally retained for up to 12 months after the recruitment process ends, unless there is a lawful reason to retain it for longer.

Tutor records

Tutor contractual, payment, safeguarding and service records may be retained for the duration of the working relationship and for an appropriate period afterward to meet tax, contractual, insurance, safeguarding and legal obligations.

Safeguarding records

Safeguarding information is retained for as long as reasonably necessary, having regard to:

• the nature and seriousness of the concern;
• safeguarding guidance;
• legal requirements;
• the interests of the child;
• potential future enquiries; and
• the need to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

Complaints

Complaint records may be retained for the duration of the complaint and for an appropriate period afterward.

Marketing records

Marketing information is retained until:

• consent is withdrawn;
• the person objects;
• the information is no longer needed; or
• retaining it is no longer lawful.

Cookies and analytics

Cookie and analytics information is retained according to the lifespan of the relevant cookie or technology and our cookie settings.

Some information may be retained for longer where there is:

• an ongoing complaint;
• a safeguarding matter;
• a legal claim;
• an investigation;
• an insurance requirement; or
• another legal or regulatory obligation.

15. Marketing communications

We may send information about Joyful Tutors services, resources, events or educational support where:

• the recipient has consented;
• the communication is otherwise permitted by law; or
• another appropriate lawful basis applies.

Electronic marketing is subject to applicable UK data-protection law and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.

Every electronic marketing message will provide a way to unsubscribe or change preferences.

Marketing preferences can also be changed by contacting hello@joyfultutors.com.

We do not sell children’s information or use it for behavioural advertising.

16. Cookies and similar technologies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies.

Some cookies are necessary to:

• operate the website;
• provide requested functionality;
• maintain security;
• remember visitor preferences;
• remember cookie choices; or
• support website administration.

Other cookies may help us:

• understand website use;
• measure website performance;
• improve content;
• remember preferences;
• measure marketing activity; or
• provide embedded features.

Where consent is required, non-essential cookies will not be used until the visitor has made a choice through our cookie banner or cookie settings.

Consent for non-essential cookies must involve a clear and positive choice. Simply placing cookie information within a privacy policy is not, by itself, sufficient consent.

Visitors may change cookie preferences through:

• our website cookie controls, where available; or
• browser settings.

Blocking some cookies may affect website functionality.

More detailed information about current cookies and their purposes may be provided through our cookie banner or a separate Cookie Notice.

17. Security

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

• unauthorised access;
• accidental loss;
• misuse;
• alteration;
• unauthorised disclosure; and
• destruction.

These measures may include:

• restricted access;
• password protection;
• multi-factor authentication where available;
• secure systems;
• role-based access controls;
• tutor and staff confidentiality obligations;
• appropriate contractual safeguards;
• software updates;
• secure backups; and
• secure deletion and disposal procedures.

TutorCruncher states that it provides access controls, encrypted passwords, multi-factor authentication and secure infrastructure for information held through its service.

No internet, email or digital system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

Parents, students and tutors should avoid sending unnecessary sensitive information through insecure communication channels.

18. Children’s privacy

Children have data-protection rights in relation to their personal information.

We aim to explain our use of student information clearly to parents, guardians and, where appropriate, students themselves.

We:

• collect only information relevant to providing and managing educational services;
• give particular weight to the rights and best interests of children;
• apply a high level of privacy by default;
• do not sell children’s personal information;
• do not use children’s information for behavioural advertising;
• restrict access to sensitive student information;
• use information only for clear and appropriate purposes; and
• share children’s information only where authorised, necessary or legally permitted.

The ICO states that children have the same data-protection rights as adults and that organisations should provide appropriate information about how children’s data is used.

A student, parent or guardian may contact us with questions about the information we hold.

19. Your data-protection rights

Depending on the circumstances, individuals may have the right to:

• request access to personal information;
• request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information;
• request deletion of personal information;
• request restriction of processing;
• object to certain processing;
• request transfer of information in a portable format;
• withdraw consent where consent is relied upon;
• object to direct marketing; and
• complain about the way personal information is used.

These rights are not absolute and may be subject to legal exemptions.

Requests should be sent to hello@joyfultutors.com.

We may need to verify the requester’s identity and authority before releasing, changing or deleting information.

Where a request concerns a child, we will consider:

• the child’s age;
• the child’s level of understanding;
• the child’s best interests;
• the nature of the information;
• the rights of other individuals; and
• applicable legal requirements.

20. Complaints

Questions, concerns or complaints about our use of personal information should first be sent to:

Email: hello@joyfultutors.com

Registered office:
Joyful Tutors Ltd
71–75 Shelton Street
Covent Garden
London
United Kingdom
WC2H 9JQ

Please contact us by email in the first instance, as the registered office is not a customer-facing location.

Individuals also have the right to complain to the UK data-protection regulator:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

21. Links to other websites

Our website may contain links to third-party websites, platforms or services.

Joyful Tutors is not responsible for the privacy practices of external organisations.

Visitors should review the privacy information provided by those organisations before submitting personal information.

22. Changes to this Privacy Notice

We may update this Privacy Notice to reflect:

• changes to our services;
• changes to TutorCruncher or other service providers;
• changes to technology;
• changes to legal or regulatory requirements; or
• improvements to our privacy practices.

The latest version will be published on our website with the date of the most recent update.