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All persons with parental responsibility or care of a child, have a legal right of access to educational records.

This applies even if another person with parental responsibility, or care of the child objects.

This right can only be removed by court order. But the law provides that schools can refuse if they believe that disclosure of the records would be likely to cause serious harm to the pupils physical or mental health or emotional condition.

Governing bodies must have an established procedure for dealing with such requests. It may be appropriate for the school to consider when receiving such requests whether the child s current home address should be detailed on the school report.

A schools admission records should show who has parental responsibility. If a school feels circumstances have changed they must take steps to satisfy themselves as to the position before disclosing any further information.

A solicitors letter is not proof that a person has parental responsibility. Schools should not act on this alone. They will probably ask to see a copy of the court order or other relevant documents.

A person has care if the child lives with him or her.