School data in Google Sheets™: pupil lists, SEN and sharing
Schools run on spreadsheets: trip lists, intervention groups, seating plans, attendance trackers. They hold information about children, and some of it is sensitive.
This is general hygiene guidance, not legal advice. Follow your school's data protection policy and ask your data protection officer when in doubt.
Why it needs more care
Children's data needs extra care. Columns that mention special educational needs, medical conditions, free school meals, safeguarding or ethnicity may hold sensitive information, so go through them slowly.
Common ways it leaks
- A trip list shared with parent helpers that still has a hidden tab of medical notes.
- An intervention tracker shared with a whole department when only some staff work with those pupils.
- A "temporary" sheet shared by link and still live a year later.
- A copy kept for a former class, with access still open to staff who have left.
A routine that works
- Share the smallest extract that does the job: the names and the one column the reader needs.
- Use a copy for any outside party, so version history and hidden tabs stay behind.
- Prefer restricted access to named people over "anyone with the link".
- Review access at the end of each term and remove people who have left.
- Keep medical and SEN detail in your school's management system rather than in ad hoc sheets, where you can.
Check before you share
Personal Data and Sharing Check™ scans a Google Sheets™ file for personal data, including hidden tabs, notes and disguised text, and shows who can already see it. It shows masked samples only, never the full value. Checking is free, and your data stays in your browser.
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Google, Google Sheets™ and Google Workspace™ are trademarks of Google LLC. App Garden™ is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google. This is data-minimisation and sharing-hygiene guidance, not legal advice.
Google, Google Sheets™ and Google Workspace™ are trademarks of Google LLC. Personal Data and Sharing Check is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google.