Trusted Contacts

We understand that sometimes family members may want to contact a student but be unable to do so.

Whilst at University, students are expected to assume an adult level of responsibility and have the necessary skills to study and live independently.

Students are responsible for all communication with the University whether they have reached the age of 18 or not. This is in accordance with both the Data Protection Act 2018 and the University’s Data Protection Policy.

One of the reasons Bangor University has the reputation for excellent pastoral support is the priority we place on supporting the health, safety, and wellbeing of our students. One way we do this, is to ask students to provide us with details of their trusted contact.

A trusted contact is someone over the age of 18, that a student has chosen to act in a similar way to a next of kin.

This can be, for example:

• a parent
• guardian
• spouse
• a family member
• or a friend.

The choice of trusted contact is entirely up to the student; however, we encourage them to choose someone they trust, who they could ask for help.

We recommend when choosing a trusted contact, that students obtain their permission, making them aware they are a trusted contact, and that their details will be shared with the University.

All personal data is kept confidential and secure and will not be used without consent from a student unless there is reason to believe that using the contact details without consent will reduce serious risks relating to wellbeing or harm.

Examples of how we might use a student’s Trusted Contact details:

• Being admitted to hospital in an emergency
• Being seriously injured, including self-harm
• Not engaging with their studies, not responding to repeated attempts to contact them, and not being seen in their halls of residence
• Having an ongoing illness and appearing to deteriorate
• Where there are serious concerns for their welfare, such as their mental health appearing to deteriorate or using drugs/alcohol in high-risk amounts.

The University may share trusted contact information with the emergency services if requested to do so without the students’ expressed consent if circumstances warrant it. For example:

• we think this is in their best interests,
• it may help to prevent harm to them or to someone else
• it is requested as part of a police investigation
• or may be helpful to the emergency services for the purpose of admission to the hospital.

We will not use trusted contact details to provide updates about a students’ attendance, grades, or life at university to third parties, including parents. For information about how we communicate with 3^rd parties, please view our policy.