Privacy Policy

Last updated: 17 October 2026

This policy explains how Ascendia Academy collects, uses and protects your personal data when you visit www.ascendiaacademy.org, buy or book a course, or contact us. It also explains your rights under UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018).

1. Who we are

Ascendia Academy is a trading name of Ascendia Projects Limited (formerly Ascendia Consults Limited), a company registered in England and Wales (company number 16852356). We are the data controller for the personal data described in this policy, and we are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) under reference ZC179243.

Contact: Business & Technology Centre, Bessemer Drive, Stevenage SG1 2DX, United Kingdom · info@ascendiaconsultslimited.co.uk · 07901 218029.

Please contact us using these details about anything in this policy, including requests to use your rights.

2. The personal data we collect

  • Order and account details: your name, email address, billing address, phone number (if given), the courses you buy, order history, discount codes used, and any company name or purchase-order number.

  • Learner details for group and corporate bookings: the name, email address and chosen course of each person a buyer books a place for. If you book for colleagues, please let them know you are sharing their details with us for this purpose.

  • Payment information: card payments are handled by Stripe. We see the payment status, card type and last four digits, but never your full card number.

  • Learning records: your course enrolments, progress, assessment results and certificates, held on our learning platform (see section 5).

  • Messages and enquiries: what you send us through our website forms, by email or by phone, including invoice requests.

  • Marketing preferences: only if you tick the optional sign-up box at checkout.

  • Technical data: IP address, browser and device type, pages visited and how you arrived at our site, collected through cookies and similar technologies (see our Cookie Policy).

We do not ask for special category data, such as health information. Please don't include it in messages to us.

3. How we use your data and our lawful basis

  • To sell and deliver your course: to take payment, create your learning account, enrol you (or the learners you book for) and email your login details. Lawful basis: contract.

  • To provide customer support and answer enquiries and invoice requests. Lawful basis: contract or legitimate interests (responding to people who contact us).

  • To keep business and tax records. Lawful basis: legal obligation.

  • To prevent fraud and keep our website and checkout secure. Lawful basis: legitimate interests.

  • To understand how our website is used, through basic, aggregated visitor statistics, so we can improve it. Lawful basis: legitimate interests. Any non-essential cookies are used only as described in our Cookie Policy.

  • To send you news and offers, only if you opted in. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any email. Lawful basis: consent.

We do not sell your personal data, and we do not make decisions about you based solely on automated processing.

4. Automatic enrolment

When you complete a purchase, an automated service run by us on Google Workspace reads your order from our shop and creates your learning account on our learning platform (or finds your existing one). It then enrols you on the course and emails your access details. The service keeps an enrolment log (name, email, course, order reference, learning account ID and who made the booking) in a private Google Sheet. Only authorised Ascendia staff can see it, and we use it to check every purchase is enrolled correctly.

5. Who we share your data with

We share personal data only with trusted service providers who process it on our behalf and under contract, or where the law requires it:

  • Squarespace, which hosts our website, shop, checkout, forms and customer contact records.

  • Stripe, which processes card payments and checks for fraud. Where Klarna is offered at checkout, Klarna processes data for that payment method. Stripe and Klarna may also act as independent controllers for their own legal and fraud-prevention duties.

  • VideoTile Learning Ltd (UK), our learning platform provider at videotilehost.com. It hosts the courses, your learning account, progress records and certificates. When you use that platform, VideoTile's own privacy notice also applies to its website.

  • Google (Google Workspace), which provides our email and the automatic enrolment service and log described in section 4.

  • Google reCAPTCHA, which protects our website forms from spam.

  • Our professional advisers, such as accountants, and authorities such as HMRC, the police or courts, where we must by law.

6. International transfers

Some of our providers (such as Squarespace, Stripe and Google) may process data outside the UK, including in the European Economic Area and the United States. Where they do, the transfer is protected by UK adequacy regulations (for example, for the EEA, or for US companies certified under the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework) or by the ICO-approved International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum.

7. How long we keep your data

  • Orders, invoices and payment records: 6 years from the end of the financial year they relate to, as required for tax purposes.

  • Enrolment log and learning records: for as long as you have an active learning account, and then up to 6 years, so we can confirm training and certificates if asked (for example, by an employer or auditor), unless you ask us to delete them sooner and we have no legal reason to keep them.

  • Enquiries that don't lead to a booking: up to 2 years.

  • Marketing list: until you unsubscribe.

8. Your rights

You have the right to:

  • access a copy of your personal data;

  • have inaccurate data corrected;

  • have your data erased;

  • restrict how we use it;

  • object to our use of it (including for direct marketing, at any time);

  • receive your data in a portable format;

  • withdraw your consent at any time, where we rely on consent.

To make a request, email info@ascendiaconsultslimited.co.uk. We will reply within one month. There is normally no charge.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please tell us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office: ico.org.uk, 0303 123 1113.

9. Security

Our website and checkout use encrypted (HTTPS) connections. Payments are handled by Stripe, a PCI-DSS certified payment provider. Access to customer and enrolment records is limited to authorised staff and protected by account security controls.

10. Children

Our courses are intended for adults and working-age learners. We do not knowingly sell directly to children under 16. Bookings for younger learners must be made by a parent, guardian or employer.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be on this page, with the date it was last updated.