Subject Access Request Fee Criteria Policy

Purpose and application

This policy provides an optional administrative control for a school that may charge a permitted subject access request fee. It is intended to support a consistent, unbiased and explainable approach.

The criteria in this policy do not replace a case-specific assessment of whether charging a fee is justified. A fee must only be considered where charging it is permitted.

Fee criteria

The school will maintain clear, concise and accessible criteria explaining the circumstances in which it may charge a fee for a subject access request.

Before a fee is charged, the circumstances of the individual request must be considered against the criteria. Applying the criteria does not by itself establish that a fee is justified in every case.

Standard charges and costs

The school's standard charges are set out in [standard charge schedule].

Where possible, the standard charges should include a breakdown of relevant costs, such as the cost per A4 photocopy.

The fee calculation method is [fee calculation method]. It must explain the costs taken into account, including staff time.

Approval and availability

The fee criteria and any standard charges must be approved by [fee criteria approver] before they are adopted for use by the school.

The criteria must be supplied in a clear, concise and accessible form when requested. The school does not need to publish the criteria online.