Records Retention Schedule

The Records Retention Schedule (RRS) constitutes the University’s policy on the retention and disposition of records and data.

There are business, regulatory and statutory reasons why we must keep information for a set period of time. Once there is no longer a requirement to keep information, we should dispose of it. The Records Retention Schedule outlines how long information relating to certain activities needs to be kept and when it should be disposed of appropriately.

The retention periods given in the schedule are mandatory and any exceptions should be agreed with the Information Governance Office. Advice on records that are not covered by this schedule can be obtained from the Information Governance Office.

Disposal is particularly important for information that contains personal data, because the University has an obligation to tell data subjects how long their data will be kept and to not keep information for longer than necessary. Records that may contain personal data are identified in this schedule with an asterisk in the “Description” field.

However, it is important to dispose of all information in line with the Retention Schedule, not just personal data, as this reduces complexity, improves efficiency and accuracy, reduces storage costs, helps to mitigate risks relating to exposure, and makes it easier to maintain the information that is still needed.

Retention periods and disposal processes should be built into all systems that hold information. For advice about how to do this in your area, get in touch with the Records Management team in the Information Governance Office.

For additional information please refer to the Retention Schedule Guidance document. 

The Information Governance Office has held training sessions on the management of information in Outlook and shared drives.

The sessions concentrated on how to:

1.    Apply retention policies to this data
2.    Identify data which can and should be deleted
3.    Structure data to make it accessible

Watch a recording of the session or view the presentation slides.