User Account Terms & Conditions

Effective Date: 1st September 2025
Last Updated: 29th October 2025

These User Account Terms & Conditions ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the user account features on School Scout ("we", "us", "our", or "the Platform"). By registering for or using a School Scout user account, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to these Terms and our Privacy Policy.

1. Account Registration and Eligibility

To create and maintain a School Scout user account, you must meet the following eligibility and registration requirements:

• Minimum Age: You must be at least 18 years old to register for an account.
• Accuracy of Information: You represent and warrant that all information provided during registration (and thereafter) is accurate, complete, and kept up to date.
• Parental Responsibility: You may only register and use an account on your own behalf or on behalf of a child for whom you have legal parental or guardianship rights.
• Household Use Only: Your account is for non-commercial, personal use only to support your own household’s research into schools.
• Confidentiality: You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for all activities that occur under your account.

2. User Conduct and Responsibilities

You agree to use your account responsibly and lawfully. Specifically, you must:

• Keep your login credentials secure and not share them with others;
• Notify us immediately at datacontroller@schoolscout.uk if you suspect any unauthorised use of your account;
• Use the platform in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, and these Terms;
• Not allow third parties to access or use your account under any circumstances.

School Scout reserves the right to suspend or terminate accounts found to be in breach of these requirements.

3. Customised Features

Your user account provides access to various personalised tools and features, which may include:

• Comparing key data and performance metrics of independent schools;
• Saving favourite schools and creating personalised shortlists;
• Submitting and managing enquiries directly with schools;
• Viewing enquiry histories and school responses;
• Customising your search using information about your child’s education needs;
• Using the School Scout AI assistant to ask questions and receive automated responses.

We reserve the right to modify or remove features at any time without notice.

4. Use of Personal Data

By creating an account, you authorise School Scout to collect, process, and store your personal data, which may include:

• Your name, email address, phone number, country, and postcode;
• Your child’s name, date of birth, and current school (if provided).

We use this information to:

• Personalise your experience and search results;
• Facilitate communication between you and selected schools;
• Send updates, notifications, or service communications related to your activity on the platform;
• Generate aggregated, anonymised insights reports for our School Partners.

All data is processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy and applicable data protection laws.

5. Communications & Marketing

By registering an account:

• You consent to receive service-related communications from School Scout and from schools you contact via the platform;
• You may opt in to receive marketing communications from School Scout and/or selected third-party partners;
• You can manage your preferences or withdraw consent at any time through your account settings or by following unsubscribe instructions in any email;
• You may request full deletion of your account and personal data by contacting datacontroller@schoolscout.uk.

6. User Behaviour Expectations

You agree not to engage in any of the following:

• Submitting false, inaccurate, defamatory, or unlawful content;
• Impersonating another person, or misrepresenting your identity or authority;
• Harassing, threatening, or abusing schools or other users;
• Attempting to interfere with, disrupt, or reverse-engineer the platform or the School Scout AI assistant;
• Accessing or attempting to access data or systems without authorisation.

Violation of this section may result in immediate suspension or termination of your account, and where applicable, legal action.

7. Closing Your Account

You may close your account at any time by:

• Visiting your account settings and following the account deletion process; or
• Contacting datacontroller@schoolscout.uk directly.

Upon account closure, we will delete or anonymise your data unless retention is required by law, regulation, or legitimate business interest (e.g. fraud prevention or unresolved user complaints).

8. Child Data 

If you choose to enter information about a child:

• You confirm you are their parent or legal guardian and have the right to share their data;
• Child data is collected and processed solely to personalise your search experience and support communications with schools.
• We do not market directly to children or allow children to create accounts.

For more information, please refer to our Children’s Data Policy.

9. Behavioural Tracking and AI Use

We monitor user activity (e.g. school searches, page views, shortlist creation, comparisons, enquiries) in order to:

• Improve platform performance and usability;
• Generate anonymised, aggregated reports for internal use and for our School Partners.

If you use the School Scout AI assistant, you agree to our AI Use Policy, which outlines how we may:

• Collect and analyse AI conversation data (with prompts anonymised where possible);
• Use interactions to improve AI training and enhance platform functionality.

10. Use of School Scout AI

You may use the School Scout AI assistant to support your school search through general advice, comparisons, or suggestions.

By using School Scout AI, you understand and agree that:

• Responses are automated and may be incomplete, inaccurate, or outdated;
• All output is for informational purposes only and must be independently verified;
• You are solely responsible for your prompts and use of AI responses;
• School Scout may store and analyse prompts and AI conversations to improve the assistant’s performance and service quality;
• School Scout may generate aggregated, anonymised School Scout AI insights to be shared with our School Partners; 
• Any misuse, including offensive, misleading, or unlawful prompts, may result in suspension from School Scout AI and/or the entire platform.

11. Limitations of Liability

While we strive to provide accurate, up-to-date information, School Scout:

• Does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of school information or AI outputs;
• Is not liable for any decisions you make based on platform content;
• Is not responsible for the conduct of schools, users, or third parties contacted via the platform.

Nothing in these Terms excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or any other liability that cannot be excluded under applicable law.

12. Governing Law

These Terms and any disputes arising under them shall be governed by the laws of England and Wales. You agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

13. Contact

If you have any questions, concerns, or complaints about these Terms or your account, please contact:

Email: hello@schoolscout.uk
Or: datacontroller@schoolscout.uk (for data-related requests)


These User Account Terms & Conditions were last updated on 29 October 2025. We may revise them from time to time. Changes will be effective upon publication on our website. Continued use of the platform constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.