Guidance on Records Retention Schedules

What is a retention schedule?

Retention schedules promote control over the University’s records, enable us to dispose confidently of records we no longer need, and ensure the retention of the minimum volume of records consistent with economy and efficiency of staff time, space and equipment. It also means better compliance with access to information legislation, such as the Data Protection Act 1998 and Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Recommended record retention schedules

This document provides access to business-specific instructions on the appropriate time required to retain various types of records (both digital and paper) as evidence of business transactions. It is best to establish the retention period at the time of creation, or at the start of a new way of working and to include a reference to it with the records themselves (either on the paper file cover or for MS Office records as part of the “Properties” information).

If you have the official copy of the record the periods set out below will not apply to you, so please contact the Records and Information Management Service (recman@gla.ac.uk) for further advice.

• HR information held in departments
• Recruitment and Selection
• Teaching and Assessment Records
• Retention of Student Absence Records (see Appendix 2)

What should I do with the records once they are no longer needed for current business?

It is recommended that these records are moved to an off-line or out of the main file storage elsewhere in your office (this could be done at the end of
the month / year) until they are destroyed. The University Records Centre with Archive Services has a managed centre to co-ordinate the deposit, retrieval and destruction of original paper records based on agreed record retention schedules.