Using your emergency contact information
The safety of our Keele community is our highest priority, and we ask all students to make sure their details on our systems, including their emergency contact details, are kept up to date.
Student information will be held securely and only shared where there is a lawful basis to do so. Further detail on how the University processes student information can be found in the University's Privacy Notice for Students.
Your emergency contact is likely to be a parent, family member or guardian. In the unlikely event that a situation arises where we consider a students’ health, safety or welfare to be at risk, we may contact the person you have nominated as an emergency contact. It is important therefore that you ensure that person is aware they have been nominated as your contact, and that the person is able and willing to act on your behalf in the event of a serious incident or emergency.
We understand it isn’t always possible to provide the name of an emergency contact as everybody’s situation is different. In these instances, we may need to use a student’s home address details in emergency situations where consent cannot be sought from the student.
Frequently asked questions
You can update your emergency contact details, and various other details, at any time by logging into eVision – scims.keele.ac.uk - and clicking the ‘update details’ button on the home page.
For most students, it is unlikely we will ever need to contact your emergency contact, and if we do need to, we will aim to get your consent wherever possible. We would consider each instance of contacting an emergency contact as individual instances, and would aim to gain consent for each instance separately.
If a student does not provide consent for us to make contact, we will ensure this is appropriately recorded and make a risk-based decision regarding the circumstances and risk of harm. Whenever we share personal information about a student with their emergency contact, we will keep a record of the reason for the decision, the information shared, who it was shared with, and when.
There may also be instances where you would like us to contact your emergency contact to facilitate a decision around support. Again, we would properly record this and would not consider this as consent for future disclosures regarding other matters.
The information below provides a non-exhaustive list of examples of circumstances in which we might get in touch with an Emergency Contact without consent and share personal information. Please note: We always judge each situation individually before any decision to contact is made.
| Example | If consent provided | Process if there are concerns regarding lack of capacity and/or high levels of risk and no consent is provided |
|---|---|---|
| Exhibiting behaviour that may pose a serious risk to the safety and wellbeing of a student or others | Yes | Risk assessment via Regulation B1, or risk assessment via Student Services panel |
| Attended or been admitted to hospital in an emergency | Yes | In liaison with emergency services/NHS and/or via Student Services risk assessment panel |
| Suffered a serious physical injury, including significant self-harm | Yes | In liaison with emergency services/NHS and/or via Student Services risk assessment panel |
| Concern raised regarding lack of engagement with studies, and we have been unable to contact the student to confirm safety and wellbeing | Yes | Student Services risk assessment panel |
| Unable to contact a student within University accommodation and they are considered missing | Yes | Student Services risk assessment panel |
| An ongoing serious illness that appears to be deteriorating | Yes | Student Services risk assessment panel |
| Experiencing a mental health crisis | Yes | Student Services risk assessment panel |
| A third party has reported significant concerns regarding a student, and we are unable to contact the student to establish safety and wellbeing | Yes | Student Services risk assessment panel |
| Have been the victim of a serious crime | Yes | In liaison with emergency services/NHS and/or via Student Services risk assessment panel |
The information below provides examples of when we would not ordinarily contact an Emergency contact, unless a student specifically asks us to and there is a need to support the student with this. It is important to be aware that these are examples and this is not an exhaustive list.
Please note that if concerns escalate (e.g. multiple missed teaching sessions and being unable to make contact with a student), we may then consider this as requiring action.
- Missed teaching session
- Missed assessment
- Submission of Exceptional Circumstances
- Academic Misconduct Offence
- Student Discipline Offence
- Support to Study level 1/2
- Accessing a support service eg. Counselling
- Accessing financial support
Contact with your emergency contact will always be made by Student Services. If a staff member has concerns about your welfare, they will raise this with Student Services, who can then determine appropriate action.
If a situation arises outside of normal working hours, staff will contact the Campus Safety team. Throughout term time there are Residence Life Managers who work throughout the nighttime alongside Resident Advisers and the Campus Safety team. Outside of term time, the Campus Safety team triage incidents appropriately.