Cookie Policy

Our Cookie Policy is designed to help you understand what cookies are, how West London College uses them and the choices you have in regards to their use.

All sites that operate across certain parts of the European Union are required to obtain consent using or storing cookies (or similar technologies) on your computers or mobile device. This cookie policy provides you with clear and comprehensive information about the cookies we use and the purposes for using those cookies. When the website is used for purely informational purposes, i.e., when you do not register or otherwise share information with us, we only collect the personal data that your browser transmits to our server. If you wish to view our website, we must collect the following data that are technically required to display our website and to ensure its stability and security (legal basis: Art. 6, para. 1, no. 1 (f) of the GDPR):

• IP address
• Date and time of the request
• Time zone difference with respect to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
• Content of the request (specific page)
• Access status/HTTP status codes
• The volume of data transmitted in each case
• Website from which the request is sent
• Browser
• Operating system and its interface
• Language and version of the browser software

In addition to the aforementioned data, cookies will be stored on your computer when you use our website. Cookies are small text files that are stored on your hard drive and allocated to the browser used by you and are used to forward certain information to the site that installed the cookie (in this case by us). Cookies cannot execute programs or transmit viruses to your computer. They are used to make the website more user-friendly and effective.

By continuing to use wlc.ac.uk, the “Site”, you are agreeing to our use of cookies in the manner described in this notice.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files that are stored on your browser or the hard drive of your computer or other device when you visit the Site. This allows the Site to recognise you as a user either for the duration of your visit (using a ‘session cookie’) or for repeat visits ( a ‘persistent cookie’). They are not harmful and do not contain any information such as your home address, date of birth or credit card details.

The cookies we use fall into four broad types:

• Strictly Necessary Cookies
  These cookies are essential in helping you to move around our Site and use its features, such as accessing secure areas of the website. Without these cookies, services you have asked for, such as setting up an account cannot be provided. These cookies do not gather information about you that could be used for marketing or remembering where you’ve been on the internet.
• Analytical/Performance Cookies
  In order to keep the Site, its services and products relevant, easy to use and up-to-date, we use web analytics services to help us understand how people use our Site. For example, we can see which parts of the Site and products are most popular, identify when errors occur, and test different versions of a page or feature to see which one works best.
• Functionality Cookies
  These cookies allow websites and applications to remember choices you make (such as your user name, language or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features. The information these cookies collect is usually anonymised which means we can’t identify you personally. They do not gather any information about you that could be used for selling advertising or remembering where you’ve been on the internet, but do help us to serve you with advertising that is more relevant to you.
• Targeted Marketing Cookies
  We also use cookies to assist in targeted advertising. Without these cookies, online advertisements you encounter will be less relevant to you and your interests. We also use them to measure the effectiveness of our marketing communications, for example by telling us if you have responded to an advert that we have sent you.

What do we use Cookies for?

• They enable you to transact, whilst other non-essential cookies enable us to give you an enhanced, personalised web experience and determine relevant products to show you.
• To personalise and improve your customer experience.
• To recognise the device that you are using.
• To store the content of your online course shopping bag whilst you browse the site and to complete an application.
• To distribute visitors to our Site evenly across platforms to ensure the content is served at the fastest possible speed.
• For re-marketing purposes to determine relevant related products to show you when you’re browsing on other selected websites. These cookies can be associated with services provided by a third party such as an advertising network.
• We also offer you the facility to share your experience on our Site through social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. By using these features, you are consenting to allow cookies from these providers. More information about how these providers use cookies can be found at their websites.

Cookies are an essential part of how our Site works, as they remember certain information about a visitor. The college uses First-Party cookies (these are placed there and used solely by the college) and Third-Party cookies (these are placed there by third parties we work with).

Are cookies safe?

Yes. The information stored in cookies is safe and anonymous to any external third party, and your account security is never compromised. You can find more information about cookies at All About Cookies and Your Online Choices.

Can I turn off cookies?

Yes – but if you choose not to allow the use of cookies, your experience of our Site will be limited and many integral aspects of the Site, including (but not limited to) adding items to your course shopping bag and accessing your application, will not work at all.

To change your cookie settings, or if you want to be notified each time a cookie is about to be used, you should amend the settings provided in your web browser to prevent us from storing cookies on your computer hard drive.

For information on how to disable cookies, please consult the “Help” tab of your browser via the menu bar. For further information on non-essential cookies used for targeting and banner advertising please see below.

Details of our Third-Party Cookies

West London College allows selected Third Parties who participate with us in marketing programs to place cookies when you visit our site. These cookies enable us to monitor which adverts you see and click on to get to our site.

For details of the Third Party cookies we use please see the table below. The college is not responsible for the content or privacy policies of Third Parties or other websites, and we advise that you check these yourself.

The following Cookies are all used for Analytical and Targeting purposes:

• Google Analytics (anonymised web analysis to improve the website)
• Tawk (customer support chat)
• YouTube (video)
• Issuu (embedded PDF files)
• Meta (remarketing, web analysis, advertising) 
• Google Adwords and Doubleclick (remarketing, web analysis, advertising) 
• Twitter (remarketing, web analysis, advertising) 

Opting-Out

Website visitors who don’t want their data used by Google Analytics can install the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. To opt-out of Analytics for the web, visit the Google Analytics opt-out page and install the add-on for your browser. Learn more about the opt-out and how to properly install the browser add-on here.

Visitors can also opt-out of Google Analytics for Display Advertising and customize Google Display Network ads using the Ads Settings.

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.