Terms and Conditions

Effective: March 2026 · Last updated: March 2026

Effective: January 2026

Simple, clear terms for our DPO services. No legal jargon, no surprises.

These are our Standard Terms for UK schools and Multi-Academy Trusts. If you need the full legal version, view our Complete Legal Terms here.

Key Terms

To keep things clear, here's what we mean when we use these terms:

"We", "us", "our" — Tru-Digital Services Ltd, trading as Tru-Digital Protection (Company No. 16210598)

"You", "your" — The school, academy, or Multi-Academy Trust subscribing to our services

"Quote" — The written quote we send you showing your pricing, service tier, and contract details. When you sign it, it becomes your binding agreement with us.

"Services Agreement" — Your signed Quote + these Terms and Conditions + our Data Processing Agreement = your full contract

"Business Day" — Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm GMT/BST, excluding UK bank holidays

"Initial Term" — Your first 12 months (or 36 months if you choose a 3-year contract)

"Service Tier" — Your subscription level: Guidance, Advisory, or Comprehensive

1. What You're Signing Up For

When you work with Tru-Digital Protection, we provide Data Protection Officer (DPO) services to your school or trust. We offer three service tiers:

Guidance Tier

DPO representation for your school
Advice on data protection matters
Handle discussions with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)
Our details on your website
GDPR onboarding checklist
Access to our knowledge base (200+ articles)
Email support (48-hour response)
DPIA Lite list access

Advisory Tier

Everything in Guidance, plus:

5 Subject Access Request (SAR) redactions per year
Our details on your policies
Manage and document data breaches
Record keeping support
Annual report
Telephone support
Online training for all staff
Access to pre-made policies (6 documents)
Access to ready-made DPIAs (20+ systems)

Comprehensive Tier

Everything in Advisory, plus:

Unlimited SAR redactions
2 on-site training visits per year
Record of Processing Activities (ROPA) maintenance
Single Central Register (SCR) support
Quarterly reviews

What we don't provide:

Legal representation or litigation support
IT security services or cybersecurity audits
School improvement advice
HR services

2. Pricing

How We Calculate Your Price

We use per-pupil pricing based on your pupil count:

Primary & Early Years Schools:

Guidance: £2.00 per pupil/year
Advisory: £2.95 per pupil/year
Comprehensive: £3.95 per pupil/year

Secondary Schools:

Guidance: £2.50 per pupil/year
Advisory: £3.45 per pupil/year
Comprehensive: £4.45 per pupil/year

Secondary schools cost an additional 50p per pupil due to greater complexity: more years of retained data, exam board coordination, post-16 consent requirements, larger staff teams, and more third-party data sharing.

All prices include VAT.

Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs)

MATs pay based on aggregated pupil count across all schools:

Primary schools: Calculated at primary rates
Secondary schools: Calculated at secondary rates

Example: A 5-school MAT with 3 primaries (900 pupils) and 2 secondaries (1,600 pupils) on the Advisory tier:

Primary: 900 × £2.95 = £2,655
Secondary: 1,600 × £3.45 = £5,520
Total: £8,175/year (before any discounts)

Volume Discounts for MATs

We publish our discounts. No negotiations, no hidden deals.

Trust Size	Discount	Why?
10-15 schools	10% off	Centralised policies, standardised processes
16-25 schools	15% off	Significant standardisation, predictable revenue
26+ schools	20% off	Highly centralised, flagship partnership

Multi-Year Commitment Discount

Sign a 3-year contract and receive 10% off your annual rate.

This applies to all schools and MATs and is cumulative with MAT volume discounts.

Maximum discount: 30% (26+ school MAT + 3-year contract)

Example: A 40-school MAT with 14,000 pupils on Advisory:

Standard pricing: £41,300/year
With 30% discount: £28,910/year
Annual saving: £12,390 | 3-year saving: £37,170

3. Payment Terms

When You Pay

Preferred: Annual invoice, 30 days payment terms
Alternative: Monthly Direct Debit available on request (no additional fee)

How Pupil Count is Calculated

We confirm your exact pupil count with you at the quotation stage. At renewal, we use either your original pupil count or the latest October Census figure, whichever is applicable.

For MATs, it's the aggregated total across all schools.

What if Pupil Numbers Change Mid-Year?

Your annual pricing is fixed at sign-up. We reconcile at renewal based on your new October Census figure.

If your pupil count increases, your new rate applies from your next renewal date
If your pupil count decreases, your rate adjusts down at renewal

No mid-year price changes. Ever.

Our Price Promise

Your per-pupil rate is fixed for 12 months. We won't increase your price mid-contract.

We may increase rates annually (at renewal) in line with inflation or to reflect increased costs, capped at the higher of 5% or the Consumer Price Index increase.

Late Payment

If payment is more than 10 days overdue:

All outstanding amounts become immediately due
We may suspend services until payment is received
Interest may be charged at 4% above Bank of England base rate

No Setup Fees

No setup costs. No hidden charges. Just straightforward per-pupil pricing.

4. Contract Term and Changes

How Long Does the Contract Last?

Your contract starts on the date we both sign and runs for 12 months (the Initial Term).

After the Initial Term, your contract automatically renews for another 12 months unless either party gives 60 days' written notice before the renewal date.

For 3-year contracts: The Initial Term is 36 months, then auto-renews annually.

Can I Change Tiers?

Yes!

Upgrades (e.g., Guidance → Advisory): Take effect immediately
Downgrades (e.g., Comprehensive → Advisory): Take effect at your next renewal date

We'll calculate any pro-rata charges for upgrades.

Can I Cancel?

Yes. 30 days' written notice required.

No cancellation fees
No penalties
We'll provide a handover pack with all your documentation

You remain responsible for payment up to your cancellation date.

5. Data Protection

Your Data, Your Control

You are the Data Controller. You decide what personal data is collected and how it's used.

We are the Data Processor. We process personal data on your behalf to deliver our DPO services.

What We Do With Your Data

We process personal data only:

To provide our DPO services to you
To comply with legal obligations
As instructed by you

We comply with:

UK GDPR
Data Protection Act 2018
All applicable data protection laws

Data Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or share your data with third parties except:

When you instruct us to (e.g., ICO liaison)
Where required by law
With subcontractors who help us deliver services (under strict confidentiality)

Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to keep your data secure, including:

Encrypted communications
Access controls
Regular security reviews
Staff training

Your Data Protection Rights

Your school community has rights under UK GDPR:

Right to access their data
Right to correction
Right to erasure
Right to restrict processing
Right to data portability
Right to object

We help you manage these rights as part of our service.

Data Breaches

If we discover a data breach involving your data, we'll notify you within 24 hours and help you meet your ICO reporting obligations.

Our Privacy Policy

For full details on how we handle data, see our Privacy Policy: [Privacy Policy link]

6. What You Need to Provide

Your Responsibilities

To deliver our services, you agree to:

Cooperate with us: Respond to queries, provide access to necessary information
Give us access: To your systems, policies, and relevant staff when needed
Be honest: Provide accurate information about your school, pupil numbers, and data processing
Assign a contact person: Someone we can work with directly
Attend reviews: Meet with us for service reviews (Comprehensive tier: quarterly; other tiers: on request)
Implement our advice: We can guide you, but you're responsible for implementing recommendations

What Happens if You Don't?

If you don't provide necessary cooperation or information:

We may not be able to deliver services effectively
We won't be liable for delays or issues caused by lack of cooperation
We may extend deadlines to account for delays

7. Onboarding

What Happens When You Sign Up?

All tiers include onboarding within 30 days of your start date:

Baseline audit of your current data protection practices
Gap analysis against UK GDPR requirements
Portal setup and access
Policy deployment (Advisory and Comprehensive tiers)
Team introduction and contact details
Knowledge base access activation

8. Limitations and Liability

What We're Responsible For

We will:

Deliver services with reasonable skill and care
Use Good Industry Practice
Meet the service standards described in your tier

What We're Not Responsible For

We are not liable for:

Losses caused by your failure to follow our advice
Issues arising from inaccurate information you provide
Delays caused by lack of cooperation from your team
Data breaches caused by your own systems or staff
Decisions you make about data processing
Third-party services (e.g., your MIS provider)

Liability Cap

Our total liability to you in any 12-month period is capped at the fees you've paid in that period (or the equivalent of 12 months' fees if less than 12 months have passed).

This cap does not apply to:

Death or personal injury caused by our negligence
Fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation
Proven criminal breach by us

Excluded Losses

We are not liable for:

Loss of profits
Loss of business
Loss of data (back up your data before we work on your systems)
Indirect or consequential losses

9. Intellectual Property

What We Own

We own all intellectual property rights in:

Our service platform
Our policies, templates, and DPIAs
Our training materials
Our knowledge base articles
Our processes and methodologies

What You Can Use

We grant you a licence to use our materials:

For your own internal use only
During your contract term
For the purpose of receiving our services

You cannot:

Share our materials with other schools (unless they're also our clients)
Sell, sublicense, or redistribute our materials
Use our materials to build your own DPO service

What You Own

You own:

Your school's data
Your existing policies and documents
Any materials you provide to us

We can use your materials only to deliver services to you.

10. Confidentiality

What's Confidential?

Both parties agree to keep confidential:

All information shared during our work together
Your school's data and documents
Our pricing, processes, and methodologies

Exceptions

We can share information when:

You give us written permission
Required by law (e.g., ICO reporting)
It's already public knowledge
We need to enforce our rights under this contract

11. Service Availability

Support Hours

Email support:

Guidance tier: 48-hour response (Business Days)
Advisory tier: 24-hour response (Business Days)
Comprehensive tier: 12-hour response (Business Days)

Telephone support:

Available on Advisory and Comprehensive tiers
Business Hours: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm GMT/BST, Monday–Friday (excluding UK bank holidays)

Emergency breach support:

Available 24/7 for active data breaches (Advisory and Comprehensive tiers)

Service Interruptions

We're not liable for service interruptions caused by:

Planned maintenance (we'll give you notice)
Events beyond our reasonable control (e.g., internet outages, Acts of God)
Your own systems or infrastructure

12. Changes to These Terms

We may update these terms from time to time to reflect:

Changes in law
Changes to our services
Operational improvements

We'll give you 30 days' written notice of any material changes.

If you don't agree with the changes, you can cancel with 30 days' notice (without penalty) before the changes take effect.

13. Complaints and Disputes

Not Happy? Tell Us

If you're unhappy with our service:

Contact us first: Email gareth@trudigital.co.uk or call 0204 621 2983
We'll investigate: We aim to resolve complaints within 10 Business Days
Escalate if needed: If we can't resolve it, we'll suggest mediation

Governing Law

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales.

Any disputes will be resolved in the courts of England and Wales.

14. The Legal Stuff

Entire Agreement

These Standard Terms, together with your Quote and any signed agreement, form the entire contract between us.

They replace any previous discussions, emails, or draft agreements.

No Partnership

We're not partners, joint venturers, or agents. We're an independent contractor providing DPO services.

Severability

If any part of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the rest remains in effect.

Waiver

If we don't enforce a right immediately, it doesn't mean we've waived that right.

Assignment

You cannot transfer your contract to another school without our written consent.

We can transfer our obligations to another provider if:

The new provider is competent to deliver the services
Your service quality is maintained
We give you reasonable notice

Force Majeure

Neither party is liable for delays or failures caused by events beyond reasonable control (e.g., natural disasters, strikes, pandemics, government action).

15. Contact Us

If you have questions about these terms:

Tru-Digital Services Ltd

3rd Floor, 86-90 Paul Street

London, EC2A 4NE

📧 hello@trudigital.co.uk

☎️ 0204 621 2983

Company No: 16210598

ICO Registration: ZB887707

Need the Full Legal Version?

These Standard Terms cover the essentials in plain English. If you need the complete legal document (for procurement teams, trust boards, or legal review), view our Full Legal Terms here.

Last updated: December 2025

Questions? We're happy to talk you through anything that's unclear. Email us at hello@trudigital.co.uk or call 0204 621 2983.