Privacy Policy

Who we are

NurseryMatch is an independent website that helps parents find and compare Ofsted-rated nurseries across the UK. We are registered as a data controller with the ICO (UK Information Commissioner's Office).

What data we collect

• Account information — email address, display name, postcodes, and children details you choose to provide.
• Reviews — nursery reviews you submit, including rating and text content.
• Messages and enquiries — messages sent to nursery providers through our platform.
• Saved searches — search criteria you choose to save.
• Provider claims — information submitted when claiming a nursery listing.
• Nursery search queries — postcode and filters. Anonymised, no personal data stored.
• Website analytics — we use Plausible Analytics which is cookieless and collects no personal data.

Legal basis for processing

Under UK GDPR (Article 6) we rely on the following legal bases for processing your data. For data relating to children we additionally rely on Article 8 (parental consent) where applicable.

• Contract — to create your account, deliver the search and comparison service you signed up for, and process paid provider subscriptions.
• Consent — for optional marketing emails (welcome drips, weekly digests, re-engagement messages). You can withdraw consent at any time from your notification preferences.
• Legitimate interests — for security, fraud prevention, anonymous analytics (Plausible, cookieless), and improving the search experience. We balance these interests against your privacy and you have the right to object.
• Legal obligation — for ICO compliance, accounting / tax records on paid subscriptions, and any safeguarding disclosures we are required to make.

We do not use your data for automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal effects on you. Nursery match scores are advisory only and you remain in control of which nurseries to consider.

What we do NOT collect

• No tracking cookies
• No advertising profiles
• No third-party analytics that track you across websites
• No payment card details (payments processed securely by Stripe)

Ofsted data

Inspection data is sourced from the Ofsted Early Years Register, published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. We are not affiliated with Ofsted or the UK Government.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to access, correct, or delete any personal data we hold. You can:

• Export your data — download all your data from your account settings page.
• Delete your account — permanently remove your account and all associated data from your account settings page.
• Contact us — email privacy@nurserymatch.com for any data request.

Data retention

Account data is retained until you delete your account. Analytics data is retained for 90 days (no personal data). Email drip sequences stop when you unsubscribe or delete your account.