Privacy Policy
Last updated: 3 September 2026
This policy explains how Alfordz International Ltd collects, uses, shares and protects personal information, and your rights. It is specific to our website and services. Effective date: 3 September 2026.
1. Who we are
Alfordz International Ltd (“Alfordz International”, “we”, “us”, “our”) is a company registered in Scotland with company number SC877275. Our registered office is 37 Provender House, Waterloo Quay, Aberdeen AB11 5BS, Scotland, United Kingdom. This is a registered office and correspondence address only; we do not see visitors there, and consultations are delivered online or by appointment.
We are the data controller for the personal information described in this policy. We pay the data protection fee to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and appear on the ICO register under reference ZC090887. Paying this fee and being on the register is a legal requirement; it is not ICO approval or endorsement of the things we do with personal information.
For any question about this policy or your personal information, contact us at info@alfordzinternational.com or by post at the address above, marked for the attention of the Data Protection contact.
2. Who this policy covers
This policy applies to personal information about:
- people who visit this website or contact us through it;
- people who make an enquiry by web form, email, telephone or WhatsApp;
- students, prospective students, nurses, healthcare professionals and other individuals we support or assess;
- candidates we help with ethical healthcare-career applications;
- clients who agree a paid service with us;
- a parent or guardian who contacts us on behalf of a younger applicant; and
- business contacts at organisations we deal with.
3. The personal information we collect
We collect only what we need for the purpose we are collecting it for. Depending on how you interact with us, this can include:
- Identity and contact details – your name, email address, telephone or WhatsApp number, and country or city of residence.
- Background details you choose to give us – your nationality, current location, age or date of birth where relevant to eligibility, and your family or referral relationship if someone contacts us for you.
- Education and academic information – qualifications, subjects, grades and transcripts.
- Professional information – professional qualifications, registration status, and employment history, where relevant to a healthcare-career or registration enquiry.
- Test and training information – language-test and competence-test plans and results, and records of any training you take with us.
- Enquiry and service information – the service you are interested in, your goals, notes from consultations, and correspondence with us.
- Marketing preferences – whether you have asked to receive updates from us.
- Website and technical information – limited information created when you use the site, such as your approximate location, browser type and pages viewed, and information from strictly necessary storage. See our Cookie Policy.
- Documents you provide later – if you become a client, you may send us documents to help organise an application, such as certificates, references, identification or financial evidence. We ask you not to send these through website forms.
Sensitive information
Some information relevant to professional registration or a visa can be “special category” data (for example health or disability information) or can relate to criminal-offence or professional-conduct matters. We try to avoid collecting this kind of information, we never ask for it through website forms, and where it is genuinely needed we collect the minimum, handle it separately and explain what we are doing at the time. Our internal position on the specific lawful conditions for any such processing is being kept under review as part of our data-protection governance.
4. How we obtain your information
- directly from you – through website forms, email, telephone, WhatsApp and consultations;
- from a parent, guardian or another person who contacts us on your behalf – in which case we expect them to have your knowledge and, where needed, your authority; and
- from official public sources – only where we need to check published information, such as a regulator or university website.
5. Why we use your information and our lawful basis
Under the UK GDPR we must have a lawful basis for using your personal information. The table below explains what we do and why.
| What we do | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Respond to your enquiry and take steps you ask for before any contract, including an initial eligibility discussion | Our legitimate interests in responding to people who contact us, and taking steps at your request before entering a contract |
| Agree and deliver a paid service you have asked for, including administering training and appointments and organising application documents | Performance of a contract with you |
| Communicate with universities, employers, examination providers or regulators where you have asked us to help with an application | Performance of a contract with you, and taking steps at your request |
| Keep business, accounting and tax records and manage or defend legal claims | Compliance with a legal obligation (for accounting and tax records) and our legitimate interests in keeping proper records and protecting our position |
| Keep the website secure and working, and prevent fraud and misuse | Our legitimate interests in the security and integrity of our systems |
| Understand and improve how our website and services are used, using aggregated or non-identifying information | Our legitimate interests in improving what we offer |
| Send you updates about our services, if you have asked us to | Your consent |
Where we rely on legitimate interests, we carry out a documented assessment to check that our interests do not override your rights. You can ask us for more information about that assessment.
6. Immigration and professional information
We provide administrative support to help you organise documents and follow published checklists, and we point you to official government and regulator information. We do not provide tailored legal immigration advice, and unless we tell you otherwise in writing we are not registered with the Immigration Advice Authority or another approved legal regulator. For advice about your own immigration position, use the Immigration Advice Authority adviser finder or another authorised legal professional. Decisions on admission, registration, examinations, employment, sponsorship and visas are made by the relevant university, regulator, examination body, employer or government authority, not by us.
7. Who we share your information with
We share personal information only where there is a genuine need. The categories of recipient are:
- Our hosting and IT providers – our website and email are hosted by Hostinger, which processes information on our instructions to keep the site and our mailboxes running.
- Our professional advisers – for example our accountant or a legal adviser, where needed and under a duty of confidentiality.
- Organisations you ask us to contact – where you have asked us to help with an application, we may share the information needed with the relevant university, employer, examination provider, translator or regulator. We tell you what we are sending and to whom.
- Authorities – where we are legally required to disclose information, or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for anyone else’s marketing.
If you choose to contact us through WhatsApp, that conversation is also processed by WhatsApp / Meta under their own terms and privacy policy. We keep a copy of the conversation in our business account and treat it in line with this policy.
8. Storing and transferring information internationally
Our website hosting and email are provided by Hostinger and we understand they are hosted within the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, which the UK recognises as providing an adequate level of protection. If any provider we use stores or accesses personal information outside the UK or EEA, we put in place an approved safeguard, such as UK “adequacy” regulations or the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to the EU standard contractual clauses. Where you communicate with us through WhatsApp or a social platform, any transfer is governed by that provider’s own arrangements.
9. How long we keep your information
We keep personal information only for as long as we need it:
- enquiries that do not become a paid service are kept for a limited period so we can follow up and answer any later questions, then deleted or anonymised;
- client files are kept for the duration of the service and a limited period afterwards, in case of follow-up questions or a dispute;
- accounting and tax records are kept for the period required by law (currently at least six years); and
- marketing preferences and opt-out records are kept for as long as needed to honour your choice.
Our internal retention schedule sets the specific periods for each type of record. We may keep information for longer where we need it to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim, or where the law requires it.
10. How we protect your information
We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information, including limiting access to people who need it, using access controls, keeping our software up to date, using reputable hosted email, and serving this website over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection. No method of storage or transmission is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security, but we work to reduce the risks.
11. Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:
- ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
- ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete;
- ask us to delete your information in certain circumstances;
- ask us to restrict how we use your information while a concern is resolved;
- object to us using your information where we rely on legitimate interests, and to object at any time to direct marketing;
- ask us to transfer certain information you have given us to you or another provider in a machine-readable format; and
- withdraw any consent you have given, at any time, without affecting processing carried out before you withdrew it.
Some of these rights have conditions and do not apply in every case. You also have rights concerning decisions made solely by automated means; see section 13.
To exercise a right, contact us at info@alfordzinternational.com. We may need to verify your identity before we act. We will respond within the time limits set by law, normally within one month.
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information you can complain to the ICO. We would welcome the chance to look into your concern first, but you do not have to contact us before contacting the ICO.
12. Marketing
We only send marketing – such as occasional email updates about our services – to people who have asked to receive it. Any marketing permission you give is separate from making an enquiry or agreeing a service, and the box is never pre-ticked. Every marketing message includes an easy way to opt out, and you can also opt out at any time by contacting us. When you opt out we keep a minimal record of your email address on a suppression list so that we do not contact you again by mistake.
13. Automated decision-making
We do not make decisions that have a legal effect on you, or a similarly significant effect, using only automated means. A person always reviews your enquiry and any assessment we give you.
14. Children
Our services are intended for individuals aged 18 or over, or for a parent or guardian acting for a younger applicant (for example a school leaver applying to study). Where we deal with information about someone under 18, we keep it to the minimum needed, involve a parent or guardian, and handle any sensitive detail directly rather than through website forms.
15. Other websites and services
This website links to external sites – for example official regulator and government pages, and our social-media profiles – and our Contact page can show a map. Those services have their own privacy practices and this policy does not cover them. The map on our Contact page only loads, and only sets any cookies, if you choose to load it.
16. Changes to this policy
This policy is effective from 3 September 2026. We may update it from time to time. If we make a material change we will update the date at the top of the page and, where appropriate, tell you directly.
17. How to contact us
Email: info@alfordzinternational.com
Post: Data Protection contact, Alfordz International Ltd, 37 Provender House, Waterloo Quay, Aberdeen AB11 5BS, Scotland, United Kingdom (correspondence only)
ICO: the ICO – helpline 0303 123 1113.
Quick Links
Our Services
- Study Abroad
- MBBS & Medical Studies in Europe
- UK & US University Admissions
- Nursing Studies Abroad
- Healthcare Careers
- UK Nursing & NMC Registration
- Ethical Healthcare Career Placement
- Training & Application Support
- OET, IELTS & NMC CBT Training
- UK OSCE & Clinical Guidance
- Visa & Documentation
- Employer & University Interview Coaching
Contact Us
37 Provender House,
Waterloo Quay,
Aberdeen AB11 5BS,
Scotland, UK
Compliance & Memberships
- British Council Trained Counsellor
- NHS Ethical Recruiters List
- ICO Registered ZC090887
- UK GDPR Compliant
- FSB Registered Member