Cookies
What this site stores on your device.
Almost nothing, at the moment. This is a prototype: there is no analytics, no advertising and no tracking on it. When that changes, this page changes first and you get asked before anything is set.
What a cookie is
A small file a website asks your browser to keep, so that something can be remembered between one page and the next — that you are logged in, or which choice you made. The rules also cover anything else that does the same job, including local storage and tracking pixels. We use the word “cookie” on this page to mean all of it.
A small file a website asks your browser to keep, so that something can be remembered between one page and the next — that you are logged in, or which choice you made. The rules also cover anything else that does the same job, including local storage and tracking pixels. We use the word “cookie” on this page to mean all of it.
The distinction that matters
Strictly necessary, and everything else.
Under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, this is the whole test. It is not about whether a cookie feels harmless. It is about whether the thing you asked for can work without it.
Strictly necessary
Cookies without which the thing you asked for cannot be delivered — keeping a form secure while you fill it in, remembering your cookie choice, balancing traffic across servers. These do not need your consent, and there is no way to switch them off and still have a working site. They are also, deliberately, a short list.
Everything else
Analytics, embedded video, social buttons, advertising, anything that builds a profile. All of it needs your consent before it is set. Not implied by continuing to browse, not pre-ticked, and no harder to refuse than to accept. If we ever set one of these without asking you first, that is us in the wrong, and we would want to know.
Convenience is not necessity
A cookie is not strictly necessary just because it is useful to us. Analytics is the common example: knowing how many people read a page is helpful, and it is still a choice you get to make.
Cookies without which the thing you asked for cannot be delivered — keeping a form secure while you fill it in, remembering your cookie choice, balancing traffic across servers. These do not need your consent, and there is no way to switch them off and still have a working site. They are also, deliberately, a short list.
Analytics, embedded video, social buttons, advertising, anything that builds a profile. All of it needs your consent before it is set. Not implied by continuing to browse, not pre-ticked, and no harder to refuse than to accept. If we ever set one of these without asking you first, that is us in the wrong, and we would want to know.
A cookie is not strictly necessary just because it is useful to us. Analytics is the common example: knowing how many people read a page is helpful, and it is still a choice you get to make.
What we set
The full list, including the empty rows.
| Cookie | What it does | Type | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|---|
| fif_cookie_choice | Remembers the choice you made here, so you are not asked again on every page | Strictly necessary | 12 months |
| __Host-session | Keeps a page session and form submission secure. Set by the hosting platform, not by us | Strictly necessary | Ends when you close the browser |
| Analytics | None set. We do not currently measure anything about your visit | — | — |
| Advertising or retargeting | None set, and we have no plan to set any | — | — |
| Social media | None set. There are no embedded feeds or share buttons on this site | — | — |
| Embedded video | Not in use yet. See below — this is the one that will change | Consent required | Varies by provider |
Cookie names and durations are marked as placeholders because the hosting platform has not been finalised. This table must be checked against what the built site sets, using the browser’s own storage inspector, before launch. A cookie notice that does not match reality is worse than none.
What is coming
Three things we expect to add, and how we will handle each.
Analytics
We want to know which pages help people and which do not. When we add it, you will be asked first, and we will look at whether a privacy-focused tool that does not need consent will do the job before reaching for the usual one. Our working choice is a cookie-free, EU-hosted analytics tool that needs no consent banner, and we will name it on this page before it is switched on.
Embedded video
The Learn library and the video resources will embed players from other platforms, and those set cookies as soon as they load. Our intended approach is a click-to-load placeholder and privacy-enhanced mode, so nothing loads until you choose it. Click-to-load is built and in place before the Learn library opens in October 2026. No player loads on this site until you press it.
Forms and applications
An application form needs a session and anti-spam protection to work at all. Those are strictly necessary. What is done with the information you type is a separate question, answered in the privacy notice.
We want to know which pages help people and which do not. When we add it, you will be asked first, and we will look at whether a privacy-focused tool that does not need consent will do the job before reaching for the usual one. Our working choice is a cookie-free, EU-hosted analytics tool that needs no consent banner, and we will name it on this page before it is switched on.
The Learn library and the video resources will embed players from other platforms, and those set cookies as soon as they load. Our intended approach is a click-to-load placeholder and privacy-enhanced mode, so nothing loads until you choose it. Click-to-load is built and in place before the Learn library opens in October 2026. No player loads on this site until you press it.
An application form needs a session and anti-spam protection to work at all. Those are strictly necessary. What is done with the information you type is a separate question, answered in the privacy notice.
Your choice
How to refuse, and how to change your mind.
On this site
There is currently nothing to refuse, because nothing beyond the strictly necessary is set. When there is, a preference panel will live at the top of this page, with accept and reject given equal weight, and you will be able to come back and change it at any time. The panel goes in alongside the first non-essential cookie and not before it, because there is no honest way to offer a choice about something that is not being set.
In your browser
Every major browser lets you block or delete cookies, for all sites or for one. Look under Settings, then Privacy. Blocking strictly necessary cookies may stop forms working — that is a consequence of the block, not a penalty we are applying.
If you refuse
You get the whole site. No content is held back, no feature is degraded, and you will not be asked again on the next page. Refusing is a normal answer, not an obstacle course.
Complaints about this
Tell us first and we will look at it. If you are not satisfied, the Information Commissioner’s Office regulates both cookies and personal data in the UK, and is independent of us.
There is currently nothing to refuse, because nothing beyond the strictly necessary is set. When there is, a preference panel will live at the top of this page, with accept and reject given equal weight, and you will be able to come back and change it at any time. The panel goes in alongside the first non-essential cookie and not before it, because there is no honest way to offer a choice about something that is not being set.
Every major browser lets you block or delete cookies, for all sites or for one. Look under Settings, then Privacy. Blocking strictly necessary cookies may stop forms working — that is a consequence of the block, not a penalty we are applying.
You get the whole site. No content is held back, no feature is degraded, and you will not be asked again on the next page. Refusing is a normal answer, not an obstacle course.
Tell us first and we will look at it. If you are not satisfied, the Information Commissioner’s Office regulates both cookies and personal data in the UK, and is independent of us.
This notice was last updated in September 2026. It describes a prototype and is re-checked against the live site, cookie by cookie, in the week before launch. Our policies are published as drafted. Formal adoption is minuted at the next board meeting and the date is added here.
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