SJ & CO Cookie Policy

Last updated: 02 Jun 26
Controller: SJ & CO Education Services Group Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 16479080, registered office 8 Southview, Comeytrowe Road, Trull, Taunton, Somerset, TA3 7NF. ICO data protection registration C1943802.

1. What this policy covers

This Cookie Policy explains how www.sjandco.uk (the "Website") uses cookies and similar technologies, what each one does, and how you can control them. It applies to all visitors to the Website.It is read alongside our Master Privacy Notice, which sets out how we process personal data generally. Where this Cookie Policy and the Master Privacy Notice cover the same ground, the Master Privacy Notice prevails on substantive data protection rights, and this Cookie Policy provides the operational detail on cookies.

2. What cookies are

A cookie is a small text file that a website stores on your device (computer, phone, tablet) when you visit. Cookies have a name, a value, an expiry date, and they belong to a specific website (the one that set them). Browsers send the cookies for a site back to that site on subsequent visits.Cookies are used for a range of purposes, including remembering that you are logged in, keeping a form secure, recording basic visitor statistics, and tracking activity for advertising. Different cookies do very different things, and the legal treatment depends on what they do.Similar technologies (for example local storage, session storage, web beacons, pixel tags) work in comparable ways. Where this Cookie Policy refers to "cookies", it includes those similar technologies if and where the Website ever uses them.

3. The legal position

Under the UK Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR), as enforced by the Information Commissioner's Office:Strictly necessary cookies can be set without consent. These are cookies that are essential to deliver the service you have specifically asked for (for example, a cookie that keeps your form submission secure).All other cookies (including first-party cookies set by the website itself for analytics or customisation) require prior, freely given, informed, specific consent before they are set.Consent must be obtained through a clear affirmative action. Pre-ticked boxes, "by continuing to use this site you agree" framings, and silent setting of cookies do not meet the consent standard.The Website implements this position through Squarespace's cookie consent banner. The technical configuration is set out in Section 5 below.

4. Cookies set by this Website

The Website sets the following cookies. The list is accurate as of the date this policy is effective and is reviewed at each annual policy review.

4.1 Strictly necessary cookies (set on every visit)

Cookie nameSet byPurposeDurationcrumbSquarespace (the Website host)Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) protection: ensures that form submissions and other state-changing requests originate from the Website and not from an external attacker. Without this cookie, contact form submissions and other interactive features would not work securely.Session (deleted when you close your browser).This cookie is strictly necessary under PECR Regulation 6(4)(b) and is set without consent on every visit. It contains no information that identifies you personally.

4.2 Non-essential cookies (set only with your consent)

Cookie nameSet byPurposeDurationss_cvrSquarespaceVisitor record: a unique identifier for your browser plus the timestamps of your first and most recent visits. Squarespace uses this to give us aggregate visitor counts in the Website's Analytics panel.Up to 2 years from your most recent visit.ss_cvtSquarespaceVisitor tracking: records the pages you visit on this Website within a session, so Squarespace can present a basic site-usage report.Approximately 30 minutes from your most recent page view (rolling).These cookies are non-essential. They are set only if you click "Accept all" in our cookie banner, or if you actively enable them in "Manage cookies" or "Cookie Preferences". If you do not accept, they are not set, and the Website remains fully functional.We use the data from these cookies only in aggregate, through Squarespace's Analytics panel, to understand visitor numbers and the most-read pages. We do not use the data to identify individual visitors, build advertising profiles, or share it with third parties.

4.3 What this Website does not use

For the avoidance of doubt, the Website does not, at the date of this policy:Use Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, or any Google-operated tracking tool.Use Facebook Pixel, Meta tracking, or any Meta-operated tracking tool.Use Hotjar, Microsoft Clarity, Segment, or any session-recording or behavioural-analytics service.Set advertising or remarketing cookies of any kind.Share cookie data with third parties for advertising purposes.Embed third-party content that sets cookies on our behalf (for example: embedded YouTube videos with cookies, embedded social-media widgets that track), except for the Instagram link in the site header which is a plain hyperlink to our Instagram page and does not set cookies until you click it.If any of this changes, this Cookie Policy is updated and the cookie banner is re-presented to existing visitors before any new cookies are set.

5. How we ask for your consent

When you arrive at the Website from a region that requires consent under PECR or the EU ePrivacy regime (which includes the United Kingdom), Squarespace presents a cookie banner at the foot of the page. The banner gives you three choices:Accept all. Non-essential cookies (Section 4.2) are set; you continue browsing.Manage cookies. You see a preferences panel where you can accept or refuse non-essential cookies separately from strictly necessary cookies.Refuse / no action. If you close the banner without accepting, or if you actively decline, non-essential cookies are not set. The strictly necessary crumb cookie continues to be set, as PECR permits.The banner appears only on your first visit (or after you have cleared cookies for the Website). Your preference is recorded in a local browser preference so we do not interrupt subsequent visits.You can change your preference at any time by clicking the "Cookie Preferences" link, which is present on every page of the Website. The preferences panel lets you withdraw consent to non-essential cookies, and the cookies are then deleted on your next page load.For visitors from regions without an equivalent consent requirement, the banner does not appear and Squarespace's default cookie behaviour applies.

6. How you can control cookies in your browser

In addition to the Website's own cookie banner, your browser also has cookie controls. These let you:See the cookies a website has set.Delete cookies, either by site or in bulk.Block cookies from specific websites.Block all cookies (which may break parts of websites that rely on cookies, including some on this Website).The browser controls are independent of any choice you make in our cookie banner. If you delete the crumb cookie mid-session, the contact form may not work until you reload the page. If you block all cookies from this Website, the consent banner re-appears on every visit because we cannot save your preference.Instructions for the main browsers:Chrome: chrome://settings/cookiesFirefox: Settings → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site DataSafari (macOS): Safari → Settings → PrivacyEdge: Settings → Cookies and site permissions → Cookies and site dataYou can also use the All About Cookies site for a general guide to managing cookies in any browser.

7. Cookies and personal data

The cookies set by this Website do not, in themselves, identify you by name, email, or other personal detail. The ss_cvr cookie does contain a unique identifier for your browser, which is treated as personal data under the UK GDPR because it is data that, combined with other information, could identify you.Our Master Privacy Notice sets out:Your rights as a data subject under the UK GDPR (access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, objection).How we respond to a Subject Access Request.The retention periods that apply to personal data we hold.The lawful bases on which we process personal data across the SJ & CO service streams.In respect of cookies specifically, our lawful basis for the strictly necessary cookie is performance of the service you have requested (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(b)) and our lawful basis for the non-essential cookies is your consent (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(a)).

8. Children's data

This Website is not directed at children. The Mentorship and Tuition services SJ & CO offers involve children (with parental engagement), but the Website itself is read by adults considering the services. No children's data is captured through the Website cookies.The Young-Person-Friendly Privacy Notice, provided directly to mentees aged 11 to 17 at the start of an engagement, explains how SJ & CO handles data within the mentorship service. The mentorship service does not use the Website cookies as part of its data processing.

9. Updates to this Cookie Policy

We review this Cookie Policy at least annually, as part of the SJ & CO Data Protection & Safeguarding pack annual review (typically in May).We also review and update this Cookie Policy out of cycle when:A new cookie or similar technology is introduced to the Website.An existing cookie's purpose or duration changes materially.The Website's hosting platform changes (for example, a move away from Squarespace).A regulator publishes new guidance that affects how we should describe or handle cookies.When the Cookie Policy is materially updated, the cookie consent banner is re-presented to existing visitors so that you can review the changes and re-consent if you wish. Non-material changes (a typo correction, a re-wording for clarity, a contact-details update) are made without re-prompting.

10. Contact

If you have a question about this Cookie Policy, or you want to exercise any of your data protection rights:

Sam James, Director
SJ & CO Education Services Group Ltd
sam@sjandco.uk
0730 926 3852

If you are not satisfied with the way we handle a cookie- or privacy-related concern, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or 0303 123 1113. We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to address your concern first.