Privacy policy
Last updated 3 October 2026
Who we are
A* Coach (astarcoach.com) is run by Raghu Gathibandhe trading as A* Coach, London, United Kingdom. We're the data controller for the information described here. Contact for anything about your data: [email protected].
Who this is for
Students (usually 16 to 18) studying A-level Maths, and their parents or guardians. If you're under 18, there's a short version for you at the bottom.
What we collect, and why
| What | From whom | Why | Lawful basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email address, first name, year group, exam board | Students who create an account | To run your account and send your sign-in codes | Contract |
| Lesson progress, retest answers, papers, photos or on-screen writing of working, marks | Students | To teach and mark you, and show you what to learn next | Contract |
| A guest ID cookie and your board and year | Visitors who start a lesson without an account | To keep your place and your free-lesson count | Legitimate interests |
| Parent or guardian first name, mobile, email, relationship, your child's year and predicted grade, and whether you'd like a call | Parents who enter a prize draw or ask us to call | To run the draw and tell the winner; to call you about A* Coach if you said yes | Running the draw: legitimate interests. Calls about A* Coach: your consent (you can withdraw it any time) |
Which advert you came from (for example "a Facebook ad called X"), stored in our own cookie astar_ad | Visitors arriving from our ads | To know which adverts bring families who find us useful | Legitimate interests |
| A hashed (scrambled) copy of your email, phone number and first name, plus the advert click ID, your IP address and browser type | Parents who enter a prize draw from one of our adverts | Sent to Meta when you submit the entry form, so Meta can tell us whether our advert led to an entry and show it to similar parents | Legitimate interests |
| Payment details | Parents who buy | Handled by Stripe. We never see or store your card number | Contract |
| Messages you send us | Anyone | To reply | Legitimate interests |
We don't put the Meta Pixel or any other advertising script on our pages, and we don't sell your data. The only information Meta gets from us is the entry-form information described in the table, and only once you've submitted the form.
Who else handles it
- Hosting: our own server, behind Cloudflare (security and speed).
- Email: Google Workspace (our inbox) and Brevo (sign-in codes and account emails).
- Payments: Stripe.
- Advert measurement: Meta Platforms Ireland (see above).
- Marking: to mark written working, we send the image or text of an answer (no name or email) to an AI model provider through OpenRouter.
Some of these providers store data outside the UK. Where they do, they use the UK's approved safeguards (adequacy decisions or standard contractual clauses).
How long we keep it
- Guest data with no account: deleted after 30 days of no activity.
- Student accounts: while the account is open, then deleted 12 months after last use unless you ask sooner.
- Prize-draw entries: 6 months after the draw (so we can answer questions about it), unless you become a customer.
- Parent contact details: until you ask us to stop, or 12 months after our last conversation.
- Payment records: 6 years (HMRC requires it).
Your rights
You can ask to see, correct, delete or take a copy of your data, object to how we use it, or withdraw consent. Email [email protected] and we'll reply within one month. If you're unhappy with our answer you can complain to the ICO (ico.org.uk, 0303 123 1113).
Cookies
We only use our own cookies: your sign-in session, the guest lesson cookie, your light or dark setting, and astar_ad (which advert you came from, kept for 90 days). No third-party advertising cookies.
If you're under 18: the short version
We keep what we need to teach you and mark your work: your email, your answers and your marks. We don't sell it or use it for adverts. If your parent or guardian talks to us, we may share a summary of your progress with them (topics and marks). You can ask us to delete everything by emailing [email protected].
Changes
If we change this policy we'll update the date at the top, and email account holders if the change matters.