Thank you for visiting George Watson’s College’s website, www.gwc.org.uk.

This Cookie Policy aims to help you understand and feel more confident about how we use cookies on our site.

We look after your data as indicated in this Cookie Policy, our Privacy Policy – Visiting our Website, and our Website Retention Policy.

Who are we?

George Watson’s College (“The School”) is managed by the Merchant Company Education Board, a registered Scottish Charity (SC009747). 

The School’s address is George Watson’s College, Colinton Road, Edinburgh, EH10 5EG.

What is a cookie?

We use various technologies on our website to collect information that helps us improve your online experience. We refer to these technologies which include cookies, collectively as “cookies”. This policy explains the different types of cookies used on our website and how you can control them.

A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we store on your browser or the hard drive of your device. Cookies are widely used throughout the Internet in order to make websites or other online services work or to be better or more efficient. They can do this because websites and other online services can read and write to the cookies stored on your device, enabling them to recognise you and remember important information that will make your use of them more convenience, for example, by remembering your preferences, username, or showing you pages that you seemed to have a particular interest in.

If you consent to us storing cookies on your computer or other electronic device then you agree that we can store and access cookies as described in this policy.

Why do we use cookies?

Our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website and to save and retain certain parameters about you and your usage of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our website.
There are three different categories of cookies that we may use on our website:

Essential cookies

These are cookies that are essential for the operation of our website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our website or make use of e-payment services. These cookies are essential for using our website and, therefore, if disabled can severely affect your use of our website.

Analytical/performance cookies

Performance cookies allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works, for example, by ensuring that users are finding what they are looking for easily. These cookies also allow us to see overall patterns of usage on our website and help us record any difficulties you may have with our website.

Functionality cookies

In some circumstances, we may use functionality cookies. These are used to recognise you when you return to our website or provide enhanced and more personalised features, for example, to personalise our content for you and remember your preferences (for example, your calendar event categories).

If you would like more information about cookies and how you can manage the settings on your computer, you can visit https://www.allaboutcookies.org/manage-cookies/.

How do you consent to us placing cookies on your computer?

When you visit our website, you should see an overlay at the bottom of your screen directing you to our Privacy Policy.

By clicking or selecting either of the buttons that appear in the overlay then you are demonstrating to us that you are freely giving us informed and specific consent for us to place cookies on your device for the purposes specified in this policy and you are accepting and consenting to the practices described.

The duration of each cookie that we may place on your computer can be found in our Website Retention Policy.

If you do not see an overlay at the bottom of your screen then you may have already accepted our Cookie Policy and our Privacy Policy. You may also be using a pop-up blocker or similar tools that may prevent this policy from being brought to your attention. Please ensure that any pop-up blockers are disabled when you use our website. If you’re unsure then scroll down to the bottom of this page where we explain how you can manage your cookies.

What cookies do we use and why?

* Set by our Content Management System but not used by us

How can you control cookies?

You can block cookies by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. However, if you use your browser settings to block all cookies (including essential cookies) you may not be able to access all or parts of our website. You may also delete any cookies stored on your computer at any time.

You can find out more about changing cookie settings on your computer by visiting https://www.allaboutcookies.org/manage-cookies/.

How long is cookie information stored for?

Different cookies may be stored for different periods of time. In many cases these cookies are updated automatically each time you visit our website or may expire and be deleted by your computer automatically. It is important to understand that when a cookie is placed on your computer it will reside on your hard drive until it expires and is deleted or it may reside on your hard drive until you manually delete it – this entirely depends on your individual browser settings and we do not have control over this.

The duration of each cookie that we may place on your computer can be found in our Website Retention Policy.

Please remember that you can delete or change the way in which you store cookies on your computer at any time.

Changes to our Cookie Policy

We may need to change this Cookie Policy if it’s necessary for legal reasons or to reflect changes to our services or the purpose for which we use cookies. In any case, the provisions of this Cookie Policy may be changed without prejudice to your rights. When we change our Cookie Policy we will make the updated Cookie Policy available on our website and we will also update the “Last Updated” date.

Any changes to our Cookie Policy will come into effect 30 days after we post it on our website. During that period, you’re welcome to contact us if you have questions about the changes. If you have an account for our website then we may reset your login and seek new consent if there is a change in the purpose for which we may use cookies.