Cookie Policy

01. Purpose and scope

This Cookie Policy explains how the EES Office website at eesoffice.uk may use cookies and similar technologies, what they do, and the choices available to visitors. It applies to visits to our public pages, including information about English-language courses, student services, enquiries and our WordPress blog.

It should be read alongside our Privacy Policy, which explains how we handle personal information more generally.

This notice describes categories of technology that may be relevant to our website. It does not mean that every category or third-party service listed here is currently active. The exact technologies used depend on the features enabled on the website and should be verified against the current cookie register.

02. Who we are

EES Office is the trading brand of EUROPEAN OFFICE FOR EDUCATIONAL SERVICES LTD, an educational services company based in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

Our core work is helping international students explore English-language courses and selected short professional training opportunities in the United Kingdom, together with related educational planning and practical assistance where agreed.

You can contact us at [email protected] or +44 7380 700279.

03. What cookies and similar technologies are

A cookie is a small text file that a website or related service can store on your browser or device. Cookies can help a website remember a setting, maintain a secure session or understand how its services are used.

Related technologies include browser local storage, session storage, pixels and other mechanisms that store or access information on a device. UK rules can apply to these technologies even when they are not technically called cookies.

• First-party cookies are associated with the website you are visiting.
• Third-party cookies may be associated with a separate provider whose service is embedded in or connected to a page.
• Session cookies normally expire when the relevant browsing session ends.
• Persistent cookies remain for a defined period unless they are deleted sooner.

A cookie is not necessarily used to identify you personally; however, cookies and similar technologies may involve personal data when information can be linked to an identifiable person.

04. How our website works

Our website is built with WordPress and includes information pages, a live WordPress blog, contact options and a contact enquiry area. The website also supports light and dark visual modes. Some website functions can operate without placing cookies on a visitor's device; others may use storage depending on the software and configuration.

For example, website security and spam-prevention features may use technical storage where it is necessary and proportionate. A selected display preference may be remembered by a cookie or local storage, if the site's theme is configured to do so.

Our Contact Us page includes an optional Google Maps display which, in the version of the page reviewed for this policy, is loaded only after a visitor selects “Load Interactive Map.” Using an external map can result in information being handled by the map provider under its own terms and privacy information.

Our blog retrieves published articles from the WordPress REST API. Loading that content does not, on its own, establish that tracking cookies are in use.

05. Categories of cookies and storage

The categories below explain common purposes and the controls that may apply. They are not a verified list of cookies currently installed on this website.

Where a technology has more than one purpose, the applicable rules must be considered for all those purposes. It should not be treated as exempt simply because one use is necessary or statistical.

06. Specific cookie details and duration

Accurate cookie disclosures should identify the name or identifier, provider or domain, purpose, whether it is first-party or third-party, and how long it lasts. Those details can change when the website's theme, plugins, hosting services or integrations are updated.

We have not included unverified cookie names, provider inventories or expiry periods in this document. Before publication, EES Office should maintain a current, site-specific cookie inventory and make it available to visitors through its published cookie information or preference interface.

07. Consent and applicable exceptions

In the United Kingdom, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) regulate storage and access technologies, alongside data protection requirements where personal data is involved.

As a general rule, technologies that require consent should not be used until a visitor has made a valid, informed, positive choice. Merely continuing to browse, silence or pre-selected choices do not establish valid consent.

Some limited exceptions apply, including technologies necessary to transmit communications or provide an online service that the visitor requests. Following changes introduced by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, further exceptions may apply to certain statistical purposes and appearance or display preferences.

Those newer exceptions are subject to conditions. In particular, qualifying statistical and appearance uses require clear and comprehensive information and a simple, free way to object. The statistical exception is not a general permission to track individual visitors or to undertake advertising profiling.

Where EES Office relies on consent, it should be as easy to refuse as to accept non-exempt technologies and to withdraw consent later. Where EES Office relies on an objection-based exception, an appropriate objection mechanism must be available.

08. How to manage your choices

Website preference controls

If the website displays a cookie consent banner or preferences panel, use that interface to accept, reject or customise the technologies it covers, and to change your choices later. A Cookie Policy page is not itself a consent-management tool.

Visitors should have an accessible on-site route to change or withdraw relevant permissions. If this is not provided on the live website, it must be implemented before deploying technologies that depend on those permissions.

Browser controls

Most browsers also allow you to view, restrict or delete cookies and site storage through their privacy or site-settings controls. The exact steps vary by browser and device.

Deleting cookies may remove stored preferences, require a renewed choice or affect certain website functions. Browser deletion alone is not a substitute for the website controls required where consent or a statutory right to object applies.

09. Website analytics and statistical information

Website owners may use audience statistics to understand which pages are useful, identify technical issues and improve navigation. Not all statistics require cookies, and not every analytics tool qualifies for an exception to consent requirements.

Where analytics storage is used solely to generate appropriate aggregated statistics for improving a website, a narrow UK PECR exception may apply if all legal conditions are met, including transparency, a free and simple means of objection and appropriate limits on individual-level information.

Analytics that track identifiable visitors, combine data across unrelated services, measure advertising, build profiles or serve other additional purposes generally fall outside that exception and must be assessed separately, including for prior consent where required.

This section explains the applicable principles; it does not confirm that Google Analytics, Meta Pixel or any other particular analytics product is installed on EES Office's website.

10. Website appearance and user preferences

The website can display a light or dark theme. If a visitor's choice is saved on their device, the related storage may be used to remember the selected appearance between pages or visits.

Under UK rules, some appearance-related storage may qualify for an exception to consent when the legal requirements are satisfied. Those requirements include clear information and a simple, free way for visitors to object to the storage or access.

Storage used for advertising personalisation or to infer a visitor's interests from browsing behaviour is not covered merely because it changes what appears on a page.

11. Embedded content and third-party providers

Some optional third-party features can receive information about your device or browsing activity when you choose to load or interact with them.

Interactive maps

The Contact Us page contains an optional Google Maps embed. In the reviewed page code, the map is not requested from Google until the visitor activates the “Load Interactive Map” control. Once loaded, the map provider may use its own storage technologies and process information in accordance with its published terms and privacy notices.

The map's click-to-load design does not, by itself, mean that every third-party cookie associated with the map is exempt from consent. Any necessary permissions and disclosures must be assessed for the actual integration.

Other external integrations

If we later add videos, social media embeds, advertising tags, live chat or additional providers, this policy and the website's consent or objection controls should be reviewed before those tools are activated.

For information about Google's privacy practices, visit Google's Privacy Policy.

12. Personal data and your rights

Information collected through cookies or similar technologies may be personal data when it identifies or can be linked to an individual. If personal data is processed, the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018, as amended, may apply in addition to PECR.

Our Privacy Policy explains our broader approach to personal information, including how to contact us about applicable data protection rights, retention and international transfers.

You may also raise a data protection concern with the United Kingdom's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

13. Changes to this Cookie Policy

We may update this policy to reflect changes in our website, the services we use, legal requirements or our information practices. The date at the top of the page indicates when the text was last revised.

Where a material change affects technologies that need consent or another specific user choice, we should update the relevant controls and seek a new choice where required, rather than relying only on a revised policy.

14. Contact us

If you have a question about cookies, a storage item you have identified, or how your preferences can be managed, please contact EES Office using the details below.

For broader questions about how we handle personal information, see our Privacy Policy.