Short answer
Your home education data belongs to you. You can download a complete backup whenever you like, export tidy spreadsheets for your Local Authority report (called the Council Report inside Willowfolio), or delete your account entirely. UK GDPR rights apply to everything Willowfolio holds.
Download a full backup (JSON)
Go to Settings, then Data & Backups. Tap Download all data. You will get a ZIP file containing JSON files, one for each area of your records: activity logs, observations, sensitive period notes (the developmental windows you are tracking for each child), books, schedules, reports (both drafts and finalised), photos you have uploaded to your portfolio, and your account information.
Keep a copy on your own machine or a USB stick. If you ever switch phones, move to a different app, or simply want the peace of mind that comes from knowing your records exist in two places, this is the button to press.
The download is available at any time. There is no limit on how often you can use it.
CSV export for spreadsheets and LA reports
Also in Settings, then Data & Backups. Tap CSV export, pick a child and a date range, and you will get a spreadsheet-friendly file covering activity logs, observations, sensitive periods (developmental windows when a child is naturally drawn to a particular skill) and books.
This is particularly useful when you want to work with your records in another tool, or when you need to send a tidy table to your LA. Many homeschool families use it at the end of each term as a quick sense-check before writing up the Council Report. If you are preparing your Council Report and want to attach a summary of the last term's activities, the CSV export is the quickest way to produce one.
You can run the export as many times as you need, with different date ranges or different children.
Deleting a child from your records
If you need to remove a child from Willowfolio, go to Children, select the child, and look for the delete option.
Before anything is removed, the app shows you exactly what will go: reports, activity logs, observations and books linked to that child. You can read the list and decide. Nothing happens until you confirm.
This is a permanent action. If you think you might want the records later, download a full backup first.
Deleting your whole account
Account deletion removes your entire family's records. This satisfies your right to erasure under UK GDPR (Article 17 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation). The process requires two confirmation steps so nothing is removed by accident.
Once you confirm, your data is removed from the live system immediately. Our standard backup-retention schedule means any residual copies in system backups age out within 30 days.
If you change your mind during that window, contact [email protected] as soon as possible. We cannot guarantee recovery, but early contact gives us the best chance.
What data does Willowfolio hold?
Here is a plain list of everything Willowfolio stores while your account is active:
- Activity logs (what your children did, when, and your notes)
- Observations (your written reflections on your child's development)
- Sensitive period notes (tracking which developmental windows your child is in)
- Books and reading records
- Schedules
- Reports, both drafts and finalised Council Reports
- Photos uploaded to your portfolio
- Account information (your name, email, children's names and ages)
Nothing is shared with third parties. All of it is your home ed record and yours alone. For a fuller picture of who can see your data, read our companion article on privacy.
What are your GDPR rights as a home educator?
UK GDPR (the UK General Data Protection Regulation, applied through the Data Protection Act 2018) gives you six rights over your personal data. Here is what each one means in practice.
Right of access. You can ask us for a copy of all the data we hold about you. The full-backup download in Settings satisfies this, but you can also email [email protected] and we will provide it.
Right to rectification. If something in your records is wrong, you can correct it yourself inside the app, or ask us to correct it.
Right to erasure. You can ask us to delete your data. The delete-account flow does this automatically, or you can email us and request it.
Right to restrict processing. You can ask us to keep your data but stop using it. If you need this, email [email protected] and explain what you would like restricted.
Right to data portability. You can take your data and move it to another service. The JSON download and CSV export both satisfy this right.
Right to object. You can object to us processing your data in certain ways. If you need to exercise this right, email [email protected].
This is not legal advice. It is a plain-English summary so you know what you are entitled to. For the full, formal version, the ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) has a clear guide on your data rights under UK GDPR.
A quick worked example
Priti, a single mum in a two-bed flat in Leicester, is switching to a new phone. Before she wipes the old one, she opens Willowfolio on her laptop, goes to Settings, then Data & Backups, and downloads the full JSON backup. The ZIP file saves to her Downloads folder. She copies it onto a USB stick and drops the stick into the kitchen drawer.
The whole thing takes about two minutes. When her new phone is set up, she logs back into Willowfolio and everything is there, because her data lives on the server, not on the phone itself. The backup on the USB stick is just insurance, a second copy she controls.
A few weeks later, her LA asks for a summary of the autumn term. Priti goes back to Data & Backups, picks her daughter, sets the date range to September through December, and exports a CSV. She attaches the spreadsheet to her email and sends it. No reformatting, no retyping.
If anything in Willowfolio around your data, backups or account is not behaving the way you expect, write to us at [email protected] and a real person will sort it out.