What are cookies?

A cookie is a small text file that's downloaded onto ‘terminal equipment’ (e.g. a computer or smartphone) when the user accesses a website.

It allows the website to recognise that user’s device and store some information about the user’s preferences or past actions.

We use cookies on this website (“the site”) and we are required to notify you when and how we do so.

Cookie list

The cookies set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

First Party Cookies

First party cookies are cookies set by Sport England or on Sport England’s behalf and are subject to the terms of this cookie policy.

Third-Party Cookies

This website may display content provided by third parties, such as streaming content suppliers, YouTube or Facebook, or advertising, and those cookies are subject to the relevant site’s cookie policy. Please ensure you read their policy before agreeing to any optional cookies provided by third parties.

When we use cookies

We use two types of cookies which we will describe below.

Essential Cookies

There are cookies that are absolutely required, these are known as ‘essential’ cookies and the number of those cookies is minimal. These cookies enable core functionality of our website and cannot be disabled. See table below for list of essential cookies. For example to track users between visits to the website an essential session cookie is used, this is unavoidable, and this site will not function if this cookie is blocked.

Essential cookies (4)

Cookie Name Default expiration time Description Type Source
MoodleSession Session Used to distinguish logged-in users and load user specific data. Essential/HTML First Part Cookie
enableGA 1 month Stores user consent to enable cookies set by a third party. Essential/HTML First Part Cookie
accipioCookie 1 month Stores user selection and removes cookie consent banner. Essential/HTML First Part Cookie
reCAPTCHA 6 months Protects the website from spam and abuse by preventing automated software from engaging on the site whilst letting valid users pass through. Essential/HTML First Part Cookie

Non-essential cookies

Non-essential cookies or “optional” cookies are those cookies that we choose to deploy to obtain better user information from our websites and we require your consent for use.

We must get your consent before using optional cookies. You can provide that consent by “accepting all” in the cookie banner when you first visit our website or by visiting or by clicking on the set cookie preferences hyperlink in the footer of the website. It is also explained below.

Change Cookie Settings for non-essential cookies

The functionality can be disabled and the cookies will never be generated or looked for.

  • If you want to disable these cookies, please click ‘disable analytics cookies’ at the top of this page.
  • If you are happy for these analytics cookies to be used, please click ‘enable analytics cookies’ at the top of this page

Please be aware that restricting cookies may have a significant impact upon the functionality of our website and our ability to ensure that the content which we're making available via www.sportenglandclubmatters.com is relevant to what our users want to see and use.

Types of optional cookies

Below is a list of the optional cookies we use after you have given consent.

First party cookies - HotJar

Name Data storage type Description
_hjSessionUser_{site_id} Cookie
  • Set when a user first lands on a page.
  • Persists the Hotjar User ID which is unique to that site. Hotjar does not track users across different sites.
  • Ensures data from subsequent visits to the same site are attributed to the same user ID.
  • 365 days duration.
  • JSON data type.
_hjid Cookie
  • This is an old cookie that we do not set anymore, but if a user has it unexpired in their browser, we will reuse its value and migrate to _hjSessionUser_{site_id}.
  • Set when a user first lands on a page.
  • Persists the Hotjar User ID which is unique to that site.
  • Ensures data from subsequent visits to the same site are attributed to the same user ID.
  • 365 days duration.
  • UUID data type.
_hjFirstSeen Cookie
  • Identifies a new user’s first session.
  • Used by Recording filters to identify new user sessions.
  • 30 minutes duration, extended on user activity.
  • Boolean true/false data type.
_hjHasCachedUserAttributes Cookie
  • Enables us to know whether the data set in _hjUserAttributes Local Storage item is up to date or not.
  • Session duration.
  • Boolean true/false data type.
_hjUserAttributesHash Cookie
  • Enables us to know when any User Attribute has changed and needs to be updated.
  • 2 minutes duration, extended every 30 seconds.
  • Content hash data type.
_hjUserAttributes Local Item Storage
  • Stores User Attributes sent through the Hotjar Identify API.
  • No explicit expiration.
  • Base64 encoded JSON data type.
hjViewportId Local Item Storage
  • Stores user viewport details such as size and dimensions.
  • Session duration.
  • UUID data type.
Relating to the session
Name Data storage type Description
_hjSession_{site_id} Cookie
  • Holds current session data.
  • Ensures subsequent requests in the session window are attributed to the same session.
  • 30 minutes duration, extended on user activity.
  • JSON data type.
_hjSessionTooLarge Cookie
  • Causes Hotjar to stop collecting data if a session becomes too large.
  • Determined automatically by a signal from the server if the session size exceeds the limit.
  • Session duration.
  • Boolean true/false data type.
_hjSessionResumed Cookie
  • Set when a session/recording is reconnected to Hotjar servers after a break in connection.
  • Session duration.
  • Boolean true/false data type.
_hjCookieTest Cookie
  • Checks to see if the Hotjar Tracking Code can use cookies. If it can, a value of 1 is set.
  • Deleted almost immediately after it is created.
  • Under 100ms duration, cookie expiration time set to session duration.
  • Boolean true/false data type.
_hjLocalStorageTest Cookie
  • Checks if the Hotjar Tracking Code can use Local Storage.
  • If it can, a value of 1 is set.
  • Data stored in _hjLocalStorageTest has no expiration time, but it is deleted almost immediately after it is created.
  • Under 100ms duration.
  • Boolean true/false data type.
_hjSessionStorageTest Cookie
  • Checks if the Hotjar Tracking Code can use Session Storage. If it can, a value of 1 is set.
  • Data stored in _hjSessionStorageTest has no expiration time, but it is deleted almost immediately after it is created.
  • Under 100ms duration.
  • Boolean true/false data type.
_hjIncludedInPageviewSample Cookie
  • Set to determine if a user is included in the data sampling defined by your site's pageview limit.
  • 2 minutes duration, extended every 30 seconds.
  • Boolean true/false data type.
_hjIncludedInSessionSample_{site_id} Cookie
  • Set to determine if a user is included in the data sampling defined by your site's daily session limit.
  • 2 minutes duration, extended every 30 seconds.
  • Boolean true/false data type.
_hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress Cookie
  • Used to detect the first pageview session of a user.
  • 30 minutes duration, extended on user activity.
  • Boolean true/false data type.
_hjTLDTest Cookie
  • We try to store the _hjTLDTest cookie for different URL substring alternatives until it fails.
  • Enables us to try to determine the most generic cookie path to use, instead of page hostname.
  • It means that cookies can be shared across subdomains (where applicable).
  • After this check, the cookie is removed.
  • Session duration.
  • Boolean true/false data type
Relating to recordings
Name Data storage type Description
_hjRecordingEnabled Session storage item
  • Set when a Recording starts.
  • Read when the Recording module is initialized to see if the user is already in a recording in a particular session.
  • Session duration.
  • Boolean true/false data type.
_hjRecordingLastActivity Session storage item
  • Updated when a user recording starts and when data is sent to the server (the user performs an action that Hotjar records).
  • Session duration.
  • Numerical value (timestamp) data type.
Relating to Feedback and Survey tools
Name Data storage type Description
_hjClosedSurveyInvites Cookie
  • Set when a user interacts with a Link Survey invitation modal.
  • Ensures the same invite does not reappear if it has already been shown.
  • 365 days duration.
  • List of Survey IDs, URL encoded.
_hjDonePolls Cookie
  • Set when a user completes an on-site Survey.
  • Ensures the same Survey does not reappear if it has already been filled in.
  • 365 days duration.
  • List of Survey IDs, URL encoded.
_hjMinimizedPolls Cookie
  • Set when a user minimizes an on-site Survey.
  • Ensures that the Survey stays minimized when the user navigates through your site.
  • 365 days duration.
  • List of Survey IDs, URL encoded.
_hjShownFeedbackMessage Cookie
  • Set when a user minimizes or completes a Feedback widget.
  • Ensures duration.
  • Boolean the Feedback widget will load as minimized if the user navigates to another page where it is set to show.
  • One day true/false data type.

Third party Cookies

These cookies may be set by third party websites and do things like measure how you view YouTube videos that are on www.sportenglandclubmatters.com.

You should be aware that by consenting to the use of third-party cookies on our site, your data may be processed by those third parties on their site.

Analytics

We use Google Analytics and other analytic cookies to measure how you use the website so we can improve it based on user needs. We do not allow these analytic cookie providers to use or share the data about how you use this site.

Google Analytics sets cookies that store anonymised information about how you got to the site, the pages you visit on www.sportenglandclubmatters.com, how long you spend on each page or what you click on while you're visiting the site.

Cookie Name Expiry Purpose Type Source
_ga 2 years Used to distinguish users. Non-Essential/HTML Google
_gid 24 hours Used to distinguish users. Non-Essential/HTML Google
_gat_gtag_< GA ID > 1 minute Used to throttle request rate. If Google Analytics is deployed via Google Tag Manager, this cookie will be named _dc_gtm_. Non-Essential/HTML Google

Functional cookies

Functional cookies are used to enhance the performance of the website. These cookies allow us to remember the user’s site preferences as well as choices made on the site including username, region, and language.

Cookie Name Expiry Purpose Type Source
yt-remote-cast-installed Session Stores the user’s video player preferences using embedded YouTube video Functional Youtube
yt-remote-connected-devices Persistent Stores the user’s video player preferences using embedded YouTube video Functional Youtube
yt-remote-device-id Persistent Stores the user’s video player preferences using embedded YouTube video Functional Youtube
yt-remote-fast-check-period Session Stores the user’s video player preferences using embedded YouTube video Functional Youtube
yt-remote-session-app Session Stores the user’s video player preferences using embedded YouTube video Functional Youtube
yt-remote-session-name Session Stores the user’s video player preferences using embedded YouTube video Functional Youtube
_scid 30 days Used to track visits from Snapchat advertisements. Functional Snap
o3j7p 30 days Used to track visits from Twitter advertisements. Functional Twitter
wp-settings-{time}-[UID] 1 year WordPress also sets a few wp-settings-{time}-[UID] cookies. The number on the end is your individual user ID from the users database table. This is used to customize your view of admin interface, and possibly also the main site interface. Functional Wordpress
__stripe_mid 1 year Fraud prevention by Stripe Functional Stripe

Marketing cookies

Marketing cookies are used to create user profiles for advertising purposes or to track the user on websites for similar marketing purposes. These cookies are designed to display advertisements that are relevant and engaging for the individual user.

Cookie Name Expiry Purpose Type Source
ads/ga-audiences Session Used to re-engage previous visitors Marketing Google
GPS One Day Registers a unique ID on mobile devices to enable tracking based on geographical GPS location, used by YouTube if a video is watched Marketing Youtube
IDE One Year Used by Google to monitor use of the site after visiting it due to clicking on an advertisement, with the purpose of measuring the effectiveness of an ad and to present targeted ads to the user Marketing Google
test_cookie One Day Used to test if the browser supports cookies Marketing Google
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE 179 Days Tries to estimate the users’ bandwidth on pages with integrated YouTube videos Marketing Youtube
YSC Session Registers a unique ID to keep statistics of what videos from YouTube the user has seen Marketing Youtube
_fbp 30 days Used to track visits from Facebook advertisements Marketing Facebook

Useful links