Back to C17071

Data collection schedule

Version 1.4 Produced 2019-02-19

Contents: At a glance | Detailed requirements

At a glance

This page guides providers through the main stages for the submission of contact details for the Graduate Outcomes record.

Graduates are split into four cohorts depending on the date that they completed their studies. Their cohort will determine when they are surveyed and when the provider will need to return contact details.

For C17071, the cohorts are as follow:

• Cohort A contains graduates who completed their studies from 1 August 2017 – 31 October 2017.
• Cohort B contains graduates who completed their studies from 1 November 2017 – 31 January 2018.
• Cohort C contains graduates who completed their studies from 1 February 2018 – 30 April 2018.
• Cohort D contains graduates who completed their studies from 1 May 2018 – 31 July 2018.

An overview of the key dates for each cohort can be found in our data collection schedule diagram.

Further information about the timing of the survey is available at: www.hesa.ac.uk/innovation/outcomes/providers/timing

At a glance - Key dates

Detailed requirements

Graduate Outcomes population file (from Spring 2018)

The Graduate Outcomes population file for Cohort A will be available by Spring 2018 on the Student (C17051) and AP student (C17054) collection. Cohorts B, C, and D (including cohort A) will be available from September 2018 on the Graduate Outcomes portal (C17071).

For those providers who return student data to HESA, the population file will be automatically generated from your Student or AP Student return.

For other providers, such as FE providers, the information for the population file will be taken from the appropriate student data collection (e.g. the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) in England and the Consolidated Data Return (CDR) from DfENI).

HESA will supply a separate report to provide the relevant derived fields which will support providers in identifying graduates for inclusion in this return.

Data collection system opens

The Graduate Outcomes (C17071) data collection system will open September 2018 for providers to begin uploading contact details for cohort A graduates.

Cohort B, C, and D will be opened (active) on the respective dates displayed in order to allow for contact details to be uploaded for the relevant cohorts.

Contact details returned for unopened (inactive) cohorts will be rejected until the respective cohort is opened (active).

Quality assurance period

The quality assurance period will run from when the collection system opens until the ‘final updates’ deadline. It is the process in which providers will validate their contact details submissions on the HESA collection system to ensure they are of sufficient quality for use.

Contact details can be continuously updated (if necessary) during the surveying period.

Opt-In bank confirmation

Providers can opt-in to additional question banks in the provider portal. The deadline for confirming provider opt-in question banks is 26 October 2018 and these will be added to the survey for all cohorts for C17071.

An addendum to the HESA subscription agreement will be issued after this date and will need to be agreed and signed by your Accountable Officer/Head of Provider on or before 9 November 2018 for the provider opt-in question banks to be included in the survey.

Approval deadline

Before valid contact details can used for surveying, they must be approved for use by the provider. Once the student or AP student record has been signed off, then the ability to approve these contact details will become available on the system. The provider will need to approve these contact details by pressing the approval button on the system.

The approval deadline and quality assurance periods for Student and AP student are different for cohort A as the Student (CXX051) and AP student (CXX054) collections have different sign-off dates. Therefore, as contact details can only be approved for use once providers Student and AP student collections have been signed off, we have allowed a week for providers after their respective collection sign-off deadlines to approve their contact details.

Providers must approve a valid submission of contact details for use in line with the respective deadlines set. Once the deadline is met, providers will be able to approve any updated contact details submissions.

Ad-hoc Quality assurance period

If providers obtain updated contact details for graduates after the approval deadline and during contact period, they will be able to use this period to update them. Once updated they will need to press the approval button again to approve these updated contact details for use.

Final updates

Providers will be allowed to update contact details where necessary up until the ‘final updates’ deadline specified for each cohort.

Providers will not be allowed to update contact details past this point as to allow the contractor sufficient time to make contact with graduates who are yet to respond using their new details.

Need help?

Contact Liaison by email or on +44 (0)1242 388 531.