Back to C18071

Data collection schedule

Version 1.1 Produced 2019-09-30

Contents: At a glance | Detailed requirements

At a glance

This page guides providers through the main stages for the submission of accurate contact details for the Graduate Outcomes Contact Details 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 accurate personal contact details for graduates.

For C18071, the cohorts are as follow:

Once graduate contact details have been submitted and pass validation in the provider portal, they will need to be approved in order to be used for surveying. Further guidance on approval can be found in the provider portal user guide. The approval deadlines for each cohort are as follows:

*Please note that for English Further Education Colleges (FECs), the contact details provided by the Office for Students that pass validation will be automatically approved on the portal when the file is uploaded. This is the case for all cohorts.

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

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

When the provider portal opens for cohort A, the population file is subject to change while Student/AP Student submissions are still being made. Upon the upload of a valid Student/AP Student file to the Data Collection System, the provider portal will update the population file overnight and it will then be available to download. The transaction number of the corresponding Student/AP Student file is displayed in the title of the population file on the provider portal.

Please note that for Cohort A the population file will not be finalised until the corresponding AP Student (CXX054) and Student record (CXX051) have been signed off. Therefore, Graduate Outcomes Record Contacts are advised to liaise with colleagues responsible for submitting student data to HESA, to confirm the final population for cohort A.

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

For Further Education Colleges (FECs) the information for the population file will be taken from the appropriate student data collection. For Northern Irish FECs this is provided by DfENI from the Consolidated Data Return (CDR). For English FECs, the population file and contact details are provided by the OfS from the Individualised Learner Record. English FECs are currently unable to view their population file.

Provider portal opens

The Graduate Outcomes (C18071) provider portal will open by 30 September 2019 for providers to begin uploading contact details for cohort A graduates and to allow providers to personalise their survey.

Cohort B, C, and D will be opened by the end of the respective months displayed, to allow for contact details to be uploaded for the relevant cohorts.

Contact details can only be returned for opened cohorts.

Submission period

The submission period will run from when the provider portal opens until the approval deadline. It is the process in which providers will validate their submissions on the provider portal to ensure the accuracy of the personal contact data of graduates. Guidance has been created to help providers determine what is acceptable as accurate personal contact details.

Opt-in bank confirmation

Providers can select additional opt-in question banks in the provider portal. The deadline for confirming provider opt-in question banks is 25 October 2019 and these will be added to the survey for all cohorts for C18071.

Approval deadline

Before valid contact details can be 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 few working days for providers after their respective collection sign-off deadlines to approve their contact details.

Please note that for English FECs, the contact details provided by the Office for Students that pass validation will be automatically approved on the portal when the file is uploaded. Those records that trigger errors within the quality rules section will need to be resolved to be able to approve the record. English FECs are required to review all contact details submitted to ensure that they are accurate and up to date.

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 update 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 in the provider portal. Once updated, they will need to press the approval button again to approve these updated contact details for use.

Final updates deadline

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

Providers who update contact details past this point should be aware that there may be sufficient time for HESA to make contact with graduates using these new details.

Need help?

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