12/01 - February

C10018 Preparation Guide

2010/11 HESA Destinations of Leavers from HE (DLHE) record collection (Ref: C10018)

This collection will be open at the beginning of March for data submission. This preparation guide is designed to impart key information about the DLHE record and should be used in conjunction with the C10018 coding manual.

Please be aware that next year there will be significant changes to the 2011/12 DLHE record following a sector-wide consultation. (Further information can be found in the C11018 coding manual and in the 11/02 - February DLHE circular.)

Contents

Data collection system features

New for 2010/11! Checkdoc Compare facility

The data collection system will provide a second version of the check documentation for every re-commit/test-commit processed by an institution. This version of the check documentation presents a colour shaded version of the Excel spreadsheet with variances being highlighted.

Check documentation

Institutions are reminded that the data quality checking of submitted data is a shared responsibility of both institutions and HESA. Institutions are therefore advised to ensure that sufficient time is spent examining the check documentation produced through a successful commit to check that errors have not been introduced which would cause any degradation to data quality. As institutions are in a better position than HESA to recognise more detailed anomalies within their data, using local knowledge of the intricacies of their own institutions, they are strongly encouraged to closely scrutinise the check documentation reports.

To assist institutions in the role of review of committed data HESA provides a guide to assist in the interpretation of check documentation. This guide will be available from the C10018 coding manual.

New for 2010/11! Exception Report compare facility

To assist comparison of commit transactions the Exception reports will be retained on the system for all commit transactions. The reports will feature the number and details of records failing a rule along with a percentage change column to enable quicker recognition of changes between submissions.

Downloadable Exception Report

You can also download a copy of the entire Exception report for a commit transaction from the 'Download Exception Report' link located at the top of the report page. The on-screen report is limited in the number of errors/warnings that can be displayed. Using the download link enables institutions to access the totality of exception report errors/warnings.

Reminders

Access and PIN codes

To submit C10018 DHLE record data to the HESA data collection system (known as "Aardvark") users require an Access and PIN code. These codes allow users to create new accounts and/or add permissions to existing accounts. The PIN code will be distributed by letter a few days in advance of the Access codes that will continue to be distributed by email. Both the Access code emails and the PIN letters are sent to the nominated DHLE record contact at institutions. It is imperative that any changes to contact details are notified to HESA immediately by contacting Institutional Liaison.

For assistance with registering for the data collection system please view the Registration help guide.

Response rates 

Institutions are reminded of the target response rates for the DLHE survey, namely:

80% for UK-domiciled (i.e. home) leavers who previously studied full-time;
70% for UK-domiciled leavers who studied part-time;
50% for all other EU students;
80% for Research Council funded students.

All institutions are expected to meet, or exceed, these thresholds for the 2010/11 survey. Funding councils may take action where institution's response rates fall below these target response rates.

Statutory Customer guidance

KIS and Data Audit

The data contained in the 2010/11 DLHE record will be used to populate the KIS; this includes providing data on salary and other graduate outcomes. HEFCE plan to audit a selection of data that are contained in the KIS, which will include data returned as part of the DLHE record.

Key documents

C10018 Timescales

The full timescales for data collection can be viewed at C10018 Timescales. 

Revision history

Institutions should ensure that they refer to the most recent version of the coding manual. Any changes to the coding manual are listed within the Revision history.

Minerva user guide

The Minerva user guide provides detailed help with using the data quality database.

Support centre

Futher guidance on completing the return, including a mixture of information and resources relating to different stages of the collection process can be found in the Support centre.

DLHE good practice manual

Download the DLHE good practice manual (pdf 7.54mb).The manual is designed to help institutions in the completion of the 2010/11 DLHE record.

Need Help?

Contact the Institutional Liaison team on 01242 211144 or email liaison@hesa.ac.uk.