Data Futures: your new data collection requirements start now

29 June 2022

Introductory webinars: the end of a series and the start of an era

Those involved in the Student record data submission have one date etched into their minds: 1 August 2022, now a mere 23 working days away. This is the date all higher education providers must start collecting data in accordance with the new, Data Futures Student Record.

The HESA Training team have been busy delivering live training to the sector, and our successful The Student Record (Data Futures) Introductory webinar series has just finished. We trained over 300 delegates across these webinars:

'This training has solidified the learning I have done so far and married well with the [e-learning] courses' University of Oxford

'I liked the approach of simply going through each entity and field in the model' Abertay University

1 August 2022: your data deadline

It is imperative your organisation is ready for 1 August 2022, and you must ensure:

Your student data collection processes reflect the new data required.
All colleagues involved in the collection and processing of this data are aware of the required changes.
Your students must have sight of the new Student Collection Notice for 2022/23 - they also need to know about any new data requirements ahead of 1 August.

'[The training has] provided a lot more clarity on which other departments within the College will need to contribute to the successful delivery of the new data record' Spurgeons College

'[After the webinar] I sent some headlines to colleagues in the IT department who will be developing the system and we are going to implement regular meetings to progress Data Futures' Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

A solid understanding of the Data Futures Student model underpins a successful submission

Resources and support

A solid understanding of the Data Futures Student model underpins a successful submission. We have produced a wealth of resources, which The College of Osteopaths sums up perfectly:

'All the information is available and accessible when you need to use it'

Access our free, growing portfolio of e-learning. This includes:

An introduction to the project as a whole
A comprehensive dive into the new record specification
A demonstration of the new system – the HESA Data Platform (HDP).

And more e-learning is on the way.

'The webinar reinforced knowledge I had previously gained using the e-learning resources' University of South Wales

Updated provider readiness checklist

The webinars let you tell us what you need. We know you find worked examples helpful, but don’t always know where to find them. Our provider readiness checklist is updated with useful links for data preparation activities to ensure your organisation is ready for the 2022/23 collection, including:

Scenarios in 22056 coding manual guidance
Test data files
Blogs summarising data tips and tools from our in-house data experts.

Practical tools: trial your data

Many of you have said you are eager to 'just have a go'. Did you know the Data Entry Tool and Online Validation Toolkit (OVT) are now available? The OVT is now live in the HESA Data Platform and available for all providers. View the OVT user guide, to find out about:

Roles required to access the OVT
Logging into the OVT
Uploading a file to the OVT
File processing
Accessing the quality report

We sent out OVT record contact roles via our Identity System (IDS). Please administer this role to colleagues as you would with other IDS roles. Contact [email protected] if you have not received an email and think you should have. If you download the schema for the 22056 collection, you can get a head start on your 22056 file now.

Even if you have a system capable of producing your XML file, we recommend downloading the data entry tool. Create a dummy file, or load one of your own – it’s a great way to learn the record.

We have worked hard to equip you with knowledge and resources; now it’s over to you to take charge of your data.

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