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Staff 2022/23 - Ethnicity

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Staff 2022/23

Fields required from institutions in All fields

Ethnicity


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valid entries
Typefield
Short nameETHNIC
Description

This field records the ethnicity of the member of staff, on the basis of their own self-assessment

Applicable toEngland Northern Ireland Scotland Wales
Coverage

All staff

Valid entries and labels
CodeLabel
100Asian - Bangladeshi or Bangladeshi British
101Asian - Chinese or Chinese British
102Asian - Filipino
103Asian - Indian or Indian British
104Asian - Pakistani or Pakistani British
119Any other Asian background
120Black - African or African British
121Black - Caribbean or Caribbean British
139Any other Black background
140Mixed or multiple ethnic groups - White or White British and Asian or Asian British
141Mixed or multiple ethnic groups - White or White British and Black African or Black African British
142Mixed or multiple ethnic groups - White or White British and Black Caribbean or Black Caribbean British
159Any other Mixed or Multiple ethnic background
160White - English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish or British
161White - English, Welsh, Northern Irish or British
162White - British, Irish, Northern Irish, English, Scottish or Welsh
163White - Gypsy or Irish Traveller
164White - Gypsy or Traveller
165White - Irish Traveller
166White - Irish
167White - Polish
168White - Roma
169White - Scottish
170White - Showman / Showwoman
179Any other White background
180Arab
899Any other ethnic background
997Not known
998Prefer not to say
999Not available
Notes

Ethnicity is recorded on the basis of the member of staff's own self-assessment.

The coding frame is designed to be as consistent as possible with previous Staff collections. However, due to changes in the census categories, previous valid entries '11 White - British' or '12 White - Irish' are no longer valid. Staff at higher education providers (HEPs) in England and Wales previously returned as '11 White - British' or '12 White - Irish' should now be returned as '160 White - English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish or British' or '166 White - Irish'. Staff at higher education providers (HEPs) in Northern Ireland previously returned as '11 White - British' or '12 White- Irish' should now be returned as '162 White - British, Irish, Northern Irish, English, Scottish or Welsh'. At the request of Scottish Funding Council, staff at HEPs in Scotland previously returned as '11 White - British' or '12 White - Irish' should now be returned as '179 Any other White background'.

Valid entry 899 'Any other ethnic background' should be used when a member of staff indicates their ethnicity as something not included in the coding frame.

Valid entry 997 'Not known' can be used when a member of staff genuinely does not know their ethnicity, for example individuals who were adopted.

Valid entry 998 'Prefer not to say' should be returned when a member of staff has explicitly refused to provide the information.

Valid entry 999 'Not available' should be used when the provider does not know the information e.g. the staff member did not respond to the request for information.

Please note that the coverage of the coding frame is different for each of the administrations, only codes that are marked with 'Y' can be used for that administration. This is shown in the following table:

HESA coding frame for HEPs in: England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland
100 Asian - Bangladeshi or Bangladeshi British Y Y Y Y
101 Asian - Chinese or Chinese British Y Y Y Y
102 Asian - Filipino Y
103 Asian - Indian or Indian British Y Y Y Y
104 Asian - Pakistani or Pakistani British Y Y Y Y
119 Any other Asian background Y Y Y Y
120 Black - African or African British Y Y Y Y
121 Black - Caribbean or Caribbean British Y Y Y Y
139 Any other Black background Y Y Y Y
140 Mixed or multiple ethnic groups - White or White British and Asian or Asian British Y Y Y Y
141 Mixed or multiple ethnic groups - White or White British and Black African or Black African British Y Y Y Y
142 Mixed or multiple ethnic groups - White or White British and Black Caribbean or Black Caribbean British Y Y Y Y
159 Any other Mixed or Multiple ethnic background Y Y Y Y
160 White - English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish or British Y Y
161 White - English, Welsh, Northern Irish or British Y
162 White - British, Irish, Northern Irish, English, Scottish or Welsh Y
163 White - Gypsy or Irish Traveller Y Y
164 White - Gypsy or Traveller Y
165 White - Irish Traveller Y
166 White - Irish Y Y Y
167 White - Polish Y Y
168 White - Roma Y Y Y Y
169 White - Scottish Y
170 White - Showman / Showwoman Y
179 Any other White background Y Y Y Y
180 Arab Y Y Y Y
899 Any other ethnic background Y Y Y Y
997 Not known Y Y Y Y
998 Prefer not to say Y Y Y Y
999 Not available Y Y Y Y

Advance HE has a number of resources relating to gathering information across the protected characteristics covered by the Equality Act 2010. If you have any further queries regarding equality monitoring, please view https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/.

Guidance question: What is your ethnicity or ethnic group?

Staff should be presented with this question every year.

For best practice, Advance HE advise that when providing categories of response, providers list these in alphabetical order of high-level category e.g. "Asian" categories, "Arab", "Black"…

As far as possible Advance HE recommends alignment with the 2011 Census categories for both staff and students.

For information, Advance HE also recommends to HEIs that they monitor white minority ethnic groups in more detail as there are specific issues for staff and students who identify as groups within 'White other'.

When collecting this data, providers can choose to use the answer option 'Prefer not to say' which can be mapped to 'Information Refused'.

Quality rules
Quality rules relating to this entity are displayed here.
Reason required To monitor equal opportunities issues in the higher education sector and support higher education providers (HEPs) in meeting their obligations under the Equality Act 2010
Part of
Field length3
Minimum occurrences1
Maximum occurrences1
Schema components
Element: ETHNIC
OwnerAdvance HE
Version1.1
Date modified2023-03-01
Change management notesValid entry 164 (White - Gypsy or Traveller) is no longer applicable to Northern Ireland, the coverage table in the guidance has been updated to reflect this change. Guidance has also been updated to clarify the use of valid entries 160, 162 and 166.

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