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HESA Student Record 2008/09

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HESA Student Record 2008/09

HESA Student Record FE HIN Linking 2008/09

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Version 1.0 Produced 2009-07-30

FE in HEIs

There is growing interest in the FE data returned by HEIs through the HESA Student Record. An example of this interest is the upcoming use of such FE data by the LSC in connection with extension of the Framework for Excellence (FfE) to include FE provision in HEIs in England from 2010/11. This will mean that the information returned in certain fields in the HESA Student Record will need to be of sufficient quality to be used for FfE purposes.

FE data quality

In order to make the HESA data fit for this new purpose, including, for instance, the calculation of Qualification Success Rates (QSR), which the LSC intend to produce in 2009/10 based on enrolment information from the 2008/09 and 2009/10 reporting periods, it is necessary to further improve data quality in this area. One method of generally improving data quality is to strengthen the mechanism used to link activity on instances across years.

HIN linking

HEIs are familiar with the feature of linking records year-on-year from within the HESA return; this feature is facilitated by the use of HIN. Although robust HIN checking is in place for HE records returned to HESA, this checking has hitherto not been applied with the same vigour to the FE records returned. As it is now necessary to further improve the data quality of FE records returned to HESA, similar HIN checking is to be introduced for these FE records from 2008/09. Further information on the HIN linking mechanism is available see Year-on-year linkage (HIN).

In order to prepare for this change, institutions need the FE HIN Target List that was produced from the 2007/08 Student Record (C07051). This is a list of all FE instances that were 'live' at the end of the C07051 data collection, and for which a record must be returned in C08051 (2008/09).

The 2007/08 FE HIN Target List for your institution, to be used in submitting the 2008/09 Student Record to HESA in September 2009, was made available to download from the E08051 collection in April.

Further information

The LSC and HESA have been working jointly to assess the feasibility of generating a methodology for the calculation of Qualification Success Rates (QSR) using HESA data; this work is ongoing. For example, for those HEIs with FE provision who submit an ILR to the LSC, it is likely that QSRs will continue to be calculated based on this ILR data rather than the HESA data. More information about the Framework for Excellence, which, as indicated, will be extended to include FE provision in HEIs in England from 2010/11, can be found from the LSC website.

If you have any queries please contact the Institutional Liaison team at HESA or email ([email protected]).

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