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HESA Student record 2010/11

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HESA Student record 2010/11

Guidance for institutions in Scotland, Northern Ireland and England returning module information


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Version 1.1 Produced 2010-06-01

Modules

A StudentOnModule entity, linking to at least one Module with associated subject and cost centre information, must be returned for all students with STULOAD greater than zero (except students being returned in the following reduced records: FE students at institutions in England and Wales, incoming visiting and exchange students or dormant students, and SAS/SKE students).

Institutions may not use module terminology internally. For the purposes of the HESA record modules may be represented by breakdowns of a programme that reflect activity within cost centres and subjects, which may be, for example, units of learning or examinations.

When deciding how to represent student data in this structure, institutions will wish to consider the following:

  • For institutions in England and Northern Ireland, HEFCE and DEL wish to encourage institutions to reflect actual outcomes and any associated credit points in their HESA student record.
  • Whenever a student undertakes activity within a subject/cost centre combination, then this must be reflected in the record. This requirement pre-dates the record re-development in 2007/08, and is already a requirement for the current combined record. Institutions may choose whether or not to return details of cost centres which are contributing teaching/learning amounting to less than 5% of the proportion of the study programme for that year.
  • Institutions are advised to record data in a way that is as straightforward as possible for the institution.
  • HEFCE now include a partial completion weighting within their teaching funding method. HEFCE only include students in the calculation of the partial completion weighting where they are recorded as a non-completion and have full module data returned on the HESA record.

To reflect activity within the module structure, institutions have the option to submit a number of modules that represent some form of student activity currently recorded within institutions, or to use a single module created to capture activity within subjects and cost centres.

Notes and guidance:

(a) When returning a number of modules that reflect student choices and outcomes:

Modules can be based on appropriate constituents of a programme of study that reflect subject and cost centre combinations. These may be, for example, elements of a scheme of study or examinations information recorded within an institution's information systems. Where appropriate, default values (as below) can be substituted with relevant values.

(b) When returning a single module with a number of associated subject/cost centre/percentage combinations.

This may be appropriate where there is no readily definable module structure associated with a student’s study. For example, postgraduate research programmes may not have a readily definable modular structure.

In such cases, a single module can be created to capture the subjects and cost centres involved. Exactly the same algorithm used to define cost centre and subject values in the Cyy011 combined return can be used to define these values for the ModuleSubject fields for subject/cost centre splits.

Values for the Module, ModuleSubject and StudentOnModule entities should take 'default' values as follows:

Module.CRDTSCM '9' No Credit scheme
Module.CRDTPTS 999
Module.LEVLPTS not required
Module.MODLANG code as applicable
Module.FTE The sum of Module FTE for a student will usually equal Instance.STULOAD. Please note that where a particular student has Instance.STULOAD that is different to Module.FTE (for example because the student is suspending studies or for students such as research students taking modules that span reporting years), then the student's instance FTE will be apportioned between cost centres and subjects according to the module proportions.
Module.MODID an ID value
Module.MTITLE a value meaningful to your institution, and if possible meaningful to other data users
Module.TINST a value if appropriate
Module.PCOLAB a value if appropriate
ModuleSubject.COSTCN }
ModuleSubject.MODSBJP } Values as previously used in fields 100-147 of combined return
ModuleSubject.MODSBJ }
StudentOnModule.LANGPCNT a value if appropriate
StudentOnModule.MODID as Module.MODID
StudentOnModule.MODOUT Code '7' for not coded
StudentOnModule.MODSTAT Coded '5' for not coded, or specific code.
StudentOnModule.MODYR code as appropriate and only if institution is opting to provide this information to HEFCE

Instance.STULOAD may not equal the sum of Module.FTE in a number of circumstances, for example where a single module is available that individual students may start at varying points during the year (such as research students starting PhD programmes throughout the academic year). In such cases, a single module (with associated FTE) may be reported across reporting periods, and the individual student full-time equivalent load will reflect individual patterns of study.

Institutions may opt to have one module to represent the entire programme, or have a module per reporting period. For institutions in England HEFCE encourage institutions to reflect any underlying modular or year structures they may have in the modules they return to HESA. However, should the mix of subjects and cost centres change between years, then a new module per reporting period will be required. Where the subject and cost centres combinations do not change over a long programme, then one module may be used over a number of reporting periods, for example one module may represent a three-year mathematics PhD programme. In deciding how to set up modular reporting, institutions will need to ensure that their chosen structure can accurately reflect activity in cost centres and subjects, that it will allow for changes in assignments of departments to cost centres, and that it will allow changes of assignments of students to modules.

It may be the case for some programmes that this single module is very like the course entity, for example a MPhil in History of Art, although information will be required for both course and module entities.

Modules that can be shared by different programmes

Modules can be shared by different programmes, but represent different FTE depending upon the student taking the module (e.g. a module taken by both postgraduate and undergraduate students, but representing a different proportion of a year’s activity for a postgraduate and undergraduate student). HESA will use a student’s instance FTE and apportion this according to module FTEs applicable for the student. Institutions may therefore find that the linking of one module to different instances therefore will accurately reflect different students activity.

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