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HESA Student Record 2011/12 - Mode of study

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HESA Student Record 2011/12

Fields required from institutions in Scotland

Mode of study


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valid entries
Typefield
Short nameMODE
Description

This field indicates the method by which a student is being taught their course.

Applicable toEngland Northern Ireland Scotland Wales
Coverage

All instances

Valid entries and labels
CodeLabel
01Full-time according to funding council definitions
02Other full-time
12FE students, full-time 30 weeks or more
13FE students, full-time 4-29 weeks
14FE students, full-time less than 4 weeks
23Sandwich (thick) according to funding council definitions
24Sandwich (thin) according to funding council definitions
25Other sandwich course/programme
31Part-time
32FE students, block release
33FE students, part-time, released from employment
34FE students, part-time, not released from employment
35FE students, evening only
36FE students - open or distance learning
37FE students- accredited by prior experience & learning, APL/APEL
38Structured part-time (institutions in Scotland)
39Other part-time (institutions in Scotland)
43Writing-up - previously full-time
44Writing-up - previously part-time
51Sabbatical
52Optional year out - study related
53Compulsory year out - study related
63Dormant - previously full-time
64Dormant - previously part-time
65FE students continuous delivery, day/daytime
66FE students continuous delivery, evening only
67FE students continuous delivery in the workplace
68FE students continuous delivery undefined
69FE students sandwich
73Change to dormant status - previously full-time
74Change to dormant status - previously part-time
Notes

Where a student has changed their mode of study within the reporting period, the record should show the current or latest position.

With reference to code 01, the funding councils have agreed that a common definition of full-time is that course years must involve a minimum of 24 weeks study (note that this definition does not apply to full-time final year students in institutions in Wales). Each funding council may also have further additional conditions. HESA will apply the 24 week rule to its definition of full-time in publications i.e. full-time will be all those students coded 01 in this field, together with all those students coded 02 and whose expected length of study (fields Instance.SPLENGTH and Instance.UNITLGTH) is over 24 weeks.

With reference to codes 23 and 24, these programmes are covered by the definition of sandwich under the award regulations as set out by the funding council. Years of instance must involve a minimum of 24 weeks study/placement. HESA's definition of sandwich students will be all those students coded 23 or 24 in this field, together with all those students coded 25 and whose expected length of study (fields Instance.SPLENGTH and Instance.UNITLGTH) is over 24 weeks.

Code 23, Thick sandwich students are those for which an industrial (or other) placement causes a continuous absence from full-time study of at least one academic year. A record must be returned for every student enrolled on a sandwich course irrespective of whether they are in attendance at the institution or engaged in industrial (or other) training. Students should be coded as sandwich for every year of the course and not just those in which industrial (or other) experience takes place. The students who are actually out on placement can be identified via Instance.LOCSDY.

LOCSDY valid entries:

  • D On industrial (or other) placement for the year as a whole
  • E On industrial (or other) placement for a proportion of the year

Code 24, A thin sandwich must involve the student in an average of more than 21 hours study a week for a minimum of 24 weeks study/placement.

Students who meet the definition of sandwich should be coded as either 23 or 24 (and not codes 52 or 53) irrespective of whether the year is spent abroad or whether it is optional/compulsory.

Students who are actively writing-up are not considered to be dormant by HESA. A record is required for such students, with this field coded as 43 or 44 'Writing-up'. 'Writing-up' is generally associated with research students. Students on taught masters courses should not typically have their mode of study changed to 'writing-up', at least within the registration period, for example students on a one year taught masters course should be shown as full-time mode for both the taught and the dissertation phases of the course. Any change to show mode as writing-up would be expected only after the completion of the 12 month registration period.

Code 31 Part-time, can only be used by institutions in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Codes 38 and 39 can only be used by institutions in Scotland

Code 51 should be used for students on sabbatical years e.g. holding Student Union office.

Codes 52 and 53 should only be used for study related years out which count towards the course aim. Language years out that are not classed as thick sandwich programmes should be coded 53 in the year the student is abroad.

Years out for any other reason should be coded 63 or 64, Dormant.

Dormant codes 63 and 64 can be used only if the student was not actively studying at any time during the reporting period.

Any students with a mode of study 63 or 64 will be excluded from the HESA standard registration population used for analysis purposes. A record is not required for such students other than:

  • a) In the first year of dormancy when a record must be returned in order to maintain the HIN link.
  • b) Where awards have been made to students from a dormant status.

Dormant instances may either be returned via a full record of through a reduced record for students - see dormant students reduced record.

Codes 73 and 74 are available to postgraduate students (i.e. Course.COURSEAIM begins D, E, L or M (excluding M22)) at institutions in England only. Postgraduate students who become dormant part way through the reporting year will need a full HESA record reflecting their current status as code 73 or 74. Instance.MCDATE will record the date when the postgraduate student formally moves from an active study mode to 'dormant'. Instance.STULOAD should be reduced to reflect the fact that the student was not active for a proportion of the reporting period.

Where a postgraduate student moves from a 'writing-up' or 'sabbatical' mode (codes 43, 44 or 51) to dormant, within the reporting period, Instance.MODE should not be updated, nor should Instance.MCDATE be completed. For the purpose of Instance.MCDATE the modes 'writing-up' and 'sabbatical' are classed as non-active.

All other students who become dormant part way through the reporting year (that is, all students at institutions in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland and Undergraduate and FE students at institutions in England) will need a full HESA record in the data collection reflecting their status whilst active (i.e. the position that applied just before they became dormant). This field should record their mode of study whilst active (and not code 63 or 64 'Dormant' which should only be used for students who are dormant for the whole reporting period). Instance.STULOAD should be reduced to reflect the fact that the student was not active for the whole reporting period. A student who was actively studying at sometime during the reporting period but who has now suspended studies, will have an active mode of study and will be identified through Instance.NOTACT.

However students involved in re-sits after the completion of the taught or structured part of their course should not have their mode of study up-dated. For example a full-time student who finishes the courses in June but has to take resits in September should not be re-coded.

Further Education Codes (12-14, 32-37 and 65-69).

These FE codes are for use by institutions in England and Wales only.

The use of the specific FE full-time codes 12 to 14 is compulsory for all students at institutions in England or Wales who are following programmes of study at FE level or funded by SFA/YPLA or WG-DfES.

The use of the specific FE part-time codes 32 to 37 is for students who are following programmes of study at FE level or funded by SFA/YPLA or WG-DfES. Other part-time FE instances can use either the generic part-time code 31 or one of the specific part-time codes 32 to 37.

Code 32, Block release students are those who attend full-time for a period less than 24 weeks per academic/financial year and where study,

  • is broken by a period of industrial training or employment and
  • may be additional to study on one or two days a week during another part of the session.

When using the specific FE part-time codes, if there is uncertainty about whether a student is released from employment, code 34, 'Part-time, not-released from employment' should be used.

Code 36 is only applicable for open or distance learning FE students at institutions in England and Wales. All other distance learning students should be coded according to their individual mode/pattern of study, e.g. full-time or part-time.

Part-time FE courses/programmes of study which involve a mixture of day and evening attendance should be recorded under whichever code is most appropriate, e.g. a day release course which also involves evening attendance should be coded 33. 'Twilight only' courses should be counted as 'evening only'.

FE mode codes 65, 66, 68 and 69 are available to institutions in England and Wales, code 67 is available for institutions in Wales only.

Where Y0/Y1/Y2 appear in business rules, these refer to the reporting period Y1-Y2 (e.g. for the 2007-08 reporting period, Y0 is 2006, Y1 is 2007 and Y2 is 2008).

Quality rules
Quality rules relating to this field are displayed here.
Reason required

To allow standard populations to be defined and financial calculations to be made

Part of
Field length2
Minimum occurrences1
Maximum occurrences1
Schema components
Element: MODE
Related fields
OwnerHESA
Version1.1
Date modified2012-04-30
Change management notesGuidance on postgraduate students who change modes within a reporting period added, some minor formatting and grammatical changes made to Notes. Business rule 17 updated for ERASMUS work placements. Business rule 22 updated for the ending of the SAS programme. Business rule 25 added for institutions in England, Northern Ireland and Wales.

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