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Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education record 2013/14

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Timetable - An overview of the collection schedule from data capture to publication


Version 1.1 Produced 2014-08-27

This document is designed to guide higher education providers (HEPs) through the stages of the DLHE exercise. These stages can also be viewed in the DLHE Schedule diagram.

Stage One: April Survey (Census date: 15 April 2014)

Stage Two: January Survey (Census date: 12 January 2015)

Stage Three: DLHE data submission (Return date 31 March 2015)

Stage One: April Survey

Arrangements for those who complete their courses between 1 August 2013 and 31 December 2013

This stage details the schedule for the completion of the 15 April 2014 census survey. Full details of the requirements of this schedule are available in the Guidance for HEPs document.

March 2014: DELIVERY OF QUESTIONNAIRES


Questionnaires are delivered to HEPs for the April survey. It is important that HEPs check their consignment on delivery, as shortfalls cannot be rectified later.

28 March 2014: CONTROL PANEL OPENS FOR S13018A DLHE APRIL ONLINE SURVEY


HEPs must register to use the April census. This system enables graduates to complete the DLHE questionnaire survey online. HEPs are encouraged to make use of this facility.

15 April: CENSUS DATE


Leavers surveyed in April are those that meet the DLHE population definition in Coverage of the record and have Instance.ENDDATE 2013-08-01 to 2013-12-31.

15 April to 25 June 2014: CONTACT PERIOD


HEPs are required to make contact with all graduates in the April POPDLHE between 15 April to 25 June 2014. The survey is undertaken by leavers answering a number of questions by way of a questionnaire, a telephone survey, a centrally-hosted online survey or a PDF version of the questionnaire. HEPs can use as many of these methods of contact as they wish to achieve the highest response possible. Further guidance can be found at Guidance for HEPs.

Stage Two: January Survey

Arrangements for those who complete their courses between 1 January 2014 and 31 July 2014

This stage details the schedule for the completion of the 12 January 2015 census survey. Full details of the requirements of this schedule are available in the Guidance for HEPs document.

September 2014: DELIVERY OF QUESTIONNAIRES


Questionnaires are delivered to HEPs for the January survey. It is important that higher education providers (HEPs) check their consignment on delivery, as shortfalls cannot be rectified later.

September/October 2014: POPDLHE LIST


C13018 POPDLHE list is produced when the 2013/14 Student record (C13051) collection passes the COMMIT-stage checks. The list includes those leavers who should have been surveyed in the April 2014 survey and those expected to be surveyed in the January 2015 survey. DLHE record contacts are advised to liaise with colleagues responsible for submitting student data to HESA, in order to confirm the final version of the list.

24 October 2014: CONTROL PANEL OPENS FOR S13018J DLHE JANUARY ONLINE SURVEY


HEPs must register to use the January census. This system enables graduates to complete the DLHE questionnaire survey online. HEPs are encouraged to make use of this facility.

10 November 2014 to 7 March 2015: CONTACT PERIOD


HEPs are required to make contact with all graduates in the January DLHE population between 10 November 2014 to 07 March 2015. The survey is undertaken by leavers answering a number of questions by way of a questionnaire, a telephone survey, a centrally-hosted online survey or a PDF version of the questionnaire. HEPs can use as many of these methods of contact as they wish to achieve the highest response possible. Further guidance can be found at Guidance for HEPs document.

12 January 2015: CENSUS DATE


Leavers surveyed in January are those that meet the DLHE population in Coverage of the record and have Instance.ENDDATE 2014-01-01 to 2014-07-31.

Stage Three: DLHE data submission


November 2014 Validate data locally using validation kit
March 2015
Data collection opens
31 March 2015 Return date
7 April 2015 Commit date
7 April to 6 May 2015
Data quality checking period
6 May 2015
Last submission
7 May 2015
Sign-off


November 2014: VALIDATE DATA LOCALLY USING VALIDATION KIT

The validation kit is made available to download from: Validation kit.

The validation kit enables HEPs to test their data locally against the INSERT-stage validation ahead of the main collection opening in the Spring. HEPs are strongly encouraged to use the validation kit as part of their data preparations.

Further details on the checks included in INSERT-stage validation can be found within the Data items.

A guide to using the validation kit can be found in Help with validation kits. Alternatively please contact Institutional Liaison.

March 2015: DATA COLLECTION OPENS

The collection database opens on the submit site at the beginning of March.

Access and PIN codes for this system will be distributed to DLHE record contacts when the system opens.

31 March 2015: RETURN DATE

KEY DEADLINE

HEPs are required to send complete data that has passed INSERT-stage validation to HESA by 31 March 2015.

INSERT-stage validation rules are listed within the field details of the Data items.

A single validation failure will result in no data being imported into the system.

A diagram view of the validation stages for the DLHE return can be viewed at DLHE validation.

Data which fails validation will not be considered to have been returned to the Agency.

7 April 2015: COMMIT DATE

HEPs are advised to send complete data that has passed COMMIT-stage rulesCOMMIT-stage rules by 7 April 2015. This schedule allows the maximum amount of available time for data quality checking.

A diagram view of the validation stages for the DLHE return can be viewed at DLHE validation.

Data which fails validation will not be considered to have been returned to the Agency.

TEST_COMMIT

The TEST_COMMIT facility is available for the majority of the data collection period. This facility allows HEPs to process a transaction, which, if successful will generate commit stage reports for scrutiny. These reports are for HEPs' purposes only and will not be checked by HESA. Details of these reports are provided below.

HEPs are strongly encouraged to make use of the TEST_COMMIT facility as part of their data preparations. TEST_COMMIT serves as a useful interim facility in the data collection process. The facility enables HEPs to view the commit reports and assess submitted data for anomalies before processing a full COMMIT to be scrutinised by HESA.

7 April to 6 May 2015: DATA QUALITY CHECKING PERIOD

A successful COMMIT will generate several reports containing management information that HEPs will need to review to assess data quality.

HEPs are required to review the reports and to resubmit data in order to resolve data quality issues. HEPs can contact Institutional Liaison throughout this period to request their data is decommitted in order to make adjustments to the submission. The data quality checking period is an iterative process during which HEPs may need to submit, commit, review and decommit their data several times to ensure the final submission is credible.

During this period Data Analysts at HESA will also examine data committed by all HEPs. If any anomalies are found queries will be raised through the Minerva DQ database. Nevertheless HEPs are in a better position to recognise more detailed anomalies within their data, using local knowledge of the intricacies of their own HEP. As a consequence HEPs are required to either resubmit their data to amend these anomalies, or provide an explanation through Minerva as to why these apparent anomalies are genuine.

Upon satisfactory completion of this process data will be set to credible.

6 May 2015: LAST SUBMISSION

In order to meet obligations for hand-over of data to its customers, HESA needs to receive all data files by 6 May 2015.

7 May 2015: SIGN-OFF

As part of the data quality assurance procedures, HESA requires the return to be signed-off by the head or acting head of your HEP. This verification offers both the HEPs and HESA assurances regarding onward use of the data. Sign-off completes the data collection process.

Sign Off Slip
On the system your HEP's data will be set to credible and a new icon will be made available from where the sign-off form can be downloaded and completed. Once completed, the form should be scanned and emailed back to [email protected]. Please note that the transaction number on the sign-off form must correspond to that of the data being signed-off.

Note: HEPs should download and keep copies of all relevant reports that they are likely to need during the year. This will be necessary as access to the site will be restricted after the collection has closed.

Onward use of C13018 DLHE record data


Following the close of the data collection all data submitted will be passed to HESA's Statutory Customers and also to the HESA Information Services team.

Data is also used by HESA in the following ways:
Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Statistical First Release
Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education publication
DLHE Longitudinal Survey
Performance Indicators in Higher Education
heidi
General data enquiries
Key Information Set

Need help?

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