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Student 2016/17 - Religion or belief

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Student 2016/17

Fields required from institutions in Wales

Religion or belief


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valid entries
Typefield
Short nameRELBLF
Description

This field records the religious belief of the student, on the basis of their own self-assessment

Applicable toEngland Northern Ireland Scotland Wales
Coverage

All students (optional)

Valid entries and labels
CodeLabel
01No religion
02Buddhist
03Christian
04Christian - Church of Scotland
05Christian - Roman Catholic
06Christian - Presbyterian Church in Ireland
07Christian - Church of Ireland
08Christian - Methodist Church in Ireland
09Christian - Other denomination
10Hindu
11Jewish
12Muslim
13Sikh
14Spiritual
80Any other religion or belief
98Information refused
Notes

Religion or belief is recorded on the basis of the student's own self-assessment.

Suggested questions are those used in the 2011 census.

England and Wales: What is your religion?

Scotland: What religion, religious body, or denomination do you belong to?

Northern Ireland: What religion, religious denomination or body do you belong to?

The phrase 'Prefer not to say' can be used when collecting the data.

Coverage of the HESA coding frame is shown in the following table.

Code 98 'Information refused' should be returned when the question was asked but the individual answered that they 'preferred not to say'.

HESA coding frame for providers in: E S W NI
01 No religion Y Y Y Y
02 Buddhist Y Y Y Y
03 Christian Y Y
04 Christian - Church of Scotland Y
05 Christian - Roman Catholic Y Y
06 Christian - Presbyterian Church in Ireland Y
07 Christian - Church of Ireland Y
08 Christian - Methodist Church in Ireland Y
09 Christian - Other denomination Y Y
10 Hindu Y Y Y Y
11 Jewish Y Y Y Y
12 Muslim Y Y Y Y
13 Sikh Y Y Y Y
14 Spiritual Y Y Y Y
80 Any other religion or belief Y Y Y Y
98 Prefer not to say/Information refused Y Y Y Y

The Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) has recommended inclusion of code 14 'Spiritual' which was not included in the Census. This will be grouped with 'Any other religion or belief' for onward analysis. ECU define 'Spiritual' as 'Spiritual - belief in the spiritual dimension of all life, which can be experienced directly and without the assistance of conventional religion'. All other categories are consistent with the census of the applicable country.

The Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) has a number of resources relating to gathering information across the protected characteristics covered by the Equality Act 2010. These resources can be found at Equality Challenge Unit. If you have any further queries regarding equality monitoring, please email ECU at [email protected].

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 to follow
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 length2
Minimum occurrences0
Maximum occurrences1
Schema components
Element: RELBLF
OwnerEquality Challenge Unit (ECU)
Version1.1
Date modified2017-04-28
Change management notesGuidance added clarifying that providers may select 'Prefer not to say' on this field when conducting questionnaires. Guidance added to inform users of further information on protected characteristics covered by the Equality Act 2010.

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