Skip to main content

Student record 2017/18

Back to C17051

Further guidance on reporting Instance.MCDATE and Instance.MODE


Version 1.0 Produced 2018-06-29

For postgraduate courses at providers in England and Northern Ireland it is required that the date on which a postgraduate student moves from active to non-active study or the date when such a student returns to an active study mode be recorded. This information should be reported through Instance.MCDATE.

For the purpose of Instance.MCDATE 'writing-up' (Instance.MODE=43 or 44), 'changed to dormant' (Instance.MODE=73 or 74) and 'sabbatical' (Instance.MODE=51) are classed as non-active modes.

a) Student moves from active study to non-active study during the reporting period.

Where a student changes from an active to non-active mode during the reporting period the last date they moved from an active to non-active mode must be recorded in Instance.MCDATE, and vice versa.

Return 01 August 31 July Instance.MODE Instance.MCDATE
Year 1 Part-time Dormant 74 Date
Year 2 Dormant Part-time 31 Date

b) Sabbatical periods crossing reporting periods.

A Sabbatical mode (code 51) must be returned for periods where students hold Student Union office. Sabbatical is classed as non-active for Instance.MCDATE. Where the student has moved from full time to sabbatical and vice versa within a reporting period Instance.MODE must be updated and Instance.MCDATE returned.

Return 01 August 31 July Instance.MODE Instance.MCDATE
Year 1 Full-time Sabbatical 51 Date
Year 2 Sabbatical Full-time 01 Date

c) Student moved from active to non-active MODE between reporting periods.

Instance.MCDATE should be returned wherever a change from active to non-active MODE (or vice-versa) occurs

For this example the MODE has changed on the cusp of the reporting year. In this scenario Instance.MCDATE should be returned as the first date of the new reporting period.

Return 01 August 31 July Instance.MODE Instance.MCDATE
Year 1 Full-time Full-time 01 No date
Year 2 Sabbatical Sabbatical 51 Y1-08-01

d) Returning dormant students.

Where a student has been returned as moving from active study to dormant mode during the reporting period, Instance.MODE 73/74, change to dormant status – previously full/part time, should be used. Where the student remains dormant for the entire of the following reporting period it is not required to return a dormant record as their dormant status has already been reported.

Return 01 August 31 July Instance.MODE Instance.MCDATE
Year 1 Full-time Dormant 73 Date
Year 2 Dormant Dormant No need to return record No need to return record

e) Student moves between non-active modes.

Where a student moves between dormant modes Instance.MCDATE should not be returned. Instance.MODE codes 73/74 (change to dormant status) should only be used where Instance.MODE has changed from active to dormant. Where the student moves from a non-active Instance.MODE (writing-up/sabbatical) to dormant mode during the reporting period the Instance.MCDATE should not be returned and Instance.MODE should not be amended. Where the student moves from dormant to writing up during the reporting period Instance.MODE should be returned as writing-up.

Return 01 August 31 July Instance.MODE Instance.MCDATE
Year 1 Writing-up, previously full-time Dormant 43 No date
Year 2 Dormant Writing-up, previously full-time 43 No date

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