This field will capture whether a student is aiming for an Equivalent or Lower Qualification than one already achieved.

All instances at providers in England where (Instance.FESTUMK = 2 or 3) and (Instance.REDUCEDI = 00 or 01) and Instance.FEEELIG = 1 and Course.COURSEAIM begins with E, M, H, I, J or C.

The current guidance from Office for Students on Equivalent or Lower Qualifications (ELQs) can be found in HESES, which can be downloaded via the Office for Students website https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/heses/.

Students who are exempt on the basis that they are claiming Disabled Students' Allowance should be coded 02.

Students on courses which are not assessed, as defined as per Office for Students's definitions in the above publication, can be coded as 09 'Not required', namely:

• ITT students on courses that lead to QTS
• INSET students who hold QTS
• NHS funded students who are non-fundable.

Providers are required to make a reasonable assessment of the ELQ status for students covered by a current exemption. Office for Students recognise that providers may not routinely undertake a full assessment for students subject to an exemption and therefore this field may contain less accurate data for these students, however it is expected that it will provide a more robust assessment than a crude comparison of Course.COURSEAIM and EntryProfile.QUALENT3 would allow.