Student 2019/20: Support guides
This page provides an overview of the 2019/20 Student collection (C19051).
This should be used alongside the C19051 coding manual, which provides more detailed, technical information about the collection.
Need help? Contact us by email or on +44 (0)1242 388 531
Student overview
We collect data across a number of streams. These streams focus on different aspects of higher education.
The Student stream collects data about students studying at higher education providers in the UK. Details of which students need to be returned to us are included in the Coverage document found in the Coding manual.
The data we collect on behalf of the sector is provided to governments and fundng bodies in order to support the regulation of higher education. We also make anonymised data available to the public to enhance understanding of UK higher education and to support its advancement
Our coding manuals provide you with all the necessary documentation to support your data return. The coding manual contains technical documents giving detailed information on the record's coverage, data specification and submission formats. Familiarising yourself with these documents will help you make an accurate and timely return.
Each collection has its own coding manual which can be found in the Data collection section of our site. By default, you will land on the open collection for each record; you can then select previous or future years.
The coding manuals will be updated throughout the data collection cycle and Record Contacts informed by email when new versions are made live. Be sure to check the manual's Revision history for a summary of changes.
You submit data via our Data Collection system. To access this, you will need to have an appropriate role in our Identity System (IDS). We publish an IDS user guide which includes information on creating and editing your account.
You will need to be given access to the Data Collection system by the relevant Record Contact at your provider.
Once you have access to the system you will be able to upload files and track the progress of the collection.
The coding manual homepage includes all the technical information you require, including:
- The data specification
- File format specifications
- A detailed collection schedule
- Our XML data entry tool (available for some streams)
- Quality rules.
This Support guides page collects together the following resources:
- User guide
- Data collection system: Known issues and release history.
In the Support area of the HESA website, you can find:
- User guides for our Identity System (IDS) and Issue Management System data quality database (HESA subscribers only).
- Support with using XML files
- Our XML amalgamator tool and Validation kits available for some collections.
Our Data innovation section includes information about:
- Open and recently completed record reviews, including information about changes we are implementing
- Our Data Futures programme which will transform the higher education information landscape.
In the About section, you can find:
- Details of who we are and what we do
- Information about data protection
- Information for providers including the Code of practice for HE data collections, and information about subscription rates and the fixed database facility.
Our expert analysts have a thorough understanding of our records and processes. We are here to support you throughout the data submission process.
C19051: Deadlines guidance
As previously communicated to providers, the approach to deadlines will be different this year.
Return, commit and final commit deadlines – these deadlines are not statutory deadlines for this year and no written confirmation is required if they are not met. We strongly recommend that providers follow the normal timeline to progress through this year’s data collection as achieving these milestones ensures that providers and HESA are well placed to achieve signed off data by the sign-off deadline. HESA and Statutory Customers will still use these as progress points and contact you to check on your progress.
Sign-off deadline – this remains a statutory deadline. Providers are required to have committed a final file, resolved all data quality queries in the Issue Management System, and returned a completed sign-off form to [email protected] by 5pm on the day of the deadline. Please be aware that it can take up to five working days for HESA to check your file once committed and raise any necessary data quality queries. You should therefore aim to commit your final file in good time ahead of the sign-off deadline to ensure your file is checked and any quality queries resolved in time for the sign-off deadline.
Providers in England should notify the OfS via [email protected] if you foresee any issues with meeting the sign-off deadline. If the sign-off deadline is not met, a HESA Late Sign Off form will be required by HESA, signed by your Accountable Officer'.
Providers in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales should notify HESA and/or your funder/regulator if you foresee any issues with meeting the sign-off deadline.
If you do foresee any issues, please get in touch as early as possible so that we can provide additional support and guidance as required.
Data collection schedule: Anticipated dates for deadlines
Please see below the deadlines for the C19051, C20051 and C21051 Student collections. Please note that the deadline dates for the Student return will remain the same across years unless advised otherwise.
|
|
Student (C19051) |
|
Return |
15 September |
|
Commit |
21 September |
|
Final Commit |
30 October |
|
Sign-off |
06 November |
|
|
Student (C20051) |
|
Return |
15 September |
|
Commit |
21 September |
|
Final Commit |
01 November |
|
Sign-off |
08 November |
|
|
Student (C21051) |
|
Return |
15 September |
|
Commit |
21 September |
|
Final Commit |
31 October |
|
Sign-off |
07 November |
Our JISCMail groups allow you to discuss specific streams with colleagues from across the sector. We also use the lists to circulate news regarding data requirements and coding manual and validation kit releases.
Data collection system: Release history and known issues
| Issue Summary | Status | Date raised | Date resolved |
|---|---|---|---|
|
We are aware that ModuleSubject.MODSBJP has erroneously been set as Minimum Occurrence = ‘0’. The consequence is that unless the field is returned then the full-time equivalence (XFTE01) across cost centres will be zero. We are working to build a ModuleSubject.MODSBJP business rule to enforce the return of this field. Resolution - New error ModuleSubject.MODSBJP.2 released into production. |
Resolved | 2020-09-10 | 2020-09-15 |
| There is a known error in the XTPOINTs appendix. The Pearson BTEC Level 3 (Extended Diploma in Advanced Manufacture Engineering) combination QULATYPE '7V' QUALGRADE 'P' has been attributed 32 Tariff points. This should be corrected to 48 Tariff points. | Resolved | 2020-08-26 | 2020-09-24 |
| QR.CourseSubject.SBJCA.29 is incorrectly triggering where more than one XCAH02 subject is submitted per course. The current subject is not necessarily being compared against the same past subject, but another subject. | Resolved | 2020-08-26 | 2020-09-10 |
| A new condition is to be added to QR.C19051.Instance.YEARSU.3 to trigger only where Instance.STULOAD>0. This is to fix an identified clash with a new C19051 rule QR.C19051.Instance.MODE.36. | Resolved | 2020-08-21 | 2020-09-10 |
| QR.C19051.Student.HUSID.2 is incorrectly triggering where the HUSID includes the INSTID of a provider that is no longer current - for example where digits 3-6 of the HUSID are '1099'. | Resolved | 2020-08-17 | 2020-08-27 |
|
Continuity rules which relate to the Entry Profile entity (i.e QR.C19051.EntryProfile.POSTCODE.13) are triggering incorrectly where an Entry Profile has not been resent for a continuing instance. |
Resolved | 2020-08-04 | 2020-08-13 |
| Following the guidance change in Version 1.5 of the Coding manual, consideration is being given to how the amended MODE guidance impacts reduced returns. | Resolved | 2020-07-02 | 2020-08 |
| QR.C19051.CourseSubject.SBJCA.1 is currently triggering as it has not been converted to use HECoS codes as yet (awaiting confirmation from UKRI before progressing), and currently all HECoS codes have 0 as the second character. | Resolved | 2020-04-28 | 2020-07-16 |
|
QR.C19051.Instance.INITIATIVES.11 is incorrectly triggering where the Instance.INITIATIVES field has not been returned. |
Resolved | 2020-03-31 | 2020-04-09 |
|
|
| Release ID | Release date | Release summary |
|---|---|---|
| 51 | 04-Nov-2020 |
Institutional Information report (Item 4a) - data under 'First Degree' and 'Other Undergraduate' column headers have been swapped around to correct. Campus report Item 2 Student Instance apportionment table calculation corrected to match the Item 1 Total. |
| 50 | 21 Oct 2020 |
The following rules have been amended in this release:
|
| 49 | 10 Oct 2020 |
The National Student Survey (NSS) (draft) and the Unistats reports are now available from the Data Collection dashboard (these will be visible when a new file is submitted). The Sign-off form is available for Credible transactions. The following rules have been added/amended in this release:
|
| 48 | 24 Sep 2020 |
The Frequency counts report (Occurrences of valid entries) is now available from the Data Collection dashboard (this will be visible when a new file is submitted). An update has been made to the XTPOINTS library, correcting the tariff points for the combination QUALGRADE 7V, QUALGRADE P. This is used in several validation rules. The DfE WEBAPI (that sends details of ITT students submitted in the collection to the DfE) is now available to the DfE. There has been an update of the Office for National Statistics and UKRLP lookup tables, which will update information in postcode validation and provider information (used in quality rules PREVINST.8, TINST.9/10, COLPROV.1). The following rules have been added/amended in this release:
Please note that the IRIS reports (output files provided by the OfS, HEFCW and SFC) are available from the Data Collection dashboard. |
| 47 | 10 Sep 2020 |
The following rules have been added/amended in this release:
|
| 46 | 27 Aug 2020 |
The Cost Centre Analysis Table (comparing cost centres returned across collections), and the PGR Transfers IN report (for providers with collaborative provision) are now available from the Data Collection Dashboard. These will appear when a new file is submitted. The following rules have been added/amended in this release:
The following Credibility reports have been amended:
|
| 45 | 13 Aug 2020 |
Credibility reports are now available, with the following amendments made:
A lot of static data has been updated, including: Franchise partners, UKPRN, URN, StarJ data, Provider Profile, OfS fees data and Research Council numbers. The following rules have been added/amended in this release:
|
| 44 | 31 Jul 2020 |
The following reports are now available from the Data Collection Dashboard and will appear when a new file is submitted:
Additionally last year's Check documentation excel workbook has been replaced by three new web reports (displaying the same information as each of the Check documentation tabs, and persisting with the same Check documentation table numbers, and including an excel download for each report). These are now available from the Data Collection Dashboard and will appear when a new file is submitted:
The following Continuity rules have been added/amended in this release:
|
| 43 | 16 Jul 2020 |
The Data Supply report (identifying raw data and derived fields) is now available from the Data Collection Dashboard and will appear when a new file is submitted. The following validation/quality rules have been added/amended in this release:
|
| 42 | 02 Jul 2020 |
A number of Static data tables have been updated to enable exception rules:
The following validation/quality rules have been added/amended in this release:
|
| 41 | 18 Jun 2020 |
A number of Exception rules have been enabled following on from Student derived field development. The following validation/quality rules have been added/amended in this release:
|
| 40 | 04 Jun 2020 |
The Validation kit has been updated in line with the C19051 coding manual version 1.4 schema update. |
| 39 | 21 May 2020 |
The latest version of the XTPOINTS library has been added to the domain to ensure validation matches the complete list of QualificationsOnEntry.QUALTYPES listed in the coding manual. |
| 38 | 07 May 2020 |
The Validation kit has been updated in line with the C19051 coding manual version 1.3 schema update. The following validation/quality rules have been added/amended in this release:
The Entry Profile report, showing missing Entry profile data, has been updated for 2019/20 and is now available. |
| 37 | 23 Apr 2020 |
The following validation/quality rules have been added/amended in this release:
|
| 36 | 09 Apr 2020 |
The latest version of the XTPOINTS library has been added to the domain to ensure validation matches the complete list of QualificationsOnEntry.QUALTYPES listed in the coding manual. The following validation/quality rules have been added/amended in this release:
|
| 35 | 26 Mar 2020 |
This release includes a number of updates to the Quality Rules:
|
| 34 | 12 Mar 2020 |
The Data Collection System for the C19051 Student collection is now open, to enable the submission of data. The Quality rules and Quality rules compare reports are available. Further functionality will follow. The Validation kit has been updated in line with the C19051 coding manual version 1.2 schema update. Please note that all rules referencing the JACs coding frame have not yet been updated to HECoS valid entries. These will follow in subsequent releases. The data entry tool is live. This is the program which will produce XML data in the format required for submission to HESA. The link will be added to the next release of the coding manual, but can be downloaded here: https://cdn.hesa.ac.uk/downloads/C19051/C19051XmlDataEntryTool.msi This update includes the following business rule updates:
|
| 33 | 26 Feb 2020 |
The *J data for UCAS file has been loaded into the system for 2019/20. This is used in various quality rules. The following Quality Rules have been amended in this release:
|
| 32 | 13 Feb 2020 |
The following Quality Rules have been amended in this release:
|
| 31 | 29 Jan 2020 | This release includes:
Please note that access to the data collection system is governed by the Identity system. Users will need to ensure that they have the relevant permissions attached to their Identity system account in order to access the data collection system. The following quality rules have been deleted (due to the removal of the fields for 2019/20):
|
| 30 | 16 Jan 2020 |
The HUSID Lookup Service is now available. |
A high-level summary of the C19051 major component releases are highlighted below. This is a guide to the proposed sequence of releases only, and releases may occur before or after the month indicated depending on internal and external factors:
January
- HUSID lookup service
- Roll-on of collection
- Validation kit with rolled on business rules from the previous year
February
- * J for UCAS loaded into the system for validation
- Business rules to match coding manual schema and coverage updates
March
- Business rules to match coding manual schema and coverage updates
- Opening of the Data Collection System with rules and rule compare functionality
April
- Business rules to match coding manual schema and coverage updates
- Rolled-on exception rules that are not depended upon derived fields
- Continuity Register update
- Derived field development
May/June/July
- Further quality rule updates
- Further release of exception rules following derived field development
- Entry Profile, Data Supply, PGR transfers In/Out report, Continuity (A, B, C) and Expected Instances reports
- Credibility reports roll-on, Frequency Counts reports
- Exception rule updates using available external static data
- IRIS reports
- Cost Centre, Campus, Collaborative Franchise, Institutional information tables
- DfE webservice
- Credibility reports updates
- Revisions to XTPOINTs appendix
August
- Unistats, NSS reports
- Commit functionality and Sign-off form
Stages of data submission
A. Sending data
Send data by clicking on the 'send data' button in the data collection system. Note that actions not currently available will be greyed out.
Browse your computer to locate the file you wish to submit, and upload the file to the data collection system.
Tips:
- Files can have any name
- Files must be in XML and conform to the relevant XML Schema Definition (XSD) file
- Files can be compressed using PKZip/WinZip which will significantly reduce the upload time
- Only a single file can be held on the system.
B. Validation
Automated validation checks (quality rules) will now run.
Further details on the quality rules which apply to this collection can be found in the coding manual.
The Quality rules report will contain the details of any rules triggered by the submission. Make any necessary amendments to the data and resubmit the file to the system. To pass validation, the file must not trigger any validation errors.
You can run some of these validation checks through our validation kit before submitting data to the data collection system. The kit enables you to test your data locally against schema and business stage validation rules prior to submission. You are strongly encouraged to use the validation kit as part of your data preparations.
Remember that you need to process and pass the business-stage validation in order to meet the requirements of the return deadline.
How to obtain a switch
When errors are triggered in the Data Collection system but the data has been checked and is genuine, you need to request a switch. This is because your file will not pass the validation requirements of the collection deadlines if there are any remaining errors.
Please email your switch request to Liaison, stating which rule is causing the error to be triggered and for how many records, together with an explanation as to why the data is genuine.
This will then be forwarded to your funding council/regulator for them to review. They may agree the switch, ask for more information or state how they wish the data to be returned so that an error is no longer triggered.
This request should be sent well in advance of any deadline, to allow sufficient time for a decision to be made.
When a switch has been agreed, it will be applied to your data for the count specified and the data will be reprocessed. This will resolve the error.
If the count increases, the rule will be triggered again, and you will need to request that the count on the switch be increased. This will be forwarded to your funding council/regulator for approval.
To proceed to the next stage in the submission process, a valid file needs to have been submitted. The data will then be classed as 'committable' and the option to process a COMMIT transaction will be made available through the data collection system.
Prior to committing data, you should review all of the reports produced on the data collection system and make any necessary corrections to the data.
The COMMIT transaction sends a copy of your submission to our data quality assurance team and, where appropriate, to the relevant funding council. We analyse your return in parallel with your own analysis.
Decommitting
A passed commit transaction will lock the system to prevent the data from being amended. This is to allow our data quality assurance team to analyse the submission. To unlock the system you will need to request a DECOMMIT transaction.
Request a decommit by email or on +44 (0)1242 388531
Remember that you need to process and pass a COMMIT transaction in order to meet the requirements of the commit deadline.
Once we have analysed your committed return, data quality queries will be posted onto the Issue Management System data quality database. Relevant users will be notified by email when these queries are available to view. The Issue Management System user guide provides help on using the Issue Management System.
Once your data has passed all the stages of validation, and any issues highlighted during credibility checking have been addressed, we will set the return to CREDIBLE. This produces the sign-off form.
When data is set to credible, a link to the sign-off form is automatically emailed to the head of the submitting organisation as well as the appropriate record contact. The form should be completed and signed by the head of the reporting organisation and returned to us by email or post. This verification offers both you and us assurances regarding onward use of the data.
Sign-off completes the data collection process.