Back to C20071

Data collection schedule

Version 1.1 Produced 2022-03-24

Contents: At a glance | Detailed requirements

At a glance

This page guides providers through the main stages for the submission of accurate contact details for the Graduate Outcomes Contact Details record.

Graduates are split into four cohorts depending on the date that they completed their studies. Their cohort will determine when they are surveyed and when the provider will need to return accurate personal contact details for graduates.

For C20071, the cohorts are as follow:

Once graduate contact details have been submitted and pass validation in the provider portal, they will need to be approved in order to be used for surveying. Further guidance on approval can be found in the provider portal user guide. The approval deadlines for each cohort are as follows:

From the C19071 collection, the auto approval function will no longer run for English FECs. This means providers must visit the provider portal by the appropriate deadline and complete the approval process. We notified providers of this change by email on 23 March 2020 and remind EFECs by email at regular opportunities.

For more information about this change, visit the dedicated information page for English FECs or read more about the approval process in the provider portal user guide.

Further information about the timing of the survey is available at: www.hesa.ac.uk/innovation/outcomes/providers/timing

At a glance - key dates

Detailed requirements

Graduate Outcomes population file

For those providers who return student data to HESA, the population file for all cohorts will be automatically generated from your Student or Student Alternative return.

When the provider portal opens for cohort A, the population file is subject to change while Student / Student Alternative submissions are still being made. Upon the upload of a valid Student / Student Alternative file to the Data Collection System, the provider portal will update the population file overnight and it will then be available to download. The transaction number of the corresponding Student / Student Alternative file is displayed in the title of the population file on the provider portal.

Please note that for cohort A the population file will not be finalised until the corresponding Student Alternative (CXX054) or Student record (CXX051) have been signed off. Therefore, Graduate Outcomes Record Contacts are advised to liaise with colleagues responsible for submitting student data to HESA, to confirm the final population for cohort A.

For Further Education Colleges (FECs) the information for the population file will be taken from the appropriate student data collection. For Northern Irish FECs this is provided by DfENI from the Consolidated Data Return (CDR). For English FECs, the population file and contact details are provided by the OfS from the Individualised Learner Record (ILR).

Provider portal opens

The Graduate Outcomes (C20071) provider portal will open by 30 September 2021 for providers to begin uploading contact details for cohort A graduates and to allow providers to personalise their survey.

Cohort B, C, and D will be opened by the end of the respective months displayed, to allow for contact details to be uploaded for the relevant cohorts.

Contact details can only be returned for opened cohorts.

Access to the Provider Portal is granted by the Graduate Outcomes record contact via the HESA Identity System. An email will be sent to inform relevant colleagues when the Provider Portal becomes available. Please note that ahead of the collection opening, Graduate Outcomes record contacts are required to complete the Grantable Roles Review in the HESA Identity System. Further information on the review can be found in the IDS User Guide.

Submission period

The submission period will run from when the provider portal opens until the approval deadline. It is the process in which providers will validate their submissions on the provider portal to ensure the accuracy of the personal contact data of graduates. Guidance has been created to help providers determine what is acceptable as accurate personal contact details.

Opt-in bank confirmation

Providers can select additional opt-in question banks in the provider portal. The deadline for confirming provider opt-in question banks is 22 October 2021 and these will be added to the survey for all cohorts for C20071.

Approval deadline

Before valid contact details can be used for surveying, they must be approved for use by the provider. Once the Student or Student Alternative record has been signed off, then the ability to approve these contact details will become available on the system. The provider will need to approve these contact details by pressing the approval button on the system.

The approval deadline and quality assurance periods for Student and Student Alternative are different for cohort A as the Student (CXX051) and Student Alternative (CXX054) collections have different sign-off dates. Therefore, as contact details can only be approved for use once providers Student and Student Alternative collections have been signed off, we have allowed an equal number of days for providers after their respective collection sign-off deadlines to approve their contact details.

Please note that for English FECs, from C19071, the auto-approval functionality is switched off. English FECs are required to review all contact details submitted to ensure that they are accurate and up to date, resolve any validation issues and approve their contact details by the approval deadline.

Providers must approve a valid submission of contact details for use in line with the respective deadlines set. Once the deadline is met, providers will be able to approve any updated contact details submissions.

Ad-hoc update period

If providers obtain updated contact details for graduates after the approval deadline and during contact period, they will be able to use this period to update them in the provider portal. Once updated, they will need to press the approval button again to approve these updated contact details for use.

Final updates deadline

Providers will be allowed to update contact details where necessary up until the ‘final updates’ deadline specified for each cohort.

Providers who update contact details past this point should be aware that there may not be sufficient time for HESA to make contact with graduates using these new details.

Need help?

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