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Student Alternative 2021/22 - End date of instance

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Student Alternative 2021/22

Fields required from institutions in All fields

End date of instance


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Typefield
Short nameENDDATE
Description

This field records the date the student left the student instance detailed in this return. Exchange-in students should have the date they finished their studies at the reporting provider.

Applicable toEngland
Coverage

All instances.

Notes

All date fields in the Student Alternative record must be completed using the ISO8601 format of YYYY-MM-DD. The specification of this field falls within the scope of the Aligned Data Definitions and follows the Data Standards in the HESA Student Alternative record.

This field is mandatory. If the instance has not ended, an empty element should be returned with neither characters nor spaces within it:

           <ENDDATE></ENDDATE>

The ENDDATE should reflect the student’s final engagement with the course. For many students this will be when they complete the taught or formally structured part of their course, including planned exam periods and any formal writing-up period. Other scenarios are however subsequently outlined. The ENDDATE will also be recorded differently for research students, given the less structured nature of their courses. Further information is provided below.

A date is not required in cases where a student transfers from one course to another within the same student instance. Guidance on when a new student instance is required is given in Instance.NUMHUS. Normally where a student progresses from one course directly onto another at the same level (e.g. HND to Degree) a new student instance is not required and hence this field would not be completed.

An entry in this field means that an entry in Instance.RSNEND will also be expected.

Where a student withdraws from a course, the date they leave the course should be used as their Instance.ENDDATE. Sometimes there will be a delay in knowing whether or not a student has left a course. Where the precise date of the student leaving is not known, the date of the end of the month, term or semester in which the student last attended should be given.

For the purpose of HESA returns, completing an instance is defined as being the point at which the taught or structured part of the instance, including planned exam periods and any formal writing-up period, is completed, i.e. once the student is no longer actively following the course, and not any later stage after the structured end to the course such as, for example, re-sits or final confirmation of award. This may mean that Instance.RSNEND is completed using code 98 'Completion of course – result unknown’.

Where students have not withdrawn from a course, but have completed the taught or formally structured element and are expected at a later date to undertake the assessment necessary to gain a qualification, they should in the last instance period returned be coded as InstancePeriod.NOTACT = 1 – 'Student has suspended studies'. This would be applicable in situations where, for example, a student completes 2 years of teaching on a HND course and is allowed additional time to complete their assignments. The student should be returned as InstancePeriod.NOTACT = 1 at the end of the teaching period. At this point, Instance.RSNEND and QualificationsAwarded.QUAL should not be completed, as the outcome for the student is not known and they have neither qualified nor withdrawn. Once the outcome for the student is known (in a subsequent reporting period) the student should be returned again, with Instance.RSNEND, qualifications awarded data (if applicable) and Instance.ENDDATE completed. The end date should back-dated to the point when teaching finished.

Resit Exams and/or Results from Late Exam Boards

Students who complete their instance by 31 July but who have resit examinations to take and/or whose final confirmation of award by exam boards may be after this date should be returned to HESA as leavers, with an ENDDATE in the reporting period ending 31 July. If their results are known before the Student Alternative record data collection closes, these results should be included in the return. Records for such students will be included in the Graduate Outcomes survey population (assuming that they meet all other criteria and the institution is submitting data wholly or in part for publication on Unistats). However, if the results are not known before the Student Alternative record data collection closes, a record should be submitted with a ENDDATE in the reporting period ending 31 July completed and code 98 'Completion of course - result unknown' in Instance.RSNEND. Once known, these results should be returned in the next reporting period. The date returned in ENDDATE must be the original ENDDATE and not be updated. Records returned in this way will not be included in the Graduate Outcomes survey population.

Research Students

For research students, the award should be recorded when the provider's Senate, or other body or person empowered, formally approves the award. For such students this field should be completed with the same date.

Rescinded awards

Following the completion of an instance, a student may receive an award and will be returned with an Instance.ENDDATE and QualificationsAwarded entity. However, if this award is rescinded and the student then goes on to receive a subsequent award for the same instance, the Instance.ENDDATE should only be updated if the student has completed further activity that would be considered a taught or structured part of the same instance e.g., re-taking modules. This is to ensure providers are returning an accurate record of what the student achieved.

If the student receives a subsequent award for the same instance without engaging in any further activity that would be considered a taught or structured part of the same instance, e.g. following an appeal, the Instance.ENDDATE would not be updated when returning the QualificationsAwarded entity.

Quality rules
Quality rules to follow
Reason required To determine whether to include a student in any particular population definition. To calculate the duration of a student's education. Used in analyses to determine students who are active in any given academic year.
Part of
Field length10
Minimum occurrences1
Maximum occurrences1
Schema components
Element: ENDDATE
Data type: DateType
Related fields
OwnerInformation Standards Board - Aligned Data Definitions
Version1.0

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