Definitions - Higher Education Statistics 2003/04

Rounding strategy

Due to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Human Rights Act 1998, HESA implements a strategy in published and released tabulations designed to prevent the disclosure of personal information about any individual. These tabulations are derived from the HESA non-statutory populations and may differ slightly from those published by related statutory bodies. This strategy involves rounding all numbers to the nearest 5. A summary of this strategy is as follows:

1. 0, 1, 2 are rounded to 0
2. All other numbers are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5.

So for example 3 is represented as 5, 22 is represented as 20, 3286 is represented as 3285 while 0, 20, 55, 3510 remain unchanged.

This rounding strategy is also applied to total figures; the consequence of which is that the sum of numbers in each row or column will rarely match the total shown precisely. Note that subject level data calculated by apportionment will also be rounded in accordance with this strategy.

Average values, proportions and FTE values prepared by HESA are not subject to the above strategy, and will be calculated on precise raw numbers. However, percentages calculated on populations which contain 52 or fewer individuals will be suppressed and represented as '..' as will averages based on populations of 7 or less.

A. HESA Student data

Coverage

Higher education (HE) students are those students on programmes of study for which the level of instruction is above that of level 3 of the National Qualifications Framework, i.e. courses leading to the Advanced Level of the General Certificate of Education (GCE A-levels), the Advanced Level of the Vocational Certificate of Education (VCE A-levels) or the Advanced Higher Grade and Higher Grade of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) Advanced Highers/Highers.

The HESA Student Record contains information about individual enrolments, which, because a student can be enrolled on more than one programme of study, will exceed the number of students. Postdoctoral students are not included in the HESA Student Record.

The HESA session HE population (Table 1) has been derived from the HESA Student Record. It includes all higher education enrolments active at any point in the academic year 1 August 2003 to 31 July 2004 except:

1. Dormant students (those who have ceased studying but have not formally de-registered)
2. Incoming visiting and exchange students
3. Students studying for the whole of their programme of study outside of the UK.

Since 2000/01 incoming visiting and exchange students have been excluded from the session population due to the fact that there was an element of double-counting with both outgoing and incoming students being included in previous analyses.

The HESA standard registration population (Tables 0 to 7 and 18) has been derived from the HESA Student Record and ensures that similar activity is counted in a similar way irrespective of when it occurs. The population splits the student experience into ‘years of programme of study’; the first year of which is deemed to start on the commencement date of the programme with second, and subsequent years, starting on, or near, the anniversary of that date. Registrations are counted once for each ‘year of programme of study’. Short course registrations are counted in the standard registration population regardless of whether they are active on the 1 December of the reporting period. However students who leave within 2 weeks of their start date, or anniversary of their start date, and are on a course of more than two weeks duration, are not included in the standard registration population. Dormant students, incoming visiting and exchange students from overseas and students studying for the whole of their programme of study outside of the UK are also excluded from this population.

The HESA qualifications obtained population (Tables 5 and 8) is a count of student enrolments associated with the award of an HE qualification (excluding HE institutional credits) during the period 1 August 2003 to 31 July 2004 inclusive. This population includes qualifications obtained during the 2003/04 reporting year, which were returned to HESA by 10 November 2004.

Since 2000/01 onwards the qualifications obtained population excludes qualifications awarded to incoming visiting and exchange students. This population also now includes awards from dormant students.

Data relating to qualifications obtained cannot therefore be directly compared to the HESA standard registration population as it is possible for a student who has obtained his or her qualification prior to 1 December 2003 to be included in Tables 5 and 8 but excluded from Tables 1 to 4, 6, 7 and 18 (similarly a student can commence a programme of study and obtain a qualification after 1 December 2003).

Further education

Further education (FE) students are those students on programmes of study for which the level of instruction is equal to or below that of level 3 of the National Qualifications Framework, i.e. courses leading to the Advanced Level of the General Certificate of Education (GCE A-levels), the Advanced Level of the Vocational Certificate of Education (VCE A-levels) or the Advanced Higher Grade and Higher Grade of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA Advanced Highers/Highers).

Full-time equivalent

Student full-time equivalent (FTE) data represents the institution's assessment of the full-time equivalence of the student during the reporting year 1 August 2003 to 31 July 2004. FTE data is based on the HESA session population.

Level of course

Courses have been allocated to two categories, HE and FE. HE courses are those programmes of study for which the level of instruction is above that of level 3 of the National Qualifications Framework, i.e. courses leading to GCE A-levels, VCE A-levels or SQA Advanced Highers/Highers. FE courses are those programmes of study for which the level of instruction is equal to or below that of courses leading to HE level as described above.

Mode of study

Full-time students are those normally required to attend an institution for periods amounting to at least 24 weeks within the year of programme of study, on thick or thin sandwich courses, and those on a study-related year out of their institution. During that time students are normally expected to undertake periods of study, tuition or work experience which amount to an average of at least 21 hours per week.

Part-time students are those recorded as studying part-time, or studying full-time on courses lasting less than 24 weeks, on block release, or studying during the evenings only.

Other modes of study include those students writing-up theses or on sabbatical, except where these have been tabulated separately.

Writing-up students are those who are normally expected to submit a thesis to the institution for examination within a period of one calendar year (or 18 months in the case of part-time students) after the end of fee-paying enrolment.

Level of study

The level of study is taken from the qualification aim of the student.

Postgraduate programmes of study are those leading to higher degrees, diplomas and certificates (including Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) and professional qualifications) and usually require that entrants are already qualified to degree level (i.e. already qualified at level 3 of the National Qualifications Framework).

Higher degrees include doctorates, masters degrees and higher bachelors degrees.

In analyses where postgraduate level of study is disaggregated into postgraduate research and postgraduate taught, the following groupings are used:

Postgraduate research where the qualification aim is a research-based higher degree. These programmes of study include doctorate, masters, postgraduate bachelors degrees and postgraduate diplomas or certificates (not PGCE) studied mainly by research.

Postgraduate taught where the qualification aim is a taught higher degree. These programmes of study include doctorates, masters, postgraduate bachelors degrees and postgraduate diplomas or certificates studied not mainly by research including PGCE and professional qualifications.

Other postgraduate includes postgraduate diplomas, certificates and professional qualifications, PGCE, institutional postgraduate credits and no formal postgraduate qualifications.

Undergraduate programmes of study are first degrees with or without eligibility to register to practice with a Health or Social Care or Veterinary statutory regulatory body, first degrees with qualified teacher status (QTS)/registration with the General Teaching Council (GTC), enhanced first degrees, first degrees obtained concurrently with a diploma and intercalated first degrees, foundation degrees, diplomas in HE with eligibility to register to practice with a Health or Social Care regulatory body, Higher National Diploma (HND), Higher National Certificate (HNC), Diploma of Higher Education (DipHE), Certificate of Higher Education (CertHE), foundation courses at HE level, NVQ/SVQ levels 4 and 5, post-degree diplomas and certificates at undergraduate level, professional qualifications at undergraduate level and other undergraduate diplomas and certificates including post registration health and social care courses. Entrants to these programmes of study do not usually require an HE qualification.

First degree includes first degrees with or without eligibility to register to practice with a Health or Social Care or Veterinary statutory regulatory body, first degrees with QTS/registration with the GTC, enhanced first degrees, first degrees obtained concurrently with a diploma and intercalated first degrees.

Other undergraduate includes qualification aims below degree level such as Foundation Degrees, diplomas in HE with eligibility to register to practice with a Health or Social Care regulatory body, HND, HNC, DipHE, CertHE, foundation courses at HE level, NVQ/SVQ levels 4 and 5, post-degree diplomas and certificates at undergraduate level, professional qualifications at undergraduate level, other undergraduate diplomas and certificates including post registration health and social care courses, other formal HE qualifications of less than degree standard, institutional undergraduate credit and no formal undergraduate qualifications.

First year students

First year students are based on the HESA standard registration population who commenced their programme of study in the reporting period relevant to the data collection year.

Domicile

Domicile data is supplied to HESA in the form of postcodes (UK domiciled students) or country codes. Postcodes are mapped to counties, unitary authorities and UK nations following consultation with Geoplan Postcode Marketing. Countries are mapped to geographical regions following consultation with the Department for Education and Skills. Where no data is supplied about the student’s domicile, fee eligibility is used to determine whether domicile is European Union (EU), including the UK, or not.

UK domiciled students are those whose normal residence is in the UK, including the Channel Islands and Isle of Man.

Of those students who are not UK domiciled, other EU students are those whose normal residence is in countries which were EU members as at 1 December of the reporting period. Non-EU students are those whose normal residence prior to commencing their programme of study was outside the EU.

Age

Age is as at 31 August 2003.

Subject areas

In 2002/03 a new subject classification was introduced called the Joint Academic Coding System (JACS). This subject classification looks similar to that previously published but has been devised in a different way. Therefore subject data is not comparable to that previously published.

Additionally, from 2002/03, a new procedure of apportionment has been introduced. Under apportionment, each headcount is, where necessary, divided in a way that in broad-brush terms reflects the pattern of a split programme. This is analogous to the use of FTE calculations, but should not be confused with them, since the splits used for apportionment are conventional rather than data-based.

For split programmes not involving an initial teacher training (ITT) component, the apportionment algorithm is as follows:

• 50%:50% for a balanced two-way split
• 66.667%:33.333% for a major/minor two-way split
• 33.333%:33.333%:33.333% for a balanced three-way split.

ITT students at undergraduate level who also have a specialism subject recorded (typically, secondary ITT students) are apportioned 50% to the ‘Education’ subject area and the remaining 50% is further apportioned according to the algorithm for non-ITT students. Where no subject other than education is recorded, or where the student is on a PGCE course, apportionment is 100% to the ‘Education’ subject area.

The 19 broad subject areas have been retained. Further details have been outlined in the HESA Student Circular 02/03 'Subject Areas and Related Issues'.

Highest qualification on entry

It should be noted that a student’s highest qualification on entry is not necessarily that which was required for entry to the programme of study.

Categories used are:

Postgraduate qualifications (excluding PGCE) includes all postgraduate degrees, diplomas and certificates excluding the PGCE.

PGCE - with and without QTS/GTC registration.

First degree of UK institution - plus undergraduate qualifications with QTS.

Other graduate and equivalent qualifications include graduate qualifications obtained outside the UK, GNVQ/GSVQ level 5, NVQ/SVQ level 5 plus any other qualifications at graduate level not listed above.

HE credits include Open University credits and credits from other UK HE institutions.

Other HE and professional qualifications include certificates and diplomas of education, Foundation degrees, HNC or HND (including BTEC and SCOTVEC equivalents), diplomas in HE, GNVQ/GSVQ level 4, NVQ/SVQ level 4, professional qualifications, foundation courses at HE level and other HE qualifications of less than degree standard.

GCE A-level/A-level equivalent qualifications, SQA Highers and equivalent include any combination of these qualifications plus GNVQ/GSVQ level 3, NVQ/SVQ level 3, BTEC and SCOTVEC National Certificate/Diploma (ONC/OND).

Access courses are those validated by an Authorised Validating Agency licensed by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), and other accredited and unaccredited courses.

GCSE/O-level qualifications only; SCE O grades and SQA Standard grades include any combination of these qualifications.

Other qualifications include Baccalaureate, foundation courses at FE level and any other qualifications not listed above.

No formal qualification held - the institution does not require the student to hold a qualification on entry or it is known that the student has no formal qualification.

Not known/sought - nothing is known about the student’s qualifications on entry to their programme of study.

Location of institution

The allocation of an institution to a geographical region is done by reference to the administrative centre of that institution. There may be students registered at institutions who are studying in regions other than that of the administrative centre of the institution. The Open University is counted as a wholly English institution. The administrative centre is located in England, although The Open University teaches throughout the UK.

Classification of first degrees

The classification of an undergraduate degree indicates the qualification class that the student obtained. Certain qualifications obtained at first degree level are not subject to classification of award, notably medical and general degrees. These, together with ordinary degrees, have been included within the unclassified category. Third class honours, fourth class honours and the pass category have been aggregated. Lower second and undivided second class honours have been aggregated.

Major source of tuition fees

The tuition fee awards indicates the predominant source of the tuition fees for the student where this is known. This includes fees from UK government, research councils, EU sources and other sources.

Open University change in reporting practice

Data returned by the Open University in 2003/04 now provides a split between part-time first degree students and other undergraduate students. This is due to changes in reporting practice made according to HEFCE funding requirements. Previously students taking Open University credits were returned as studying at other undergraduate level or other postgraduate level, although the credits gained could count towards the award of a first degree or postgraduate degree. In 2003/04 Open University students were reported according to their recorded award intention and the broad subject of that award intention at the HESA return date. It should be noted that Open University students do not have to declare an award intention and many are still reported as studying for institutional credit within the "combined" subject of study. This has had the affect of apparently reducing part-time other undergraduate numbers. This has also affected the number of records returned as students who linked modules to two distinct qualification aims have been returned in two records. It should, however, be noted that the qualifications obtained tables have not been affected in such a dramatic way because the changes in reporting practice only affects enrolment data.

B. HESA Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) data

Coverage

The HESA Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) target population contains all United Kingdom (UK) and European Union (EU) domiciled students reported to HESA for the reporting period 1 August 2003 to 31 July 2004 as obtaining relevant qualifications and whose study was full-time or part-time (including sandwich students and those writing up theses). Awards from dormant status are not included in the target population. The coverage differs from the population used in previous years for the First Destination Supplement (FDS) in a number of ways. Notably, those who obtained any of the relevant qualifications following part-time study are now included, together with those obtaining postgraduate diplomas and certificates (full-time or part-time).

Relevant qualifications for inclusion in the DLHE return are postgraduate degrees, postgraduate diplomas and certificates, Postgraduate Certificates in Education (PGCE), first degrees (excludes intercalated degrees), Diplomas of Higher Education (DipHE), Certificates of Higher Education (CertHE), Foundation degrees, Higher National Diplomas (HND) or Higher National Certificates (HNC). The population for the DLHE return does not necessarily represent the full cohort graduating during the reporting period: examples of those excluded are professional qualifications (e.g. associate membership or membership of a body such as the Institute of Bankers) and undergraduate diplomas and certificates (other than foundation degrees, HND, DipHE, HNC and CertHE).

The reference dates for this years DLHE return were 15 April 2004 (if the leaver obtained the qualification between 1 August 2003 and 31 December 2003) and 14 January 2005 (if the leaver obtained the qualification between 1 January 2004 and 31 July 2004).

Level of qualification obtained

Postgraduate qualifications are doctorate degrees, masters degrees, higher bachelors degrees, postgraduate diplomas and certificates, and PGCEs. In some analyses doctorate degrees and PGCEs are tabulated separately, and masters degrees, other higher degrees, postgraduate diplomas and certificates form another group.

First degrees are first degrees, first degrees with eligibility to register to practice (doctor/dentist/veterinary surgeon), first degrees with qualified teacher status (QTS)/registration with the General Teaching Council (GTC) for Scotland, enhanced first degrees and first degrees obtained concurrently with diplomas.

Other undergraduate qualifications are foundation degrees and all other higher education qualifications not included above which are within the scope of the DLHE return.

Mode of study

Full-time includes full-time and sandwich study, plus those writing-up theses following full-time study.

Part-time includes part-time study, full-time study on courses lasting less than 24 weeks, block release or studying during the evenings, plus those writing up theses following part-time study.

Age

Age is as at 31 July 2004.

Subject areas

In 2002/03 a new subject classification was introduced called the Joint Academic Coding System (JACS). This subject classification looks similar to that previously published but has been devised in a different way. Therefore subject data is not comparable to that previously published.

Additionally, from 2002/03, a new procedure of apportionment has been introduced. Under apportionment, each headcount is, where necessary, divided in a way that in broad-brush terms reflects the pattern of a split programme. This is analogous to the use of FTE calculations, but should not be confused with them, since the splits used for apportionment are conventional rather than data-based.

For split programmes not involving an initial teacher training (ITT) component, the apportionment algorithm is as follows:

• 50%:50% for a balanced two-way split
• 66.667%:33.333% for a major/minor two-way split
• 33.333%:33.333%:33.333% for a balanced three-way split.

ITT students at undergraduate level who also have a specialism subject recorded (typically, secondary ITT students) are apportioned 50% to the ‘Education’ subject area and the remaining 50% is further apportioned according to the algorithm for non-ITT students. Where no subject other than education is recorded, or where the student is on a PGCE course, apportionment is 100% to the ‘Education’ subject area.

The 19 broad subject areas have been retained. Further details have been outlined in the HESA Student Circular 02/03 'Subject Areas and Related Issues'.

Employment categories

In the DLHE survey leavers are able to report separately what they are doing in relation to both employment and study and a matrix of possible outcomes is constructed. This matrix is used to define the key categories of outcomes such as employed and unemployed.

As leavers report separately what they are doing in relation to employment and further study, it is possible to be involved in either employment only, further study only or employment and further study. Therefore where the terms employment and further study are used, it is important to note that:

• Employment includes those in employment only, and those in both employment and further study
• Further study includes those in further study only, and those in both employment and further study.

Matrix of standard categories for publication from DLHE

Employment circumstances	Full-time study (1)	Part-time study (2)	Not in study (3)
Employed full-time (01)	D	D	A
Employed part-time (02)	D	D	B
Self-employed/Freelance (03)	D	D	A
Voluntary work (04)	D	D	C
Other unpaid work (05)	D	D	C
Permanently unable to work (06)	G	G	G
Temporarily sick or unable to work (07)	E	E	G
Retired (08)	G	G	G
Looking after the home or family (09)	E	E	G
Taking time out in order to travel (10)	G	G	G
Due to start a job within the next month (11)	E	F	F
Unemployed and looking for employment, further study or training (12)	E	F	F
Not employed but NOT looking for employment, further study or training (13)	E	E	O
Something else (14)	E	E	O
Explicit refusal (XX)	X	X	X

Publication categories

Full-time paid work only (including self-employed)	A
Part-time paid work only	B
Voluntary/Unpaid work only	C
Work and further study	D
Further study only	E
Assumed to be unemployed	F
Not available for employment	G
Other	O
Explicit refusal	X

Employment

Employment only includes those graduates who reported that they were in full-time paid work (including self-employed/freelance), part-time paid work, voluntary or unpaid work, and who were not also in study, training or research.

Full-time employment only includes those who reported that they were in full-time paid work (including self-employed/freelance) and who were not also in study, training or research.

Combination of work and further study includes those who reported that they were in full-time paid work (including self-employed/freelance), part-time paid work, voluntary or unpaid work, and who were also in full-time or part-time study, training or research.

Unemployment

Assumed to be unemployed includes those students who gave their employment circumstances as unemployed and looking for employment, further study or training, and who were also either in part-time study, training or research or not studying, plus those who were due to start a job within the next month and who were also either in part-time study, training or research or not studying.

Further study

Further study only includes those who gave their employment circumstances as temporarily sick or unable to work, looking after the home or family, not employed but not looking for employment, further study or training, or something else and who were also either in full-time or part-time study, training or research, plus those who were due to start a job within the next month or unemployed and looking for employment, further study or training and who were also in full-time study, training or research.

Location of employment

This field describes the location of the HE leaver's place of work. Data is supplied to HESA in the form of postcodes for employment in the UK or country codes. Postcodes are mapped to unitary authorities, government office regions and UK countries using the National Statistics Gridlink® ‘All Fields’ Postcode Directory (AFPD). Countries are mapped to geographical regions following consultation with the Department for Education and Skills.

The Standard Occupational Classification

In 2003 HESA adopted the new SOC2000 Standard Occupational Classification (which replaced SOC90), for comparability of sector data with other areas of the economy. A variant of the SOC2000 was created for the coding of occupational information collected in the DLHE survey. The classification is termed SOC (DLHE) and details are available on the HESA website.

C. HESA Non-credit-bearing (NCB) course data

Coverage

The figures contained in Table 10 relate to student enrolments on courses with the reporting institution or a subsidiary company (excluding in-house courses for institutional employees) which do not lead to a qualification or institutional credit. These enrolments were reported to HESA during the reporting period 1 August 2003 to 31 July 2004.

Level of course

Courses have been allocated to two categories, HE/advanced and FE/non-advanced. HE/advanced courses are defined as those for which the level of instruction is above that of courses leading to GCE A-levels, SCE Highers, ONC and OND. All levels includes, in addition to the above, courses which were classed as mixed HE/FE and courses for which the level could not be determined.

Subject areas

In 2002/03 a new subject classification was introduced called the Joint Academic Coding System (JACS). This subject classification looks similar to that previously published but has been devised in a different way. Therefore subject data is not comparable to that previously published.

Additionally, from 2002/03, a new procedure of apportionment has been introduced. Under apportionment, each headcount is, where necessary, divided in a way that in broad-brush terms reflects the pattern of a split programme. This is analogous to the use of FTE calculations, but should not be confused with them, since the splits used for apportionment are conventional rather than data-based.

For split non-credit bearing courses the apportionment algorithm is as follows:

• 50%:50% for a two-way split
• 66.667%:33.333% for a major/minor two-way split
• 33.333%:33.333%:33.333% for a three-way split.

The 19 broad subject areas have been retained. Further details have been outlined in the HESA Student Circular 02/03 'Subject Areas and Related Issues'.

D. HESA Staff data

Coverage

The staff record provides data in respect of the characteristics of members of all academic and non-academic staff employed under a contract of employment by a HEI in the UK. Academic staff are defined as academic professionals who are responsible for planning, directing and undertaking academic teaching and research within HE institutions. They also include vice-chancellors, medical practitioners, dentists, veterinarians and other health care professionals who undertake lecturing or research activities. Non-academic staff are defined as those that do not have an academic employment function such as managers, non-academic professionals, student welfare workers, secretaries, caretakers and cleaners. Staff employed under consultancy contracts, or on the basis of payment of fees for services, without a contract of employment, are not included in the record. The record is collected in two sections; the person table and the contract table. The person table contains one record for every person employed by an institution during the reporting period and contains attributes of the individual such as birth date, gender and ethnicity. Each person’s employment with an institution will be governed by a legally-binding contract and each contract that exists is recorded on the contract table. If a person has a single contract with the institution there will be one record on the person table and one record on the contract table. If a person has three contracts with an institution there will be one record on the person table and three records on the contract table.

The HESA staff contract population is an indicator of those contracts that are active on 1 December within the reporting period. Atypical staff contracts, i.e. those whose working arrangements are not permanent, involve complex employment relationships and/or involve work away from the supervision of the normal work provider, are not counted in this population. Other staff with a default (or unknown) contract start date, a default (or unknown) contract end date and a contract FTE of zero are also not counted in this population.

The HESA staff contract session population is an indicator of those contracts that are active during the reporting period 1 August 2003 to 31 July 2004. Atypical staff contracts are also not counted in this population.

Full-time equivalent (FTE)

Full-time equivalent (FTE) is that recorded in the contract and measures the equivalence to full-time over the course of the reporting period 1 August to 31 July. The FTE is therefore counted using a population of staff who were active during the reporting period, not just on a given snapshot date (i.e. the HESA staff contract session population).

Full-person equivalent (FPE)

Individuals can hold more than one contract with an institution and each contract may involve more than one different activity. In published analyses staff counts have been divided amongst their activities in proportion to the declared FTE for each activity. This results in counts of Full Person Equivalents (FPE). Staff FPE counts are calculated on the basis of contract activities that were active on 1st December of the reporting period (using the HESA staff contract population).

Mode of Employment

Full-time staff are those whose contracts state that their mode of employment is full-time. This includes staff who work full-time for part of a year and term-time only staff who work full-time during the term.

Part-time staff are those staff that work anything less than full-time. This includes the atypical category where institutions were unable to assign staff contracts to either the full-time or the part-time category.

Mode of employment is an attribute of the contract, not the person. Therefore, a person will be counted as wholly part-time, even if they hold a number of part-time contracts that sum to 1 full-time equivalent (FTE). The full-person equivalent (FPE) allocated to the full-time category will only reflect the people that hold a full-time contract. This is consistent with the treatment of other attributes of the contract.

Terms of Employment

The terms of employment describes the type of contract/s a member of staff has with the institution at the date the data is returned to HESA or date of leaving if earlier.

Permanent staff are those who are employed on a contract of employment that states the member of staff as permanent or on an open-ended contract. This includes term time only staff who are employed on an open-ended contract.

Fixed term contract staff are those employed for a fixed period of time or have an end date on their contract of employment. This includes staff on rolling fixed term contracts.

Atypical staff are those whose working arrangements are not permanent, involve complex employment relationships and/or involve work away from the supervision of the normal work provider. These may be characterised by a high degree of flexibility for both the work provider and the working person, and may involve a triangular relationship that includes an agent. Source: DTI Discussion Document on Employment Status, paragraph 23.

In addition to this definition from the DTI, some HE specific guidance has been devised. Atypical contracts meet one or more of the following conditions:

• Are for less than four consecutive weeks - meaning that no statement of terms and conditions needs to be issued.
• Are for one-off/short-term tasks - for example answering phones during clearing, staging an exhibition, organising a conference. There is no mutual obligation between the work provider and working person beyond the given period of work or project. In some cases individuals will be paid a fixed fee for the piece of work unrelated to hours/time spent.
• Involve work away from the supervision of the normal work provider - but not as part of teaching company schemes or for teaching and research supervision associated with the provision of distance learning education.
• Involve a high degree of flexibility often in a contract to work ‘as-and-when’ required - for example conference catering, student ambassadors, student demonstrators.
• Equate to less that 5% FTE during the reporting period (this condition only applies until 2005/06, after which there will be no FTE threshold).

Source of Basic Salary

Wholly institutionally financed staff are those who are paid wholly from general institution funds.

Staff Principally financed by the institution are paid mainly from general institution funds and partly from another source.

All other sources of finance are staff paid mainly or wholly from sources other than general institution funds. These other sources include NHS/General Medical or General Dental practice or Department of Health, OST research councils, UK charities, UK central government bodies and local authorities, UK industry commerce & public corporations, EU sources, other overseas sources and other sources not listed.

Where 'All other sources of finance' appears in conjunction with 'Wholly institutionally financed' it should be taken to mean 'Principally institutionally financed' plus 'Other sources of finance'.

Academic Employment Function

The academic employment function of a member of staff relates to the contract of employment and not the actual work undertaken.

Teaching only staff are those whose contracts of employment state that they are employed only to undertake teaching.

Teaching & research staff are those whose contracts of employment state that they are employed to undertake both teaching and research.

Research only staff are those whose contracts of employment state that they are employed only to undertake research.

Neither Teaching nor Research staff are those whose academic employment function is not teaching and/or research e.g. Vice Chancellor.

Grade (academic staff only)

The grade structure indicates a staff member's grade for a particular contract of employment. Groups of grades have been devised with regard to the different grading scales used within different institutions. Grades have not however, been linked to salary information.

Professors includes heads of departments, professors, former UAP scale researchers (grade IV), clinical professors and those appointed professors on a locally determined scale.

Senior lecturers and researchers includes principal lecturers, senior lecturers (former UAP/CSCFC scales), former UAP scale researchers (grade III), clinical senior lecturers and those appointed senior or principal lecturers on a locally determined scale.

Lecturers includes lecturers, senior lecturers (former PCEF scale), clinical lecturers and those appointed lecturers on a locally determined scale.

Researchers includes all research grades not listed above and those researchers appointed on a locally determined scale.

Other grades includes other grades of academic staff not listed above.

Analysis by staff grade is only meaningful where institutions have reported their staff within nationally recognised grade structures, or within internal grade structures which facilitate differentiation on a similar basis.

Several institutions, including some large post-1992 universities, report their academic staff on a single grade structure, which does not have an independent category for the professor grade. Hence staff on the professor grade at institutions using the single grade scale cannot be distinguished from the senior lecturer grade, leading to the number of professors being under-counted for these institutions and for the sector as a whole. This under-counting will have a consequential effect on the proportions of professors within particular subject areas, cost centres and by gender.

No attempt has been made to collect grade information for non-academic staff as the wide range of grade structures used up to now in institutions could not straightforwardly or meaningfully be mapped to a set of national grades.

Additionally, with the implementation of the JINCHES agreement, institutions will be negotiating grade structures for all staff locally against a nationally agreed pay spine. An increasing number of institutions will therefore be moving away from nationally recognised grade structures from 2004 onwards. New methods for recording and monitoring grade nationally will have to be developed, but these will need to reflect a yet unknown reality. Consequently in the short term recording of grade will not be possible in all institutions even for academic staff.

The Agency therefore advises caution in analysis of staff by grade.

SOC - Occupational coding for higher education staff

The Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) provides a national standard for categorising occupational information. SOC forms the basis of occupational classification in a variety of national surveys that collect statistical information such as the Labour Force Survey and New Earnings Survey. The utilisation of SOC for classifying occupations within the HE sector therefore both allows for the heterogeneity of occupations that exist and enables comparisons to be made with other sectors of the economy and from a variety of data sources.

However, some difficulties emerge in the direct application of SOC for occupational coding within the HE sector. At the most aggregate level, SOC distinguishes nine broad categories termed Major Groups. The titles associated with these Major Groups, which by necessity have to be general in their nature to encompass all occupations, do not provide an intuitive method of classifying the occupations within HE. Additionally, the coding manuals of the Standard Occupational Classification contain information on many occupations and job titles that are not relevant to the HE sector.

The classification of occupations within higher education has therefore necessitated the development of a variant of the national standard that is relevant for the HE sector. This enables the classification of job titles found within the HE sector to fall into one of 13 broad occupational categories:

1	Managers
2A	Academic professionals
2B	Non-academic professionals
3A	Laboratory, engineering, building, IT & medical technicians (including nurses)
3B	Student welfare workers, careers advisers, vocational training instructors, personnel & planning officers
3C	Artistic, media, public relations, marketing & sports instruction occupations
4A	Library assistants, clerks & general administrative assistants
4B	Secretaries, typists, receptionists & telephonists
5	Chefs, gardeners, electrical & construction trades, mechanical fitters & printers
6	Caretakers, residential wardens, sports & leisure attendants, nursery nurses & care occupations
7	Retail & customer service occupations
8	Drivers, maintenance supervisors & plant operatives
9	Cleaners, catering assistants, security officers, porters & maintenance workers.

Academic staff are defined as academic professionals who are responsible for planning, directing and undertaking academic teaching and research within HE institutions. They also include vice-chancellors, medical practitioners, dentists, veterinarians and other health care professionals who undertake lecturing or research activities. All academic staff fall into group 2A of the SOC classification, regardless of their discipline (e.g. science, engineering, social sciences, humanities, languages).

Non-academic staff are defined as members of staff who fall into one of the remaining 12 occupational categories such as managers, non-academic professionals, student welfare workers, secretaries, caretakers and cleaners.

E. HESA Finance data

Coverage

Financial data in Tables 15 and 16 relates to the institutions' financial year, i.e. 1 August 2003 to 31 July 2004.

Sources of income

Funding council grants

Funding council grants include those from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW), the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC), the Teacher Training Agency (TTA) and the Department for Employment and Learning Northern Ireland (DELNI).

Grants for higher education (HE) provision includes recurrent grants and capital grants as defined below in respect of higher education (HE) provision, except in Scotland where this category also includes grants for further education (FE) provision.

Recurrent grants includes the block grant (or main and associated grants) for teaching (Recurrent - T), research (Recurrent - R) and other recurrent grants (Recurrent - Other (including special funding)) as shown in the annual grant letter or additional grant letter from the funding councils.

Release of deferred capital grants includes the release of deferred capital grants from the funding councils in respect of estate project funding and minor work grants (building), and equipment grants, for the purchase of assets that have been capitalised.

Grants for FE provision includes all funding council grants for the provision of FE. Grants from HE funding councils and FE funding councils are added together. This category does not apply to SHEFC funded institutions, as they do not receive separately identified grants for non-advanced/FE provision.

Tuition fees and education grants and contracts

This includes all income received in respect of fees for students on courses for which fees are charged. Where fees are waived in whole or in part, the income due though not received is included.

Full-time HE fees - standard rates includes standard fees for full-time and sandwich degree, diploma and similar award-bearing courses for home and European Union domiciled students.

Full-time HE fees - non-standard rates includes all other fees for full-time and sandwich degree, diploma and similar award-bearing courses for home and European Union domiciled students.

Other fees and support grants include:

Part-time HE fees includes fees for part-time degree, diploma and similar award-bearing courses for home and European Union domiciled students.

Overseas (non-EU) domicile fees includes fees for all degree, diploma and similar award-bearing courses for non-home and non-European Union domiciled students.

Non-credit-bearing course fees includes all fee income received in respect of non-credit-bearing liberal adult education, continuing education or extra-mural courses.

Other fees & support grants comprises FE course fees which includes fee income received for the provision of FE/non-advanced courses, and Research training support grants which includes all grants made by research councils and other bodies in support of the training of research students. This includes bench fees and Collaborative Awards in Science and Engineering (CASE) awards. It also includes income from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) in respect of their Doctoral Training Grants, (or similar postgraduate grants from other research councils), including the tuition fee element.

Endowment and investment income

This includes all income from specific endowments, general endowments and interest receivable.

Research grants and contracts

This includes all income in respect of externally sponsored research carried out by the institution or its subsidiary undertaking for which directly related expenditure has been incurred.

Other income

Other services rendered includes all income in respect of services rendered to outside bodies, including the supply of goods and consultancies.

Residences and catering operations includes the gross income from residences, catering and conference operations.

Other general income includes grants from local authorities, income from health and hospital authorities, income released from deferred capital grants, income from intellectual property rights and all other operating income not covered above.

Categories of expenditure

Staff costs cover all, and only, those full-time and part-time staff holding contracts of employment with the institution. It includes costs in respect of academic staff (defined as staff whose primary employment function is teaching and/or research) and all other staff, paid from within the budgets of academic departments and allocated to the appropriate cost centre.

Other costs include depreciation (depreciation costs on equipment capitalised according to where the assets being depreciated are located), other operating expenses (costs in respect of payments to non-contracted staff or individuals, all other non-staff costs, equipment which has not been depreciated, expenditure on maintenance contracts and telephone costs (calls, rental and non-capitalised equipment) if not charged to departments) and interest payable (costs in respect of interest payable on premises, residences and catering operations, and other expenditure).

Expenditure activities

Academic departments

This includes all expenditure directly incurred by or on behalf of academic departments and expenditure incurred in connection with special and short courses which is not reimbursable by research councils or other bodies in respect of work carried out on their behalf.

Academic services

This includes expenditure incurred on centralised academic services such as the Library, Learning Resource Centres, Central Computers, etc.

Administration and central services

This includes expenditure incurred on central administration, general educational expenditure and staff and student facilities and amenities.

Premises

This includes all expenditure incurred on the maintenance of premises and on roads and grounds (except residences and catering).

Residences and catering operations

This includes the gross expenditure incurred in providing the residence, catering and any conference operations, including the cost of maintenance of residential and catering premises, salaries and any other identifiable costs relating to these operations.

Research grants and contracts

This includes the total of the direct costs attributed to research grants and contracts as detailed for research grants and contracts income.

Other

This includes the total of the direct costs attributed to other services rendered and all other expenditure not covered above.

F. UCAS Data

Coverage

The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) system processes applications for full-time and sandwich first degree, foundation degree, Diploma of Higher Education (DipHE), Higher National Diploma (HND) and Higher National Certificate (HNC) courses at member institutions in the United Kingdom (UK).

The UCAS member institutions include all UK universities (with the exception of The Open University and those colleges of the University of London (Institutes and activities) which do not offer full-time undergraduate courses), most colleges and institutes of higher education (HE) and some colleges of further education (FE).

The number of member institutions in the UCAS scheme can vary from year to year due to Institutions joining (or leaving) the UCAS scheme, and institutional mergers. In the 2003 entry cycle there were 333 UCAS member institutions. In the 2004 entry cycle there were 325 member institutions.

Population

Applicants are those who sent an application form to UCAS containing at least one first degree, foundation degree, DipHE, HND or HNC course application to a UCAS member institution. Each applicant is permitted to make up to six applications on the application form. Applicants are classed as home (UK) or overseas based on the area of permanent residence given by them on the application form. There is no direct correlation between the classification used in the UCAS tables and that used as a basis for fees assessment.

Applications data is the sum of applications from applicants who submitted their application at any time before 30 June but excludes direct applicants and those applicants who applied directly into Clearing. Direct applicants include those who returned a Record of Prior Acceptance (RPA) or an Overseas Partnership Form (OPF).

Accepted applicants are those who were offered and subsequently accepted a place at a UCAS member institution regardless of the route taken. Accepted applicant data includes applicants who were accepted for deferred entry.

Classification of Academic Subjects

UCAS subject classifications now employ the Joint Academic Coding System (JACS). JACS, introduced for 2002 entry, replaces UCAS' Standard Classification of Academic Subjects (SCAS), which was used up to and including 2001 entry.

Where data on subject group is tabulated for UCAS applicants, the preferred subject group is used since an applicant may submit applications to different subject areas. An applicant’s preferred subject is classified as the subject area for which the applicant makes the majority of his or her applications. If no such majority exists, the applicant is classified as having no preferred subject.

For more information on JACS coding please see the UCAS website: http://www.ucas.com/higher/courses/coding.html

Ethnic origin

Applicants are asked to record their ethnic origin on the UCAS application form. This information is only requested from UK domiciled applicants and provision is not obligatory.

Disability

Applicants are asked to declare any disability on the UCAS application form. Provision of this information is voluntary and applicants are advised that they may choose only to inform the institutions to which they apply directly. Disability data is only requested from UK domiciled applicants.

Region of Domicile and Region of Institution

The region of domicile for UK applicants and the region of institutions are categorised using Government Office Regions (GOR).

UCAS Extra

UCAS Extra was introduced in the 2003 entry cycle. This gives applicants holding no offers the chance to make additional applications prior to Clearing, providing them with the opportunity to be accepted at an earlier stage in the application cycle.

G. Student Loans Data

The numbers of students taking out loans, and the amounts borrowed, have been obtained from data supplied to the DfES by the Students Loans Company.

Loans are available to most 'home' students on full-time or sandwich undergraduate courses, and to students on full-time and part-time postgraduate courses of initial teacher training.

New student support arrangements in higher education came into effect from the start of the 1998/99 academic year. For new entrants to higher education, 1998/99 was a transitional year. They were, with certain specified exceptions, expected to contribute up to £1,000 (£1,125 in 2003/04) a year towards the cost of their tuition. The amount depended on their own and, if appropriate, their parents' or spouse's income. For the first year of the new scheme (1998/99), eligible new entrants received support for living costs through both grants and loans. Grants, which were assessed against family income, on average formed about a quarter of the support available. All students were entitled to a non income-assessed loan, which comprised the remaining three quarters of support available, and which will be repayable on an income contingent basis.

New entrants to higher education from 1999/2000, together with those who started in 1998/99, received support for living costs solely through loans which are partly income-assessed. Grants for living costs are no longer available except for some limited allowances, e.g. for students with dependants; single parent students; and disabled students. Grants for students with dependants and single parent students are income-assessed but the Disabled Students' Allowance is not. From academic year 1999/2000 student loans have been made available to those aged 50-54 years old who plan to return to work after studying.

The amount available to students through loans has been increased to compensate for the reduction in grants. Repayment of these loans will be linked to income after leaving university or college so that leavers only repay as and when they can afford to (whilst the loans of those who started their course before 1998/99 are repayable on a mortgage-style basis).

The financial support arrangements in 1998/99 for mandatory award holders and other students on courses which began before 1 August 1998, and those new students who are treated exceptionally as existing award holders for the purposes of the Mandatory Awards Regulations (e.g. gap year students starting their courses in 1998/99, and those who started a course in 1998/99 or later, immediately after completing a course that they had started in 1997/98 or earlier), remain largely unchanged. Tuition fees continue to be paid in full by Local Education Authorities where the student is eligible for a mandatory award and such students also receive a grant towards their maintenance, depending on income, for the duration of their course and remain eligible for non income-assessed loans repayable on a mortgage-style basis. Due to the relatively small number of students now in receipt of these awards, data on this area are no longer reported.

Data in tables 17a, 17b, 17c and 17d are taken from a Statistical First Release (SFR) published on 30 November 2004 by the Student Loans Company.

This SFR is available from SLC, 100 Bothwell Street, Glasgow, G2 7JD, or via the LINK from: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000539/index.shtml.

The information in the SFR will be updated annually in November.

H. International Comparisons Data

The DfES supplies summary statistics on behalf of the UK, to a joint questionnaire compiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Statistical Office of the European Communities (EUROSTAT) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). Table 19 has been compiled using data supplied by various countries to the international bodies and in particular, data derived from the OECD's own annual publication, "Education at a Glance". There are inevitably a number of problems of comparability and interpretation in using this table, and readers are advised to read the footnotes carefully. The main aspects to be borne in mind are:

• The underlying educational systems need to be understood, as far as possible, in interpreting these comparisons. As an aid to understanding the differences between the various countries, up to date information about the different educational systems in the European Union is available from, EURYDICE, The Mere, Upton Park, Slough, Berkshire, SL1 2DQ (and see their website at www.eurydice.org).
• Within HE three sub-divisions of tertiary education are recognised internationally. These are known as ISCED levels 5A, 5B and 6 (the International Standard Classification of EDucation). Level 5A courses are largely theoretically based and designed to provide entry to advanced research programmes and professions with high skill requirements. They have a minimum of three years full-time equivalent duration. These programmes are not exclusively offered at universities; conversely, not all university programmes fulfil the criteria to be classified as tertiary-type 5A. In the UK, first and higher degree qualifications (excluding PhDs) are included at this level. Level 5B qualifications are more practically-oriented and occupationally specific than programmes at ISCED 5A. They have a minimum of two years' full-time equivalent duration and are focused on equipping students for direct entry into the labour market, although some theoretical foundations may be covered in these programmes. In the UK these comprise 'sub- degree' qualifications such as the DipHE, BTEC Higher National (HND/HNC), nursing, and other professional qualifications. Level 6 is reserved for advanced research qualifications - in the UK, the PhD is included at this level.
• Although renewed efforts have been made to standardise education classifications, through a revised ISCED (1997), the definition of HE may be interpreted slightly differently by different countries. In some countries the Masters degree is the first degree in higher education and in others, the higher education system is oriented towards vocationally-based, level 5B courses, considered to be of an equal standing to level 5A courses.
• The range of public and private provision and definition of the public/private sectors will vary from country to country.
• Participation rates can be influenced by a number of factors including varying course lengths and drop-out rates.
• Graduation rates from Tertiary-type A and Tertiary-type B programmes are calculated on a 'gross' basis i.e. by dividing an unduplicated count of graduates (taken from the UOE GRAD questionnaire) by the population at the typical age of graduation.
• In the case of Tertiary-type A (i.e. degree) courses, OECD took the average of the UK 21, 22, 23 and 24 year old population to be the population at the "typical age of graduation".
• Graduation rates from advanced research (i.e. PhD) programmes continued to be calculated on a 'net' basis i.e. the sum over all 'x' of PhD graduates aged 'x' divided by population aged 'x'. Both these methods give a measure of the "lifetime chance" of graduating from tertiary education, based on current patterns.
• Regarding entry rate figures, although OECD's method is based on the same principle as the Department's Initial Entry Rate (IER) (e.g. it uses HESA's "entry code" field to distinguish between first year students entering HE for the first time and students re-entering HE), OECD's figures should not be compared to the IER, and this indicator should not be used to measure how other countries fare against the UK's "50%" HE participation target. One difference is that all HE students are included in the OECD count, whereas the IER excludes students on very short courses and overseas students. The main difference, though, is that the IER calculations use sophisticated methods to exclude double- counting of entrants, and the IER only refers to England, rather than the UK.

I. The Labour Force Survey

This section is included to give a broad indication of the output of the United Kingdom (UK) higher education (HE) system - that which can be gained by looking at the proportion of the adult population of the UK who hold HE qualifications. Time series comparisons show the impact that the HE experience is having on the general population over time.

The two statistics show the percentage of the UK population with HE qualifications, by age and gender, over time, and the percentage of the UK population with postgraduate qualifications, by age and gender, also over time.

These statistics are based on an external data source - the Labour Force Survey, which is run by The Office for National Statistics on a quarterly basis covering the whole of the UK.

A continuously changing group of households is surveyed such that the sample is equivalent to approximately a half percent of the adult population of the UK. Each household takes part in five quarterly surveys. Thus each quarter some households leave and others join the survey. Information about all adults in the household may be given by one person answering the survey. It is therefore possible that data are less accurate than they would be if each adult answered the survey individually. For most of the UK, households are chosen from a postcode address file. All first interviews are carried out face to face and 70% of recall interviews are by telephone. However, north of the Caledonian Canal in Scotland, households are chosen from the published telephone directory and interviews are conducted by telephone primarily to reduce costs. The questions asked by telephone interviewers are the same as those which are asked face to face, and interviewers are extensively trained and monitored in order to ensure the data they record is accurate.

The survey covers people of all ages, including the employed, inactive and unemployed. Qualification information is asked of those of working age and those above working age who are in employment.

Notes on Coverage

It should be noted that there is a certain discontinuity in following through those who have had the HE experience because the classification of HE qualifications and postgraduate qualifications used for the Labour Force Survey is different from that used by HESA.

It should also be remembered in looking at the impact of HE on the general population that some of the UK population will have gained their qualifications outside the UK, or indeed at private higher education institutions (HEIs), or further education colleges in the UK, and/or on a part-time basis. Others will have gained HE qualifications at publicly-funded HEIs in the UK, but then left the UK.

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