Initial Teacher Training 2022/23 (C22053): Notification of changes to personal characteristics data
Published 30/09/2021. Update 11/11/2021.
This page summarises the changes to the ITT record that will be implemented for 2022/23 (C22053), relating to the outcomes from the personal characteristics and equality data consultation.
The annex from the consultation has now been updated with the outcomes. This shows current field specifications and maps them to the new proposals.
HESA will be working on the detailed guidance and recommended questions in the coming months.
Providers in England
Change valid entries to:
| Code | Label |
|---|---|
| 95 | No known impairment, health condition or learning difference |
| 58 | Blind or have a visual impairment uncorrected by glasses |
| 57 | D/deaf or have a hearing impairment |
| 59 | Development condition that you have had since childhood which affects motor, cognitive, social and emotional skills, and speech and language |
| 51 | Learning difference such as dyslexia, dyspraxia or AD(H)D |
| 54 | Long-term illness or health condition such as cancer, HIV, diabetes, chronic heart disease, or epilepsy |
| 55 | Mental health condition, challenge or disorder, such as depression, schizophrenia or anxiety |
| 56 | Physical impairment (a condition that substantially limits one or more basic physical activities such as walking, climbing stairs, lifting or carrying) |
| 53 | Social/communication conditions such as a speech and language impairment or an autistic spectrum condition |
| 96 | An impairment, health condition or learning difference not listed above |
| 98 | Prefer not to say |
| 99 | Not available |
- Code 08 "Multiple disabilities" has been removed and the field changed to allow maximum occurrences of up to 9 occurrences instead.
- Change guidance question to: Do you have an impairment, health condition or learning difference that has substantial and long-term impact on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities?
- Continuing students should be asked this question every year, so any changes made should be picked up anyway. This includes the changes for those who responded with “Multiple disabilities” previously.
- Not included in UK censuses, so following Advance HE guidance.
- Definitions: Prefer not to say – student doesn’t want to declare the information; Not available – the provider is not able to get this data in order to send it to HESA.
Amendment 11 Nov 2021: Code 00 "No known impairment, health condition or learning difference" has now been updated to be code 95.
Change valid entries to:
| Code | Label | E |
|---|---|---|
| 180 | Arab | Y |
| 100 | Asian - Bangladeshi or Bangladeshi British | Y |
| 101 | Asian - Chinese or Chinese British | Y |
| 103 | Asian - Indian or Indian British | Y |
| 104 | Asian - Pakistani or Pakistani British | Y |
| 119 | Any other Asian background | Y |
| 120 | Black - African or African British | Y |
| 121 | Black - Caribbean or Caribbean British | Y |
| 139 | Any other Black background | Y |
| 140 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups - White or White British and Asian or Asian British | Y |
| 141 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups - White or White British and Black African or Black African British | Y |
| 142 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups - White or White British and Black Caribbean or Black Caribbean British | Y |
| 159 | Any other Mixed or Multiple ethnic background | Y |
| 160 | White - English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish or British | Y |
| 163 | White - Gypsy or Irish Traveller | Y |
| 166 | White - Irish | Y |
| 168 | White - Roma | Y |
| 179 | Any other White background | Y |
| 899 | Any other ethnic background | Y |
| 997 | Not known | Y |
| 998 | Prefer not to say | Y |
| 999 | Not available | Y |
- Change guidance question to: What is your ethnicity or ethnic group?
- Continuing students should be asked this question every year, so any changes made should be picked up anyway.
- Data chosen to align with the census in England.
- Definitions: Not known – student doesn’t know the information; Prefer not to say – student doesn’t want to declare the information; Not available – the provider is not able to get this data in order to send it to HESA.
This field will be removed from the record.
Amendment - 12 May 2022 - : Details now added
Following feedback on the consultation outcomes, HESA has worked with Statutory Customers to review the proposed guidance and valid entries for the SEXID field.
The changes made to the SEXID field as part of the consultation were made to address the conflation between sex and gender that existed previously in the record. However, we recognise the operational challenges for providers.
While we can see a case for providers collecting gender, or having a broader definition, we do not currently have a case to collect gender as part of the HESA record given the privacy impact and the requirements under GDPR for data minimisation.
Further to discussion with Statutory Customers we will be issuing guidance that:
‘Respondents considering how to answer should use the sex recorded on one of their legal documents such as birth certificate, Gender Recognition Certificate, or passport. Providers are not expected to verify the sex of every student although they must make reasonable efforts to ensure that in aggregate the data for the provider is accurate.’
The valid entries for the field in the 2022/23 ITT record will be as follows:
| Code | Label |
|---|---|
| 10 | Female |
| 11 | Male |
| 12 | Other |
| 96 | Information refused |
| 99 | Not available |
Changes from Amendment - 11 Nov 2021 - The removal of the field entry '98' 'Prefer not to Say'. The Addition of the field entry 'Information refused' as a replacement to code 98.
- Change guidance question to: “What is your sex?”
- Guidance given that this should be based on sex at birth as per birth certificate or sex declared on a Gender Reassignment certificate. Therefore, SEXID will now be recording legal sex.
- “Other” would only be used only for a third sex that is legally recognised by another country.
- Students should be presented with this question every year, so any changes made should be picked up anyway.
- Providers are not expected to verify the sex of every student, although they must make reasonable efforts to ensure that in aggregate the data for the provider is accurate.
- Data chosen to align with the Census guidance.
- "Information refused": this code should be used where the data subject explicitly states that they do not want to provide the information. As data on sex is fundamental to use of the data it is expected that the “Information Refused” option is not presented to the data subject by default.
- Guidance given that this question should be asked alongside the Gender Identity or Transgender questions.
The high-level reasons behind each code:
10/11 - Female/Male: now in alphabetical order.
12 - Other: this code should only be used only for a third sex that is legally recognised by another country - this will recognise the scenarios where, for example, an international student member has a legal sex other than male or female. Please note that we will not be restricting use of this code to specific nationalities.
96 - Information refused: this code should be used where the data subject explicitly states that they do not want to provide the information. As data on sex is fundamental to use of the data it is expected that the “Information Refused” option is not presented to the data subject by default.
99 - Not available: this code should be used in cases where it is not possible to supply the information (such as a cyber-attack). This option should not be presented to data subjects
Please see the Data Protection considerations for fields for more information on the reasons behind collecting this data.