Data Futures 2022/23 (C22056): Notification of changes to personal characteristics data
Published 30/09/2021. Update 11/11/2021.
This page summarises the changes to the Data Futures record that will be implemented for 2022/23 (C22056), relating to the outcomes from the personal characteristics and equality data consultation. Therefore, no changes will be made to the Student and Student Alternative records.
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.
All providers
Change valid entries to:
| Code | Label | E | S | W | NI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02 | Looked after in Scotland | Y | |||
| 03 | In care in the rest of UK | Y | |||
| 05 | Not a care leaver | Y | |||
| 06 | Care leaver | Y | Y | Y | |
| 07 | Care experienced | Y | Y | Y | |
| 08 | Self-declared care experience but not confirmed | Y | Y | Y | |
| 09 | No experience of care | Y | Y | Y | |
| 97 | Not known | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 98 | Prefer not to say | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 99 | Not available | Y | Y | Y | Y |
- Continuing students will not need to be resurveyed (unless the EntryProfile is submitted again in future).
- Old codes will have to remain in the background, but will not be allowed to be submitted to.
- Not included in UK censuses, so aligned with OfS proposals.
- 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.
- Valid entry 04 "UCAS defined care leaver" will no longer be submitted by providers in Scotland. Valid entries for providers in England, Northern Ireland and Wales have changed.
Amendment 11 Nov 2021: Label for code 09 was incorrect – changed to “No experience of care”
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 |
- Disability entity will be changed to allow maximum occurrences of up to 9 occurrences.
- 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 “Two or more impairments and/or disabling medical conditions” previously in the Student or Student Alternative records.
- 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 | S | W | NI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 180 | Arab | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 100 | Asian - Bangladeshi or Bangladeshi British | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 101 | Asian - Chinese or Chinese British | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 102 | Asian - Filipino | Y | |||
| 103 | Asian - Indian or Indian British | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 104 | Asian - Pakistani or Pakistani British | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 119 | Any other Asian background | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 120 | Black - African or African British | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 121 | Black - Caribbean or Caribbean British | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 139 | Any other Black background | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 140 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups - White or White British and Asian or Asian British | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 141 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups - White or White British and Black African or Black African British | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 142 | Mixed or multiple ethnic groups - White or White British and Black Caribbean or Black Caribbean British | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 159 | Any other Mixed or Multiple ethnic background | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 160 | White - English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish or British | Y | Y | ||
| 161 | White - English, Welsh, Northern Irish or British | Y | |||
| 162 | White - British, Irish, Northern Irish, English, Scottish or Welsh | Y | |||
| 163 | White - Gypsy or Irish Traveller | Y | Y | ||
| 164 | White - Gypsy or Traveller | Y | Y | ||
| 165 | White - Irish Traveller | Y | |||
| 166 | White - Irish | Y | Y | Y | |
| 167 | White - Polish | Y | Y | ||
| 168 | White - Roma | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 169 | White - Scottish | Y | |||
| 170 | White - Showman / Showwoman | Y | |||
| 179 | Any other White background | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 899 | Any other ethnic background | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 997 | Not known | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 998 | Prefer not to say | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 999 | Not available | Y | Y | Y | 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.
- Need to include country specific guidance.
- Data chosen to align with the census in each country.
- 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.
Change valid entries to:
| Code | Label |
|---|---|
| 01 | Yes |
| 02 | No |
| 98 | Prefer not to say |
| 99 | Not available |
- Providers in Scotland removed from the coverage.
- Question will remain mandatory for providers in England and Wales. Question will remain optional for providers in Northern Ireland.
- Change guidance question to: Is the gender you identify with the same as your sex registered at birth?
- 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 each country.
- 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: Guidance given that this question should be asked alongside the Sex Identifier question.
Providers in Northern Ireland and Scotland are not required to collect data on pregnancy.
Providers in England and Wales will not be required to collect data on pregnancy (in Staff or Data Futures records) for 2022/23. However, OfS and HEFCW would like to explore this with providers in more detail, with the intention of finding a different way of obtaining information about pregnancy using providers’ existing data sources for 2023/24. OfS and HEFCW would encourage providers to send their thoughts on how we could collect data on information that providers already hold in this area to [email protected].
Change valid entries to:
| Code | Label | E | S | W | NI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | No religion | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 21 | Buddhist | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 22 | Christian | Y | Y | ||
| 23 | Christian - Church of Scotland | Y | |||
| 24 | Christian - Roman Catholic | Y | Y | ||
| 25 | Christian - Presbyterian Church in Ireland | Y | |||
| 26 | Christian - Church of Ireland | Y | |||
| 27 | Christian - Methodist Church in Ireland | Y | |||
| 28 | Christian - Other denomination | Y | Y | ||
| 29 | Hindu | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 30 | Jewish | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 31 | Muslim | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 32 | Pagan | Y | |||
| 33 | Sikh | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 80 | Any other religion or belief | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 98 | Prefer not to say | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| 99 | Not available | Y | Y | Y | Y |
- Change guidance question to: "What is your religion?" (for providers in England and Wales) or "What religion, religious denomination or body do you belong to?" (for providers in Scotland and Northern Ireland)
- 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 each country.
- Previous point means anyone coded as “Spiritual” currently, would need to choose from the current list. This is no longer in the census in the UK, hence its removal from this field.
- 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 - 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 Data Futures Student 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.
Change valid entries to:
| Code | Label |
|---|---|
| 10 | Bisexual |
| 11 | Gay or lesbian |
| 12 | Heterosexual or straight |
| 19 | Other sexual orientation |
| 98 | Prefer not to say |
| 99 | Not available |
- Question will remain mandatory for providers in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. Question will remain optional for providers in Scotland.
- Change guidance question to: Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation?
- Continuing students should be asked this question every year, so any changes made should be picked up anyway.
- These answers align with the census, and therefore differs from Advance HE guidance.
- Data chosen to align with the census in each country.
- 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.
Providers in England and Wales
Providers in England and Wales will not be required to collect data on maternity (in Data Futures record) for 2022/23. However, OfS and HEFCW would like to explore this with providers in more detail, with the intention of finding a different way of obtaining information about maternity using providers’ existing data sources for 2023/24. OfS and HEFCW would encourage providers to send their thoughts on how we could collect data on information that providers already hold in this area to [email protected].
Providers in England removed from the coverage of the field.
Amendment 11 Nov 2021: Providers in Wales have also been removed from the coverage of the field. This field will therefore be removed from 2022/23.
Providers in Scotland
New field on the Student entity called Transgender (short name: Student.TRANS). Valid entries will be:
| Code | Label |
|---|---|
| 01 | Yes |
| 02 | No |
| 98 | Prefer not to say |
| 99 | Not available |
- Guidance question: Do you consider yourself to be trans, or have a trans history?
- This new field will replace the current Student.GENDERID question for providers in Scotland.
- Field will be optional for providers in Scotland.
- Data chosen to align with the census in Scotland.
- 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: Guidance given that this question should be asked alongside the Sex Identifier question.
Providers in Northern Ireland
EntryProfile.RELIGIOUSBACKGROUND
This field was not included in the consultation, but given changes being made to the RELIGION field these valid entries should also be aligned.
Change valid entries to:
| Code | Label | NI |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | No religion | Y |
| 21 | Buddhist | Y |
| 24 | Christian - Roman Catholic | Y |
| 25 | Christian - Presbyterian Church in Ireland | Y |
| 26 | Christian - Church of Ireland | Y |
| 27 | Christian - Methodist Church in Ireland | Y |
| 28 | Christian - Other denomination | Y |
| 29 | Hindu | Y |
| 30 | Jewish | Y |
| 31 | Muslim | Y |
| 33 | Sikh | Y |
| 80 | Any other religion or belief | Y |
| 98 | Prefer not to say | Y |
| 99 | Not available | Y |
- Continuing students will not need to be resurveyed (unless the EntryProfile is submitted again in future).
- Old codes will have to remain in the background, but will not be allowed to be submitted to.
- Data chosen to align with the census in Northern Ireland.
- 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.
Change valid entries to:
| Code | Label |
|---|---|
| 10 | Never married and never registered in a civil partnership |
| 11 | Married or in a registered civil partnership |
| 12 | Separated (but still legally married or in a civil partnership) |
| 13 | Divorced or formerly in a civil partnership which is now legally dissolved |
| 14 | Widowed or a surviving partner from a registered civil partnership |
| 15 | Co-habiting |
| 98 | Prefer not to say |
| 99 | Not available |
- Guidance question: What is your legal marital or registered civil partnership status?
- Continuing students will not need to be resurveyed (unless the EntryProfile is submitted again in future).
- Data chosen to align with the census.
- 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.
- Note: although this is a change for the Data Futures record, it aligns with the current valid entries in the EntryProfile.MARSTAT field in the Student record.
Providers in Northern Ireland are not required to collect data on maternity leave.