Student 2021/22 (C21051): Supplementary Notification of Changes

The new sitting code ‘A’ – Autumn will be added to the list of valid entries. This will align the coding frame with the updates made by UCAS to reflect the option made available to students to sit exams in autumn 2020.

The following valid entry will be removed from the coding frame as it is no longer applicable to any providers submitting to the HESA Student return:

30 – Not subject to regulated fees

A more restrictive pattern value for POSTCODE data types has been applied to the schema to prevent invalid postcode formats being submitted.

The Department for Education (DfE) have requested the removal of the following valid entry from the coding frame as it is no longer an active initiative:

L – Primary General (with Maths)

Our Statutory Customers have requested a new valid entry for the Mobility.MOBSCHEME field to capture data on the Turing Scheme which is replacing ERASMUS+. It is necessary to collect data on the Turing Scheme in order to assess its impact for the purposes of government policy work and transparency. In particular, there is an interest in the uptake and the characteristics of students who enrol in the scheme. A new code will be added as below to capture students who are part of the scheme:

05 – Turing Scheme

Note that code 03 ‘ERASMUS+’ will remain, as it is anticipated that ERASMUS+ placements will continue alongside the new Turing Scheme in the short term.

Our Statutory Customers have requested a new valid entry for the Instance.EXCHANGE field to capture data on the Turing Scheme which is replacing ERASMUS+. It is necessary to collect data on the Turing Scheme in order to assess its impact for the purposes of government policy work and transparency. In particular, there is an interest in the uptake and the characteristics of students who enrol in the scheme. A new code will be added as below to capture students who are part of the Scheme:

O – Incoming reciprocal Turing Scheme student

Note that code G ‘Incoming ERASMUS+ student’ will remain, as it is anticipated that ERASMUS+ placements will continue alongside the new Turing Scheme in the short term.

Our Statutory Customers have requested a new valid entry for the Course.MSFUND field to capture data on the Turing Scheme which is replacing ERASMUS+. It is necessary to collect data on the Turing Scheme in order to assess its impact for the purposes of government policy work and transparency. In particular, there is an interest in the uptake and the characteristics of students who enrol in the scheme. A new code will be added as below to capture students who are part of the Scheme:

66 - Turing Scheme

Note that code 65 ‘European Research Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students (ERASMUS)’ will remain, as it is anticipated that ERASMUS+ placements will continue alongside the new Turing Scheme in the short term.

Our Statutory Customers have requested an amendment to valid entries 2 ‘Language year abroad & not full-year outgoing ERASMUS+’ and 3 ‘Full-year outgoing ERASMUS+’ for the Instance.SPECFEE field to capture data on the Turing Scheme which is replacing ERASMUS+. It is necessary to collect data on the Turing Scheme in order to assess its impact for the purposes of government policy work and transparency. In particular, there is an interest in the uptake and the characteristics of students who enrol in the scheme. The existing two codes will be amended as below to capture students who are part of the Scheme:

2 – Language year abroad & not full-year outgoing ERASMUS+ or Turing Scheme

3 – Full-year outgoing ERASMUS+ or Turing Scheme

Note that the references to the ERASMUS+ scheme will remain, as it is anticipated that ERASMUS+ placements will continue alongside the new Turing Scheme in the short term.

The Department for Education (DfE) have requested the addition of a number of HECoS codes to the valid entries for secondary-level ITT programmes and ITT programmes covering the 7-14 and 9-14 age ranges. This will allow providers to accurately record the subject specialism covered by their courses, and enable further and more detailed analysis and publication of the associated data by DfE. The HECoS codes to be added to the valid entries are the following:

100337 – Philosophy

101192 – Arabic

101165 – Chinese

100406 – Statistics

101117 – Ancient Hebrew

100456 – Child development

The Department for Education (DfE) have requested an amendment to the guidance for valid entry 7 ‘Eligible for funding by DfE’ to clarify that the code should be used for home students or students with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme. The notes for code 7 will therefore read as follows:

Students should be returned as FUNDCODE = 7 where they are able to access student support i.e. assessed as 'home or settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme' for the purpose of assessing tuition fee status or are home or overseas/international School Direct Salaried trainees on an allocated place and employed in a state maintained school in a priority subject.

Valid entries D, E, S, T, U, and Z currently refer to a year of activity, whereas codes 6 ‘Distance learning – UK based student’ and 9 ‘Distance learning – Non-UK based student (funded)’ refer instead to the course as a whole. This does not allow courses that combine years spent distance learning and others spent in attendance at the provider to be coded appropriately.

In light of the increasing flexibility in course provision, our Statutory Customers have proposed a change to valid entries 6 and 9 so that they refer to the individual year of the course, rather than the entire course. This means that providers would assign a student who was distance learning in their second year a valid entry of 6 or 9 as appropriate in their second year, and the relevant LOCSDY code(s) for the other years of study. This is closer to how this information will be collected in Data Futures, where location of study information sits under the StudentCourseSession entity. Updating valid entries 6 and 9 in this way will allow providers to capture methods of course delivery where only part of the course is delivered by means of distance learning.

This change will be reflected in revised guidance for the field.

Following a change in student support arrangements for the 2021/22 reporting year, our Statutory Customers are considering their requirements regarding fees and funding information for non-home students.

Further details on this change, including any changes to the coverage of the fees and funding fields, will be communicated with the sector once confirmed.

Work is ongoing to enhance sector- and provider-level regulation of access and participation issues through a deeper understanding of the barriers and outcomes of students from a wider range of the groups protected under the Equality Act 2010, and to support our Statutory Customers and individual providers to fulfil their duties under the Public Sector Equality Duty. In light of this, the coverage for some of the personal characteristics fields is currently under review. These changes may impact the 2021/22 or the 2022/23 collection, depending on the outcomes of the consultation, which closes on 17 June 2021.

Further details on changes in this context will be communicated with the sector once confirmed.

The Department for Education (DfE) have requested the removal of this field as it is no longer a requirement to capture ITT scheme data within the Student or ITT collections. DfE are able to collect this data from other sources and are consequently keen to reduce burden within HESA collections where possible.

As indicated in the initial Notification of Changes for C21051, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) have requested that a new valid entry is added to the Instance.INITIATIVES field for micro-credentials courses at providers in Wales. The introduction of this valid entry will enable HEFCW to monitor these courses and any associated funding. The new code will be the following and specific to students on part-time courses:

Q – Micro-credential course

Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) have requested an amendment to the guidance for valid entry 03 ‘This instance is not employer funded’ in this field to reflect the continuation of some EU funding streams and cessation of UHOVI. The existing guidance for this code will be updated to include the below:

If a place is funded through HEFCW credit-based funding then code 03 would be used. If the place is funded through public sources other than HEFCW such as WG, NHS or Home Office, then code 03 should be used.  Code 03 should also be used if the place is on a scheme funded through continued EU funding or funding equivalent to previous EU funding, or is part of the Welsh for Adults Tutors course scheme.