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Data Futures April 2022 programme update

We emailed the following Data Futures programme update on 11 April to all Accountable Officers / Heads of provider. If you have any feedback or queries, please contact [email protected]. 

I’m writing to let you know the progress being made on the HESA Data Futures programme, which is bringing about changes to the way Student data is collected from your organisation. We have already engaged your operational representatives, but as Accountable Officer, it’s important to make sure you are informed of actions required by your organisation to be able to collect Student data in the new format required from 1 August 2022.

Good progress has been made with thanks to those providers involved and the Alpha phase has concluded successfully. The 2022/23 Student data collection specification has now been published for providers and phase one of the Beta phase went live on 16 February with over 130 providers participating: these are really significant steps towards bringing data, technology, and business change elements together for providers, Statutory Customers, and HESA. Providers can join the Beta phase at any time, so please contact [email protected] if you would like to participate.

Please find below an update on the 2022/23 Student data collection and the changes to provider readiness and monitoring ahead of the system go-live. 

The 2022/23 Student data collection

  • The 2022/23 collection will be an annual collection using a new data model which replaces the existing Student and Student Alternative collections.
  • Data collection for 2022/23 begins 1 August 2022. Your organisation may need to consider the additional data requirements detailed in the collection specification to ensure you can collect the required data using your systems and processes from August 2022.
  • The new HESA Data Platform (HDP) will be available to all providers to submit data from early 2023. A schedule of e-learning and support from [email protected] will be released in the lead-up to the HDP opening date.
  • Sign-off for the 2022/23 collection will be 20 October 2023.
  • Please note, the 2022/23 collection go-live is not dependent on the recent OfS burden review or its outcomes.

2023 interim submissions

We can now also confirm that providers will be required to complete two interim submissions in May 2023 and August 2023: these alongside monitoring of engagement, readiness, and other mitigations will replace the previously announced mandatory trial. Full details of requirements will be made available in the 2022/23 collection webpage on the HESA website and we will send further updates to your operational colleagues as required. Providers who are not taking part in the Beta phase can prepare via the Online Validation Toolkit (OVT) from June 2022. 

Monitoring provider engagement and readiness

HESA will monitor provider engagement and activity ahead of the deadline for the May 2023 interim submission and the opening of the 2022/23 collection. 

We will apply red, amber, green (RAG) status to each provider to inform our view of sector readiness and where additional support may be helpful. Key points from the RAG status information will be included in the reporting we provide to Statutory Customers and the Data Futures Programme Board. We may provide details of our assessment of individual providers to relevant Statutory Customers where we have concerns about provider readiness; we would notify providers where we share concerns.

A provider checklist detailing engagement and readiness opportunities is now available on the 2022/23 collection webpage.

Readiness surveys

We have released the first of four surveys to monitor readiness for the implementation of Data Futures, and it is mandatory for all providers to participate in each survey. Surveys are released to operational contacts and announced in the HESA weekly update. 

The survey will require confirmation from heads of provider that the responses are a true representation of the organisation’s view, as input to our plans to support providers. We encourage cross-organisation response, and have arranged questions across the following themes:

  • Business process
  • Data
  • Systems readiness
  • General feedback.

I hope this update is helpful for you and if you have any feedback or questions, or if you would like to know more about the benefits of the work we’re doing, please don’t hesitate to contact [email protected].

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