Data intelligence

From 2015/16, the reporting of the elements of the AP Student record for Unistats was compulsory. In order to fulfil the requirement to return data for publication on Unistats, providers were required to complete the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) record, with the exception of those providers who were on ‘teach out’ when the DLHE data was collected. ‘Teach out’ means that new students were unable to access student support, but existing students were able to continue their studies with access to funding until completing. Under these circumstances, DLHE data was not expected to be returned.

Therefore the following Alternative Providers are included in the E1 table but did not participate in DLHE so data is shown as 0 and blank:

• Christie's Education Limited
• City of London College
• EThames Graduate School Limited
• London School of Business and Finance (UK) Limited
• West London College

London College of Creative Media Limited failed to submit a DLHE return on time so do not have any data in the E1 table.

Rounding strategy

Due to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 HESA implements a strategy in published and released tabulations designed to prevent the disclosure of personal information about any individual. This strategy involves rounding all numbers to the nearest multiple of 5 and suppressing percentages and averages based on small populations.

HESA Services Standard Rounding Methodology:

1. All numbers are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5
2. Any number lower than 2.5 is rounded to 0
3. Halves are always rounded upwards (e.g. 2.5 is rounded to 5)
4. Percentages based on fewer than 22.5 individuals are suppressed
5. Averages based on 7 or fewer individuals are suppressed
6. The above requirements apply to headcounts, FPE and FTE data
7. Financial data is not rounded

Total figures are also subject to this rounding methodology after calculation; so the sum of numbers in each row or column may not match the total shown. Suppressed values are normally represented as '..' in published tables (prior to 2006/07 these were represented as a blank value within the UK Performance Indicators.

Note: The suppression level within the UK Performance Indicators changed from 20 to 22.5 in 2011/12.

From 2011/12, data within the employment indicators have been suppressed and represented as a blank cell where the response rate for a HE provider is less than 85 per cent of the target response rate (68.0% for table E1a, 59.5% for tables E1b-E1d). Data for these HE providers have been excluded from all indicator and benchmark calculations. In 2010/11, data for HE providers in table E1 have been suppressed where response rates to the destinations of leavers survey was considered to be sufficiently low that their data may not be comparable with other HE providers.

From 2012/13, where data for a HE provider has been suppressed, they have been removed from all totals and benchmark calculations, see PITG paper 13/01. Also from 2012/13, in the event that a HE provider's data contains more than 50 per cent unknown values within the benchmarking factors, the benchmark has been suppressed and represented as a blank cell. This data has, however, been retained and included in totals and benchmark calculations for the rest of the sector. See PITG paper 13/03 and PITG minutes, 28 February 2013.

The low participation measure used in Tables T1, T2 and T3b is based on a UK-wide classification of areas into participation bands. From 2011/12 it uses the POLAR3 methodology which is based on a similar method to POLAR2 but uses more up to date information. As these two methods are not strictly comparable, the 2009/10 to 2013/14 indicators have been produced using both POLAR2 and POLAR3 to provide time series information. The POLAR2 data was no longer published as part of the UK Performance Indicators from 2014/15. The POLAR3 data was updated in July 2015 and this updated version was used in the creation of the Performance Indicators from 2014/15. The updated version includes new postcodes which have been added in the UK in recent times. More information on the POLAR methodologies can be found in the definitions document.

The relatively high (in UK terms) participation rate in Scotland coupled with the very high proportion of HE that occurs in FE colleges means that the figures for Scottish HE providers could, when viewed in isolation, misrepresent their contribution to widening participation. Therefore, low participation data has not been produced for HE providers in Scotland from 2007/08 (applicable to main tables T1, T2, T3b and supplementary tables SP3, SP6, SP7) and only for supplementary table SP1, for Scottish-domiciled students.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) produce their own indicators relating to young full-time Scottish domiciled undergraduate entrants, showing proportions from the most deprived datazones and also from social classes NS-SEC 4-7. These measures are produced and published independently of ‘Performance Indicators in HE in the UK’. The Performance Indicators Steering Group bears no responsibility for the SFC measures but has recognised that they may provide some contextual information for interested readers. The measures are available from the SFC website.

Prior to 2005/06 (T1a only) and 2006/07 (T1b-T1c), the low participation indicator was based on Super Profiles low participation, more details on the change in methodology between Super Profiles and POLAR can be found in changes to the postcode indicator.

A notable change from the 2014/15 UK Performance Indicators is the allocation of The Open University (OU) students to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Previously all OU enrolments and qualifications were counted within England, where the OU has its administrative centre. From this release onwards enrolments and qualifications registered at one of the OU’s national centres in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will contribute to the totals of those countries where statistics are shown by country of HE provider.

For tables which include part-time students, a total row has been provided for the OU which has been produced consistently with previous published versions. Total rows for the OU will be produced for 3 years to enable the continuation of time series. From the 2019 publication, the OU will only be shown under the national centres.

For the 2001 census, a new classification, National Statistics - Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC), was developed to replace Social Class. It took into account new work patterns in the UK and the changes in education levels required for, and the status of, large numbers of occupations. This new classification was used for the social class Performance Indicator from 2002/03 and called the SEC indicator. More details on the differences between SEC and social class can be found in changes between 2001/02 and 2002/03.

For the 2008/09 academic year, UCAS changed the question that informs NS-SEC for the majority of applicants. The question reverted back to the original wording for 2009/10 applicants.

For applicants up to and including the 2007/08 academic year and for the 2009/10 academic year, UCAS asked:

"If you are under 21, please give the occupation of your parent, step-parent or guardian who earns the most. If he or she is retired or unemployed, give their most recent occupation. If you are 21 or over, please give your own occupation."

For applicants for 2008/09 entry, the question changed to:

"If you are in full-time education, please state the occupation of the highest-earning family member of the household in which you live. If he or she is retired or unemployed, give their most recent occupation. If you are not in full-time education, please state just your own occupation."

The change in question between 2007/08 and 2008/09 had an impact on the NS-SEC indicators, causing the proportion of students classified as ‘unknown' and those classified as falling into NS-SEC groups 4 to 7 to rise. Given these differences and the lack of any significant external changes to the system, it is safe to conclude that the change in question means that the NS-SEC data for 2008/09 is not comparable with that published previously and as a result, the 2008/09 NS-SEC data was published separately in tables T1ai, T1bi and T1ci and labelled as age-adjusted NS-SEC.

Although the question reverted back in 2009/10, there may still be a slight impact on the NS-SEC indicators resulting from applicants who applied using the 2008/09 form, but deferred entry until 2009/10. However, the 2009/10 data will be more comparable with that published up until 2007/08 than with the 2008/09 data. Therefore, NS-SEC time series data published within the summary excludes data for 2008/09.

The NS-SEC indicators will not be published in 2017 and subsequent publications of the UK Performance Indicators. For more details, please refer to the section on widening participation of under-represented groups.

The non-continuation data for Kensington College of Business includes 20 students who did not secure SLC funding and could not confirm their enrolment within 50 days of commencement and 6 missing qualifications from their student return (applicable to table series T3 experimental).

The data for Grŵp Llandrillo Menai has been suppressed in table T3c due to some of the qualification on entry data being returned incorrectly (applicable to table T3c experimental).

Data for The University of Buckingham has been excluded from table T5 due to the year of programme being incorrectly reported for some students. The anomaly has disproportionally affected the projected to complete figure (applicable to table T5).