Data intelligence

In 2015/16, The University of Greenwich failed to return any data for 2015/16 in Table 5, the 2014/15 restated figures are included.

Coventry University reported 11,875,132 attendances at free public lectures in 2017/18, a result of growing its media coverage and the impact of high-profile visits.

In 2018/19 De Montfort University did not record the number of individual attendees at chargeable public lectures.

In 2016/17, The University of Strathclyde incorrectly reported their source of basic salary data, due to a technical issue. All staff contracts were reported to be wholly general financed by the higher education provider, with the proportion of basic salary charged against general income being reported as 100. This affects approximately 1,600 staff who were fully or partially externally funded.

The values for fields of Space Measurement reported by University of South Wales saw genuine changes in them due to addition of a site for commercial activity and redesignation of previous site research to commercial.

In 2016/17, University of Northampton mis-reported their Spin-offs with some HEP ownership data.  Corrected values are set out below.

2016/17 Spin-offs with some HEP ownership, estimated external investment received (£000s) returned as 900,000, the correct value should read as 900.
2015/16 restated Spin-offs with some HEP ownership, estimated external investment received (£000s) returned as 950,000, the correct value should read as 950.

In 2021/22, Loughborough University incorrectly classified one spin-off as a spin-off with HEP ownership, when it should have been categorized as a former spin-off with no HEP ownership. The company was correctly categorized in the current year, 2022/23. This resulted in a decrease in ‘Estimated external investment received (£000s)’ in spin-offs with some HEP ownership this year compared to the previous one, from £31,700 to £5,233 (£000s), and a corresponding increase in formal spin-offs not HEP owned.

In 2021/22, SRUC inaccurately reported figures for ‘Estimated current turnover of all active firms (£000s)’ and ‘Estimated external investment received (£000s)’ in spin-offs with some HEP ownership in the incorrect units, £5,000 and £160,000, respectively. The correct figures are (£000s) £5 and £160.

Relevant staff FTEs which should attribute and align against student FTEs for cost centre 129 (Economics & Econometrics), are allocated within those FTE figures provided in cost centre 133 (Business & Management Studies) for Cardiff University.

Relevant staff FTEs which should attribute and align against student FTEs for cost centre 135 (Education), are allocated within those FTE figures provided in cost centres 131 (Social work and Social Policy) and 132 (Sociology) for Cardiff University.

For the academic years 2016/17 – 2021/22 some inconsistencies are apparent among non-English HE providers in the total staff costs displayed in Table 12 of the open data when comparing against staff costs reported in Table 1. These discrepancies relate to differences in the way that HE providers have reported staff costs in both tables – in some cases excluding non-academic staff costs, and in some cases including pension adjusted costs. Staff costs in Table 1 are validated against providers’ published accounts.

In 2015/16, Edinburgh Napier University misreported a number of items within Table 8 of the Finance record specifically relating to staff costs expenditure and other operating expenses. The correct figures are as follows:

• 1at Total academic departments: Total expenditure £48,535k
• 2 Total academic services: Total expenditure £20,926k

• 3 Administration and central services
  
  • 3a Central administration and services: Total expenditure £8,851k
  • 3biii Other general expenditure: Total expenditure £758k

The effect on academic departments was spread generally on a pro rata basis.

In 2016/17, Edinburgh Napier University misreported a number of items within Table 8 of the Finance record specifically relating to staff costs expenditure and other operating expenses. The correct figures are as follows:

• 1at Total academic departments: Total expenditure £49,475k
• 2 Total academic services: Total expenditure £21,956k
• 3 Administration and central services
  
  • 3a Central administration and services: Total expenditure £8,555k
  • 3biii Other general expenditure: Total expenditure £804k

The effect on academic departments was spread generally on a pro rata basis.

In 2021/22, the University of Edinburgh incorrectly reported the number of academic staff with a disability, showing an increase from 385 to 1,340. This discrepancy arose from an accidental data collection error categorizing 'No Known Disability' status as an additional disability. This was corrected for the 2022/23 return.

The University of the Highlands and Islands is a partnership of 13 independent colleges and research institutions (referred to as ‘academic partners’) and as such the majority of the academic and support staff are employed by the university’s academic partners. Only staff directly employed by the university are therefore included in the Staff return, which hence excludes the majority of academic and support staff and, as a consequence, will affect any calculations of staff volumes, FTE per cost centre and student to staff ratios.

With effect from 2010-11, the University of Oxford moved from previously agreed practice of reporting to HESA the University-only component of the salary for joint appointments with Colleges to reporting an estimate of the total remuneration received from both College and University sources. This estimate is derived through calculating a multiple of the University-only component to reflect the overall FTE of the joint appointment. This change was made at HEFCE’s request.

The FTE staff Total HEI for University College London appear blank within the data. This is due to some component parts of this total being returned as blank rather than zero. Staff FTE is not a mandatory item within the Estates Management Statistics return so all providers with blank Staff FTE have chosen not to supply this data. Caution should be taken when analysing staff FTE data within the EMS return.

The University of York has reported that the following staff counts have been returned as null for 2012/13 and that this data will be fixed for 2013/14: Support offices staff FTE and Support not offices staff FTE.

The Central School of Speech and Drama has omitted staff FTE data from their 2012/13 Estates Management record return in error. This has resulted in the following ratios appearing as null: Water consumption per student and staff FTE; Waste mass per student and staff FTE; Academic office net internal area per academic staff FTE' Support office net internal area per support office staff FTE; Gross internal area in metre² per student and staff full-time equivalent (FTE); Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions per student and staff full-time equivalent (FTE).

The University of Huddersfield’s Oldham campus staff, were transferred to Oldham College in 2012/13, affecting the inflow / outflow figures for academic staff.

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine made a separate staff return to HESA from 2013/14, previously their HESA staff return was made through The University of Liverpool. This had an impact on the inflow and outflow of staff for these two HE providers.

The University of Huddersfield’s Barnsley campus were transferred to Barnsley College in 2013/14, affecting the inflow / outflow figures for academic staff.

In 2016/17,  Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance incorrectly reported staff numbers in several cost centres. The most noticeable of these was cost centre 114 Music, dance, drama & performing arts, which was overreported by approximately 35.

Due to the merger between the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and Swansea Metropolitan University, 590 (264.69 FTE) staff have been omitted from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David staff submission for 2012/13 (all previously Swansea Metropolitan University staff).

The breakdown of staff is as follows: 370 Academic staff (120.24 FTE), 225 Non-academic staff (144.45 FTE). (Headcounts have been rounded)