ILR funding and monitoring data 2010-11: web facility

1. How do I access the web facility?

Data files can be accessed from the HEFCE extranet. Before you are able to access the HEFCE extranet, you will need to have registered. Instructions on how to access the HEFCE extranet are provided in the guide on How to access outputs. You will require an 'organisation key' and a 'group key', details of which were provided in the 'ILR funding and monitoring data 2010-11: web facility' release letter sent by Matthew Brind on 19 September 2010 to heads of institutions and HEIFES contacts.

2. Is the organisation key case-sensitive?

No. The facility is not case-sensitive, including any passwords that are entered.

3. How long does it take to process the file(s)?

Our systems only allow one submission to be processed at a time; therefore if more than one institution submits data, the submissions will be placed in a queue. The total time taken to complete the re-creation, including waiting time, will depend on the number of institutions in the queue.

4. Is it possible to use Firefox or other browsers to access the web facility?

Yes; however, the choice of browser may affect the prompts you see when downloading the output.

5. An internet error message has appeared on my screen. What do I do now?

Refresh the page. This should resolve the problem. However, if after a few attempts the problem persists, contact Matthew Brind (e-mail ilr_heifes_stats@hefce.ac.uk).

6. What do I need to do if an error occurs while processing?

Ensure that the files you used for the re-creation are the correct ones, they have passed validation and are also in the correct format which is described in the How to use the HEFCE web facility guide. Ensure all data retains its leading zeros by opening the file in a text editor such as Notepad. If all the files are correct and you still have an error message, contact Matthew Brind (e-mail ilr_heifes_stats@hefce.ac.uk).

7. How do I view the output files?

Once the files have been processed, you can access the outputs by selecting 'Results'. See also the guides How to access outputs and working with individualised files.

8. I cannot open the individualised file as a .csv file.

See the guide to working with individualised files.

9. How will the data I use to create the outputs be used by HEFCE?

The web facility is a tool for colleges to use. Therefore, HEFCE staff will not access any data submitted to, or derived by, the web facility except in the limited circumstances described in 'ILR funding and monitoring data 2010-11: web facility' (HEFCE Circular letter 22/2011). Only those fields listed in our technical documentation will be retained on our system. We will remove individualised files and any outputs from the 2010-11 web facility when we launch the 'ILR funding and monitoring data 2011-12' web facility in 2012. All other submitted data files will be deleted immediately after the outputs have been generated. More about our commitments to handling personal data.

10. How can I identify the number of records potentially inaccurate in the 2010-11 ILR LR05 data credibility sheet from the individualised file?

In the individualised file (HEIFER10YYYYYY.ind where YYYYYY is the provider number ST_UPIN (L01) for the college), select the fields detailed in the 'population definition' and 'credibility test' columns of the credibility sheet in HEIFER10YYYYYY.xls.

11. What is the password to unprotect the NSS and DLHE spreadsheets?

The password to unprotect the NSS and DHLE spreadsheets generated by the 2010-11 ILR Web facility is 'password'.

12. How do I find the JACS 2.0 code and subject area for an LDCS code?

JACS 2.0 codes and subject areas can be obtained from the LDCS to JACS mapping spreadsheet below.

13. Why are students with LDCS code XA (except XA.13 and XA.32) now being mapped to Price Group B?

These students are now being mapped to Price Group B instead of Price Group C as a result of a review undertaken at HEFCE into the Price Group assignment of all learndirect codes starting with X. The finding was that most courses starting with XA were engineering courses and so assignment to Price Group B was more appropriate (with the exception of XA.13 and XA.32).

14. Why are more students being recorded on Table 6 of the HEIFES re-creation since 14 November?

An error in the student number control algorithm was noticed and corrected on 14 November. The error was such that students who were not in the HEIFES population (i.e. excluded from Tables 1, 2 and 3 of the HEIFES re-creation – HEFEXCL ≠ 0) may have been incorrectly excluded from Table 6 of the re-creation. In particular the error may have affected your college if you have:

1. students on non-standard years of programme of study, or
2. students that withdrew from their year of programme of study

15. Why are our non-completion students being included in columns 5 and 5a of tables 1-3 on the HEIFES re-creation?

There was an error in one of our algorithms that was causing non-completion students to be incorrectly included in columns 5 and 5a of tables 1-3 (FTS, SWOUT and PT) on the HEIFES re-creation. This error was corrected on 16 November.

16. Why can I not re-create the value for HEFCE funded foundation degree on the summary sheet in the HEIFES re-creation?

We had an error in our template for the summary sheet which caused a figure from the FTS sheet (table 1) to be counted twice. This error was corrected as of 29 November (re-submission to the web facility is required for the correction to be incorporated into your outputs).