HEFCE web facility for 2007-08 statistics derived from HESA data
Frequently asked questions
This page will be updated regularly to answer questions commonly asked by institutions.
Last updated 9 December 2008
Contents
- How do I access the web facility?
- Is the organisation key case-sensitive?
- How long does it take to process the file(s)?
- Is it possible to use Netscape or other browsers to access the web facility?
- An internet error message has appeared on my screen. What do I do now?
- What do I need to do if an error occurs while processing?
- How do I view the output files?
- I cannot open the individualised file as a .csv file.
- How will the data I use to create the outputs be used by HEFCE?
- Is use of the web facility compulsory?
- How are students identified as non-completions in the non-completion toolkit?
- I submitted data before 4 August 2008 and the HESES07 re-creation has students who are excluded both for HESEXCL = 256 (student on non-standard academic years in first academic year) and T7EXCL = 2048 (100:0 students on non-standard academic years in last academic year). Is this right?
- I submitted data before 6 August 2008 and there is an inconsistency between T7EXCL and T7FTE, why?
- I submitted data before 1 September 2008 and re-creating the students in Table 7 from the individualised file is proving problematic - is there a reason for this?
- I submitted data before 4 September 2008 and the data in RASFTE doesn't seem to match the algorithm given in the guidance.
- In the RAS07 re-creation why is physics being assigned to RASUOA11 instead of RASUOA19 when UOA2008X = 19?
- On the HESES07 re-creation and HESES re-creation based on cost centre sector norms outputs is there an error in some of the formulae in the FEEDIFF worksheets?
- Have the algorithms for assigning medical, dental and veterinary science undergraduates to price groups changed?
- Have changes been made to the HESMODE, RASMODE and RDMODE07 algorithms since 25 September 2008?
- Have changes been made to the HESFEELV algorithm since 25 September 2008?
- Has the algorithm for HESNHS been changed?
- Is there a problem of fit with countable years where a student is on a standard year in 2006-07 and a non-standard year in 2007-08?
- I have students with units of assessment (UOAs) 4 and 5 who are excluded from the RAS re-creation because they won't fit into the mapping criteria described in paragraph 12 of Appendix 10. What should I do?
- Was there an error in the subject coding for modules?
- Was there an error in the WP individualised file for the fields QUALGRADE01-30, QUALSBJ01-30 and QUALTYPE01-30?
- How can I access the RDQR templates and where do I submit my RDQR action plan?
- Was there an error in the RDQR individualised file which meant records were not showing all historic data for the following derived fields: FEEBANXX, MSTUFEXX, QUAL1XX, QUAL2XX, QUALAIXX, RSNLEAXX, SBJQA1-3XX and SBJBIDXX?
- Was there an error with the RAS output which caused incorrect values to be recorded in fields UOA20081-3 when a student is reported against three units of assessment (UOAs)?
- Why does the RAS re-creation individualised file contain duplicate records for some students, where I would not expect this and why do some derived fields appear inconsistent with HESA data?
- Why are medical students who are on an accelerated route being recorded as price group B rather than price group A?
- Is there a problem of fit with countable years where a student is on a non-standard year in 2006-07 and a standard year in 2007-08, and the student does not end their instance in the 2007-08 academic year?
- Some students that have A-level and AS-level grades that are less usual (such as A# and Bp) that do not appear to be treated correctly in the ADJTAR fields - is there an error in the algorithm?
- The RAS re-creation outputs contain strange results, particularly the assignment of student to units of assessment (UoAs), when we upload multiple XML files in one submission to the web facility. Why is this?
- Has the algorithm for RASYEAR changed?
- Was there an error in our algorithms that affected numbers of model 2 LLN students appearing in the tables?
- Should students that are writing-up for part of their year of instance always be excluded from the HESES07 re-creation, and if not was there an error with the algorithm for HESEXCL = 32?
- Have the figures in the LLN student summary workbook LLN07XXXX.xls changed?
- Has the number of students included in the derived statistics likely to inform HESES08 audits file AUD107XXXX.ind changed?
- Have the indicative allocations in the re-calculated 2008-09 WP allocation based on FTEs from the provisional HESES07 re-creation included in the WP sheet of the HESR07XXXX.xls workbook changed?
- Have the indicative allocations in the derived statistics which may inform 2009-10 WP allocations included in the WP07XXXX.xls workbook changed?
- Is there an error in the FTE_LINK algorithm which impacts the calculation of HESESFTE for students on non-standard academic years that were reported using the split FTE method in 2006?
- Has the algorithm which determines whether a student is included in the RAS07 re-creation (RSTUEXCL) changed since 5 November 2008?
- Has the algorithm which determines whether a student is included in the Research Degree Qualification rate (RDQR) population (RDQRPOP) changed since 5 November 2008?
- Was there an error that was causing the students to be identified as model 2 LLN students (HESLLN2 = 1) despite not being returned as non-fundable?
- Were incorrect COURSEAIM values being used for 'HND' in the ELQQAIM algorithm?
- On the HESES07 re-creation is there an error in the formulae that affects sandwich year-out students and therefore price group C in the SummaryPG worksheet?
Data files can be accessed from the HEFCE extranet https://extranet.hedata.ac.uk. 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 Annex B of HEFCE 2008/30. You will require an 'organisation key' and a 'group key', details of which were provided in a letter sent by Anthony Ryan on 8 September 2008 to heads of institutions, HESES contacts and RAS contacts.
No. The facility is not case-sensitive, including any passwords that are entered.
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. A submission by an average-sized institution will typically take 20 minutes to process (once it reaches the front of the queue). The total time taken to complete the re-creation, including waiting time, will depend on the number of institutions in the queue.
Yes, however, the choice of browser may affect the prompts you see when downloading the output.
Refresh the page. This should resolve the problem. However, if after a few attempts the problem persists, contact Lydia Booker (e-mail hesa_heses_stats@hefce.ac.uk).
Ensure that the files you used for the re-creation are the correct ones, they have passed HESA validation and are also in the correct format. The correct format is described in Annex B of the '2007-08 statistics derived from HESA data: Guide to HEFCE web facility' (HEFCE 2008/30). 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 Lydia Booker (e-mail hesa_heses_stats@hefce.ac.uk).
Once the files have been processed, you can access the outputs by selecting 'Results'. Follow Annex B of '2007-08 statistics derived from HESA data: Guide to HEFCE web facility' (HEFCE 2008/30) for details of how to open your output. This also provides a description of the different outputs that are available.
We use the file extension '.ind' for the individualised file. This means that Excel will not automatically detect that the file is comma-separated and will not format it correctly. To open the file correctly, launch Excel first, then, click 'File', 'Open'. You will need to specify 'All Files' in the 'files of type' box before the individualised file will appear in the file listing. Once you have selected the file, the 'Text Import Wizard' will appear. Ensure that 'Delimited' is selected near the top of the window, then click 'Next'. On the next page, uncheck 'Tab' and check 'Comma'. Click 'Finish' to open the file. Checking the 'Always use the selected program to open this type of file' box will mean that Excel will be used automatically when a '.ind' file is opened in the future.
We will not view any data unless asked to by an institution. The data and output files remain the property of the institution and are held separately from other data
No. However, most of the outputs will also be performed when we receive data via HESA: if significant discrepancies exist at that point we will ask for an explanation.
The derived field HESCOMP identifies students as not completing their year of programme of study in the HESES07 non-completion toolkit. A description of HESCOMP can be found in Appendix 1 of HEFCE 2008/30.
This is incorrect and was caused by an error in our algorithms. The problem was fixed on 4 August 2008. You may need to resubmit your 2007-08 HESA data to the HEFCE web facility to see the impact of this fix.
The was an error in our algorithms for T7EXCL field (which is dependent on T7FTE). The problem was fixed on 6 August 2008. You may need to resubmit your 2007-08 HESA data to the HEFCE web facility to see the impact of this fix.
We were excluding students with HESESXCL > 0 from Table 7 even if T7EXCL = 0. The problem was fixed on 1 September 2008. You may need to resubmit your 2007-08 HESA data to the HEFCE web facility to see the impact of this fix.
The algorithm for RASFTE was improved on 4 September 2008. The algorithm is now:
| Value* | Description | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | Full-time | RASMODE = FT |
| STULOAD | Part-time standard academic year and preceding year was a standard academic year | RASMODE = PT and TYPEYR = 1 and STUBID = 0 |
| STULOAD x PROP | Part-time standard academic year and preceding year was a non-standard academic year | RASMODE = PT and STUBID = 2 |
| 0 | Part-time non-standard academic year which ends before 2 December 2007 and following year is a standard academic year | RASMODE = PT and STUBID = 1 and ANNIV < 2 December 2007 |
| STULOAD - (STULOAD x PROP) | Part-time non-standard academic year which ends after 1 December 2007 and following year is a standard academic year | RASMODE = PT and STUBID = 1 and ANNIV > 1 December 2007 |
| STULOAD + LASTFTE | Part-time non-standard academic year in the first academic year which commences before 2 December 2007 | RASMODE = PT and TYPEYR ‡ 1 and COMDATE < 31 July 2007 and COMDATE > 2 December 2007 and STUBID = 0 |
| STULOAD | Part-time non-standard academic year not in the first or last academic year | RASMODE = PT and TYPEYR ‡ 1 and (COMDATE < 1 August 2007 or COMDATE > 1 December 2007) and (ENDDATE = BLANK or ENDDATE < 2 December 2007 or ENDDATE > 31 July 2008) and STUBID = 0 |
| STULOAD + FIRSTFTE | Part-time non-standard academic year in the last academic year which ends after 1 December 2007 | RASMODE = PT and TYPEYR ‡ 1 and ENDDATE > 1 December 2007 and ENDDATE < 1 August 2008 and STUBID = 0 |
* RASFTE is capped at 100.
There was an error in our algorithms - we were incorrectly assigning activity in the physics unit of assessment (UOA = 19) to RASUOA11 instead of RASUOA19. This error has now been fixed. Institutions would have been affected by this error if they have students assigned to UOA = 19 and submitted their data before 18 September 2008. We recommend that those affected re-submit their data to the web facility for corrected outputs.
Yes, there was an error in the formulae. This has now been fixed. Institutions would have been affected by the error if they submitted their data before 22 September 2008. We recommend that those affected, re-submit their data to the web facility for corrected outputs.
18. Have the algorithms for assigning medical, dental and veterinary science undergraduates to price groups changed?
The algorithms for PRGA, PRGB and HESMED were modified on 25 September 2008 to include 'Taught qualification at level M leading towards obtaining eligibility to register to practice with a Health or Social Care or Veterinary statutory regulatory body' (COURSEAIM = M86). This affects the HESES re-creation, HESES re-creation based on cost centre sector norms and TRAC(T) outputs. The algorithms are now as follows:
Medicine, dentistry and veterinary science - undergraduates
Undergraduate (HESLEVEL = UGX) medicine, dentistry and veterinary science were assigned to price groups as follows:
| Field | Description | Definition | Value of field |
|---|---|---|---|
| PRGA | Clinical medicine | COURSEAIM = H16, I16, M86 and REGBODY = 01 and CRSELGTH† - YEARPRG = 0, 1, 2 and (SBJCA1* = A3 or SBJCA2* = A3 or SBJCA3* = A3) | 1 |
| PRGA | Veterinary science | COURSEAIM = H16, I16, M86 and REGBODY = 14 and CRSELGTH† - YEARPRG = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and (SBJCA1* = D1, D2 or SBJCA2* = D1, D2 or SBJCA3* = D1, D2) | 1 |
| PRGA | Clinical dentistry | COURSEAIM = H16, I16, M86 and REGBODY = 02 and CRSELGTH† - YEARPRG = 0, 1, 2, 3 and (SBJCA1* = A4 or SBJCA2* = A4 or SBJCA3* = A4) | 1 |
| PRGB | Pre-clinical medicine and dentistry | COURSEAIM = H16, I16, M86 and REGBODY = 01, 02 and (SBJCA1* = A1, A2 or SBJCA2* = A1, A2 or SBJCA3* = A1, A2) and not above | 1 |
| PRGB | Veterinary science | COURSEAIM = H16, I16, M86 and REGBODY = 14 and CRSELGTH† - YEARPRG > 4 and (SBJCA1* = D1, D2 or SBJCA2* = D1, D2 or SBJCA3* = D1, D2) | 1 |
† See paragraph 50 for the algorithm for CRSELGTH.
* The first two characters of the field.
HESMED (HESES Table 1b indicator)
A flag to identify whether the student is a medical or dental student who meets the criteria for inclusion in Table 1b of the HESES07 re-creation.
| Value | Description | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Included in Table 1b | HESLEVEL = UGX and HESMODE = FTS and COURSEAIM = H16, I16, M86 and REGBODY = 01, 02 |
| 0 | Otherwise | Otherwise |
19. Have changes been made to the HESMODE, RASMODE and RDMODE07 algorithms since 25 September 2008?
Yes, these have been modified to reflect that students on sandwich courses that are ERASMUS full year out (SPECFEE = 3) should be returned as sandwich year out.
The revised algorithms are as follows:
HESMODE (HESES mode)
This field allocates students to mode of study.
| Value | Description | Definition |
|---|---|---|
FTS | Full-time | MODE = 01, 52, 53 or (MODE = 43, 51, 73 and MCDATE > 31 July 2007) or (MODE = 23, 24 and SPECFEE ‡ 1, 3) |
| SWOUT | Sandwich year-out | MODE = 23, 24 and SPECFEE = 1, 3 and LOCSDY = D, E, F, G |
| PT | Part-time | Otherwise |
RASMODE
This field allocates students to mode of study.
| Value | Description | Definition |
|---|---|---|
FT | Full-time and sandwich year-out | MODE = 01, 52, 53 or (MODE = 43, 51, 73 and MCDATE > 31 July 2007) or (MODE = 23, 24 and (SPECFEE ‡ 1, 3 or (SPECFEE = 1, 3 and LOCSDY = D, E, F, G))) |
PT | Part-time | Otherwise |
RDMODE07
| Value | Description | Definition |
|---|---|---|
FT | Full-time | (MODE07 = 01, 52, 53 or (MODE07 = 43, 51, 73 and MCDATE07 > 31 July 2007) or (MODE07 = 23, 24 and (SPECFE07 ‡ 1, 3 or (SPECFE07 = 1, 3 and LOCSDY07 = D, E, F, G))) |
PT | Part-time | Otherwise |
20. Have changes been made to the HESFEELV algorithm since 25 September 2008?
Yes, the algorithm has been improved to treat part-time (HESMODE = PT) students on initial teacher training courses leading to qualified teacher status (PRGITT > 0), or ITT that does not lead to QTS (TTCID = 2) as on a 'Regulated half fee' (HESFEELV = HALF).
HESFEELV (HESES fee band)
This field contains the level of tuition fee chargeable to the student.
| Value | Description | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| NHS | NHS bursaried courses | HESNHS† = NHS1, NHS2, NHS3, NHS4 |
| FDBC | Foundation degree bridging course | FDBRIDGE* = 1 and STUBID‡ = 1 |
| FULL | Undergraduate full fee | SPECFEE = 0, 5 |
| HALF | Undergraduate half fee | SPECFEE = 1, 2, 4 or (HESMODE = PT and SPECFEE = 9 and (PRGITT > 0 or TTCID = 2)) |
| 0 | ERASMUS students | SPECFEE = 3 |
| OTHER | Other fee charged | Otherwise |
21. Has the algorithm for HESNHS been changed?
Yes, we changed the HESNHS algorithm on 30 September 2008 to reflect that 'pre registration ordinary (non-honours) first degrees leading towards obtaining eligibility to register to practice with a Health or Social Care or Veterinary statutory regulatory body' (COURSEAIM = I16), 'taught qualification at level M leading towards obtaining eligibility to register to practice with a Health or Social Care or Veterinary statutory regulatory body' (COURSEAIM = M86), and first degree with honours on the intercalated pattern' (COURSEAIM = H24) may be eligible for NHS bursaries. The algorithm is now as follows:
HESNHS
This field identifies the three different groups of students that are eligible for NHS bursaries.
| Value | Description | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| NHS1 | Pre-registration students of nursing, midwifery, the allied health professions, dental auxiliaries, audiologists and operating department practitioners | ((MSFUND = 31 and FUNDCODE = 2) or FUNDCODE = 5) and COURSEAIM = H16, I16, M86, J26 and REGBODY = 02, 06, 07, 13 and (SBJCA1* = B or SBJCA2 = B or SBJCA3* = B) and FEEELIG = 1 |
| NHS2 | English domiciled, pre-registration medical and dental students undertaking the five or six year undergraduate instance | DOMICILE = XF and COURSEAIM = H16, H24, I16, M86 and REGBODY = 01, 02 and CRSELGTH ≥ 5 and YEARSTU ≥ 5 and (SBJCA1* = A or SBJCA2* = A or SBJCA3* = A) |
| NHS3 | Pre-registration medical and dental students attending the accelerated four year graduate entry instance | DOMICILE = XF and COURSEAIM = H16, I16, M86 and REGBODY = 01, 02 and CRSELGTH = 4 and YEARPRG > 1 and QUALENT2 = 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and (SBJCA1* = A or SBJCA2* = A or SBJCA3* = A) |
| NHS4 | General Social Care Council (GSCC) approved courses eligible for an NHS bursary | COURSEAIM = H16, I16, M86 and REGBODY = 08 and (SBJCA1† = L5 or SBJCA2† = L5 or SBJCA3† = L5) |
22. Is there a problem of fit with countable years where a student is on a standard year in 2006-07 and a non-standard year in 2007-08?
Yes, in this case, our algorithms may incorrectly generate a countable year in the HESES07 re-creation. If this affects you, please contact Anne Southworth (e-mail hesa_heses_stats@hefce.ac.uk) with a means of identifying these students, e.g. COURSEID then we will insert an override.
23. I have students with units of assessment (UOAs) 4 and 5 who are excluded from the RAS re-creation because they won't fit into the mapping criteria described in paragraph 12 of Appendix 10. What should I do?
There was an error in our algorithm - records where UOA2008X = 04 and SBJCAX ‡ A1, A3, A9 and records where UOA2008X = 05 and SBJCAX = A1, A3, A9 could not be mapped. To correct the error, we changed the definition for RASUOA01 and RASUOA03 as follows:
| FIELD NAME | DESCRIPTION | DEFINITION | VALUE OF FIELD |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Clinical Laboratory Science | (UOA2008X = 01,02,03 and SBJCAX ‡ A1,A3,A9) or UOA2008X = 05 |
sum of UOAPCNTX/100 |
| 03 | Hospital-based Clinical Subjects | (UOA2008X=01,02,03 and SBJCAX=A1,A3,A9) or UOA2008X=04 |
sum of UOAPCNTX/100 |
24. Was there an error in the subject coding for modules?
Yes, subject codes for courses were being assigned to modules in error. This was corrected on 2 October 2008, so that the modules are being assigned subject codes for modules.
25. Was there an error in the WP individualised file for the fields QUALGRADE01-30, QUALSBJ01-30 and QUALTYPE01-30?
Yes, an error in our code meant that it was showing incorrect values for some students. This was corrected on 8 October 2008.
26. How can I access the RDQR templates and where do I submit my RDQR action plan?
The RDQR action plan template (APRDQR07XXXX.xls) is available from the HEFCE extranet. To access the action plan log in to the extranet and join the group H252 83B6F222. Navigate to the 'HEFCE resources' page. From here click on '2007-08 statistics derived from HESA data', and then on 'APRDQR07 data collection'. Further instructions about how to download and submit your RDQR action plan can be found here.
27. Was there an error in the RDQR individualised file which meant records were not showing all historic data for the following derived fields: FEEBANXX, MSTUFEXX, QUAL1XX, QUAL2XX, QUALAIXX, RSNLEAXX, SBJQA1-3XX and SBJBIDXX?
Yes, we were incorrectly not displaying these derived fields for all years in the individualised file. This error only affected the individualised file. The error was corrected on 7 October 2008.
28. Was there an error with the RAS output which caused incorrect values to be recorded in fields UOA20081-3 when a student is reported against three units of assessment (UOAs)?
Yes, there was an error in our code, affecting students reported against three UOAs. This would have caused the RAS re-creation to understate both headcount and FTE for these students - in the individualised this would have resulted in incorrect values in the RASUOAXX derived fields and the UOAPCNT1-3 fields would not have been displayed correctly. This error was corrected on 8 October 2008.
29. Why does the RAS re-creation individualised file contain duplicate records for some students, where I would not expect this and why do some derived fields appear inconsistent with HESA data?
There was an error in our algorithms which affected the individualised file only. This error may have caused inconsistent values to appear in some derived fields for some records and some students to appear twice in the individualised file. This error was corrected on 26 September 2008.
30. Why are medical students who are on an accelerated route being recorded as price group B rather than price group A?
Our algorithms have been modified so that students on such courses should be treated as price group A during the last three years of their instance (or the equivalent number of years for part-time students). This was fixed on 16 October 2008.
31. Is there a problem of fit with countable years where a student is on a non-standard year in 2006-07 and a standard year in 2007-08 and the student does not end their instance in the 2007-08 academic year?
Yes, in this case, our algorithms may incorrectly exclude the 2006-07 countable year from the HESES07 re-creation. If this affects you, please contact Anne Southworth (e-mail hesa_heses_stats@hefce.ac.uk) with a means of identifying these students, e.g. COURSEID then we will insert an override.
32. Some students that have A-level and AS-level grades that are less usual (such as A# and Bp) that do not appear to be treated correctly in the ADJTAR fields - is there an error in the algorithm?
We have changed the algorithm for ADJTAR to account for these grades. Specifically, for A-level and AS-level, the A#, B#, C# grades (where # denotes partial absence) are now included. Furthermore, some grades (such as Ap, Bd) have supplementary grades at A-level and AS-level (lower case p and d in these examples) - these grades are also explicitly included in the ADJTAR calculation. This correction was made on 22 October 2008.
33. The RAS re-creation outputs contain strange results, particularly the assignment of student to units of assessment (UoAs), when we upload multiple XML files in one submission to the web facility. Why is this?
There was an error in our processing of the UOA20081-3 and UOAPCNT1-3 fields when multiple XML files are uploaded during a single submission to the web facility. This may have resulted in some students' UOA data being aligned with the incorrect student for the RAS re-creation. Furthermore, it may have caused some students' UOA data to be missing altogether. This error was corrected on 23 October 2008.
34. Has the algorithm for RASYEAR changed?
Yes we made the following alteration on 27 October 2007:
| Value | Description |
|---|---|
| YEARSTU - 1 | ANNIV > 1 December 2007 and YEARSTU > 1 |
| YEARSTU | ANNIV ≤ 1 December 2007 or YEARSTU < 2 |
35. Was there an error in our algorithms that affected numbers of model 2 LLN students appearing in the tables?
Yes, this affected column 5 ('model 2 LLN students') of Table 1a (hFTS sheet) of the HESES07 return, and also columns 5 and 5a on Table 7 (TAB7 worksheet). These columns were not being populated. This error was fixed on 30 October 2008.
36. Should students that are writing-up for part of their year of instance always be excluded from the HESES07 re-creation, and if not was there an error with the algorithm for HESEXCL = 32?
Students that are writing-up for part of their year of instance should not necessarily be excluded from the HESES07 re-creation. Provided they meet the other HESES inclusion criteria they should be included. Consequently we have changed the algorithm for HESEXCL = 32. We were incorrectly excluding students that started writing-up between 1 August and the anniversary of their start date. The algorithm is now as follows and was changed on 21 November 2008:
| Value | Description | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 32 | Dormant, sabbatical or students writing up |
MODE = 63, 64 or (MODE = 43, 44, 51, 73, 74 and (MCDATE = BLANK or (MCDATE < ANNIV and TYPEYR = 1) or (MCDATE < ANNIV - 365 days and TYPEYR = 2, 4, 5))) |
37. Have the figures in the LLN student summary workbook LLN07XXXX.xls changed?
Yes the workbook was using 2006-07 fees. These were updated to the 2007-08 fees on 17 October 2008. Also an error where under certain circumstances the incorrect premiums were being applied was also corrected on this date.
38. Has the number of students included in the derived statistics likely to inform HESES08 audits file AUD107XXXX.ind changed?
Yes. On the 22 October the algorithm was amended to exclude students where the ENDDATE is blank.
39. Have the indicative allocations in the re-calculated 2008-09 WP allocation based on FTEs from the provisional HESES07 re-creation included in the WP sheet of the HESR07XXXX.xls workbook changed?
Yes. These were updated to use the 2008-09 non-mainstream FTEs on 4 November. Previously they had been using the 2007-08 non-mainstream FTEs.
40. Have the indicative allocations in the derived statistics which may inform 2009-10 WP allocations included in the WP07XXXX.xls workbook changed?
Yes. These were updated on 4 November to reflect the final 2008-09 allocation rates announced in October 2008. See paragraph 3 of Annex E of HEFCE 2008/30 for further information.
41. Is there an error in the FTE_LINK algorithm which impacts the calculation of HESESFTE for students on non-standard academic years that were reported using the split FTE method in 2006?
Yes. This was corrected on 4 November 2008.
42. Has the algorithm which determines whether a student is included in the RAS07 re-creation (RSTUEXCL) changed since 5 November 2008?
Yes, it has been modified to reflect that COURSEAIM = L99 'Advanced supervised research at levels D or L with an unspecified qualification aim' should be included in the RAS population. The algorithm for RSTUEXCL has been modified as follows:
"RSTUEXCL
This field indicates whether the student is included in the RAS07 re-creation. For students excluded from the re-creation, RSTUEXCL contains the sum of all applicable values from the table below. Students included in the re-creation have RSTUEXCL = 0.
| Value | Description | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Student with qualification aim other than PG research degree | COURSEAIM ‡ D00, L00, L80, L99 |
| 2 | Student not active on census date | COMDATE > 1 December 2007 or ENDDATE < 1 December 2007 |
| 4 | Dormant, sabbatical or writing-up student | MODE = 63, 64 or (MODE = 43, 44, 51, 73, 74 and (MCDATE = BLANK or MCDATE < 2 December 2007)) |
| 8 | Explicit exclusions* | Institution-specific algorithms |
| 16 | Island and overseas students | RASTYPE = ISOV |
* For example, academic staff who are also registered for a research-based higher degree where the sum of the individual's staff FTE and student FTE exceeds 1."
43. Has the algorithm which determines whether a student is included in the Research Degree Qualification rate (RDQR) population (RDQRPOP) changed since 5 November 2008?
Yes, it has been modified to reflect that COURSEAIM = L99 'Advanced supervised research at levels D or L with an unspecified qualification aim' should be included in the RDQR population. The algorithm has been modified as follows:
RDQRPOP
This field indicates whether the student is included in the RDQR population.
| Value | Description | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Student is in the RDQR population | (Any QUALAI99-06 = 02, 04, 06 or any COURSEXX = D00, L00, L80, L99) and EARLYLVE = 0 and (every RSNLEA99-06 ‡ 5 and every RSNENDXX ‡ 5) |
| 0 | Otherwise | Otherwise |
44. Was there an error that was causing the students to be identified as model 2 LLN students (HESLLN2 = 1) despite not being returned as non-fundable?
Yes, an error in the algorithm for HESLLN2 meant that any model 2 LLN students that were incorrectly coded as HEFCE-fundable or island and overseas (HESTYPE = HOMEF, HOMEIF, ISOV) were being assigned as HESLLN2 = 1 in the HESES07 re-creation individualised file.
This was fixed on 7 November 2008, however, please note that model 2 LLN students that should always be returned as non-fundable on the HESA return.
45. Were incorrect COURSEAIM values being used for 'HND' in the ELQQAIM algorithm?
Yes, this was corrected on 10 November 2008. The algorithm is now as follows:
| Value | Description | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| PGT | Postgraduate | HESLEVEL = PGT |
| FD | Foundation degree | HESLEVEL = FD |
| FIRST | First degree | COURSEAIM† = D, E, L, M, H, I and HESLEVEL ‡ PGT, FD |
| HND | Higher National Diploma (HND) | COURSEAIM = J30 and not above |
| OTHER | Higher National Certificate (HNC) and lower | Otherwise |
46. On the HESES07 re-creation is there an error in the formulae that affects sandwich year-out students and therefore price group C in the SummaryPG worksheet?
Yes, there was an error in the formulae. This has now been fixed. Institutions would have been affected by the error if they submitted their data before 19 November 2008.