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HEFCE

2003-04 statistics derived from HESA data for monitoring and allocation of funding (HEFCE 2004/47)

Frequently asked questions

A list of frequently asked questions relating to HEFCE 2004/47 is provided below. This page will be updated regularly to answer questions commonly asked by institutions.

Last updated 4 February 2005

  1. Do we have to make a response to HEFCE 2004/47?
  2. Our institution is the lead institution of a HEFCE-recognised funding consortium. When will we be asked to respond to the HESA-HESES reconciliation exercise?
  3. I cannot open the individualised file as a .csv file.
  4. I keep losing the leading zeros in my amendment files.
  5. How do I view the data for my institution?
  6. How do I view the data in the individualised files?
  7. Paragraph 8a and the letter that was sent to institutions on 17 December 2004 have been amended.
  8. How do I re-create the students with an undetermined completion status figure that is included on the cover sheet of Output 1?
  9. Why is FUNDCOMP = 2 not included in the second part of the HESCOMP = 3 algorithm?

1.   Do we have to make a response to HEFCE 2004/47?
A letter was sent to heads of institutions and HESES contacts on 17 December 2004 to inform institutions if we require a response. All institutions may respond, if they wish, to comment on any element of the exercise. They are also invited to check and submit amendments to the HESA data used for the HEFCE regional statistics publications.

2.   Our institution is the lead institution of a HEFCE-recognised funding consortium. When will we be asked to respond to the HESA-HESES reconciliation exercise?
For the lead institution of a HEFCE-recognised funding consortium the re-creation will incorporate data supplied by each consortium member. Data for provision in further education colleges (FECs) included in the consortium will be sourced from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) July 2003-04 Individualised Learner Record (2003 04 ILR F04). The algorithms used to generate the re-creation for such FECs will be published in '2003-04 statistics derived from ILR data for monitoring and allocation of funding in FECs', which will be released in 2005. We will not receive 2003 04 ILR F04 data from the LSC until late January 2005. Therefore the timetable for consortia will differ from that for other higher education institutions.

3.   I cannot open the individualised file as a .csv file.
We have the file extension .ind for the individualised file. This means that Excel will not automatically detect it as a comma-separated file 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.

4.   I keep losing the leading zeros in my amendment files.
The format in Excel drops the leading zeros from the number. This can be prevented by opening the file in a text editor such as Notepad.

5.   How do I view the data for my institution?
Data files can be accessed from the HEFCE extranet at https://extranet.hefce.ac.uk. Before you are able to access the HEFCE extranet site, you will need to have registered. Instructions on how to access the HEFCE extranet are provided in Annex G of HEFCE 2004/47. You will require an 'organisation key' and a 'group key', details of which were provided in a letter sent by Ben Grassby on 17 December 2004 to heads of institutions, HESES contacts and RAS contacts.

6.   How do I view the data in the individualised files?

All records with a value in a specific field can be found in the following way:

  1. Open an individualised file from the list in Microsoft Excel and 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.
  2. Select the row containing the field headings.
  3. Select <Filter> from the <Data> menu and then <Autofilter>.
  4. Click on the arrow in the column containing the data you want to filter.
  5. Either select a specific value or select <Custom> to apply a comparison operator other than equality.
  6. To select records using multiple fields, repeat steps d and e for each field.

7.   Paragraph 8a and the letter that was sent to institutions on 17 December 2004 have been amended.

Paragraph 8a and the letter that was sent to institutions on 17 December state that the threshold is:

'The difference between total recurrent teaching funding for HESES03 and the HESES03 re-creation exceeds £250,000, or 5 per cent of total recurrent teaching funding for 2003-04'

The threshold should have been stated as:

'The difference between contract range holdback for HESES03 and the HESES03 re-creation exceeds £250,000, or 5 per cent of total recurrent teaching funding for 2003-04'

8.   How do I re-create the students with an undetermined completion status figure that is included on the cover sheet of Output 1?

Select HESEXCL=0, FUNDCOMP=3 and HESTYPE=HOMEF. This figure differs to last year in that it only includes HEFCE-funded students.

9. Why is FUNDCOMP = 2 not included in the second part of the HESCOMP = 3 algorithm?

The algorithm in the publication is incorrect. The correct algorithm is given below:

HESCOMP (Column V in individualised file HESR03XXXX.ind)
This field indicates whether the student will appear in Column 3 or 4 of the HESES03 re-creation. If the student is excluded (HESEXCL not equal to 0) this field is not used to populate the tables.

Value Description Definition
3 Included in Column 3 ((FTE_TYPE = 1, 3 or TYPEYR = 1) and FUNDCOMP = 2) or (FTE_TYPE = 2, 4 and TYPEYR = 2 to 5 and FUNDCOMP = 2)
4 Included in Column 4 Otherwise