Counting student activity

1. Counting student activity Examples – how should the student be recorded in HESESXX? • Q1. A student starts a degree in September 2011 with exams in June 2012. After a summer break they re-enrol in September 2012 for the 2nd year of the degree. How should the 1st year be returned in HESES? Ans. COLUMN 1 HESES11. This is a standard year of instance as the activity is within the 2011-12 academic year only. It should be counted at the start of the year of instance, in September 2011, and therefore should be returned in Column 1 of HESES11.

2. Year of instance, standard Sep 2011 Jun 2012 Sep 2012 Jun 2013 Academic years 1 Aug 2011 1 Aug 2012 1 Aug 2013

3. Counting student activity Examples – how should the student be recorded in HESESXX? Q2.A student starts a degree in January 2012 and they will only study in ‘normal’ term time (i.e. January-Easter, Easter-June, September- December). How should the 1st year be returned in HESES? Ans. COLUMN 2 HESES11. This is a non-standard year of instance as there is activity in both the 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years. It should be counted at the start of the year of instance, in January 2012. Therefore this year of instance should be returned in Column 2 of HESES11.

4. Years of instance, non-standard Jan 2013 Jan 2012 Dec 2012 Academic years 1 Aug 2011 1 Aug 2012 1 Aug 2013

5. Counting student activity Examples – how should the student be recorded in HESESXX? • Q3. A student starts a 15 month MSc in January 2012 and finishes in April 2013. Following exams in December 2012 they work solely on their dissertation until April 2013. How should the MSc be returned in HESES? • Ans. COLUMN 2 HESES11 and COLUMN 2 HESES12. The MSc is split into 2 years of instance – January 2012 to January 2013 and then January 2013 to January 2014. •   The 1st year of instance is non-standard as there is activity in both the 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years. Like in example 2, this 1st year of instance is counted on January 2012 and is therefore returned in Column 2 of HESES11. •   The 2nd year of instance is standard as there is activity in the 2012-13 academic year only. It should be counted at the start of the year of instance, in January 2013, and is therefore returned in Column 2 of HESES12.

6. Year of instance, non-standard Year of instance, standard Jan 2012 Jan 2013 Apr 2013 Jan 2014 Academic years 1 Aug 2011 1 Aug 2012 1 Aug 2013

7. Non-completion Examples – completion or non-completion? • Q1. A full-time student starts the year of instance in October 2011 intending to study 8 modules, all having exams in June 2012. The student turns up to the final exam for all modules in June. • Ans. COMPLETION. As the student turned up to the final exam in each module in June, they are classed as a completion.

8. Non-completion Examples – completion or non-completion? Q2. As in 1, but in one module the student did not attend the final exam in June (assuming it’s impossible to pass without taking this exam). Ans. DEPENDS. The student can still be counted as a completion if they take the final exam within 13 calendar months of the start of the year of instance, i.e. they must take the final assessment by Nov 2012. Otherwise, they would be a non-completion.

9. Non-completion Examples – completion or non-completion? • Q3. As in 1, but for one module the final exam only constitutes 10% of the mark and the award of credit is only based on overall mark. Having achieved 100% in all the coursework the student has passed the module prior to the final exam and does not attend. • Ans. COMPLETION. As the student has already passed this particular module before sitting the final exam, they do not need to undergo the final exam in order to be classed as a completion for this particular module.

10. Non-completion Examples – completion or non-completion? Q4. As in 1, but the student interrupts their study part way through the year due to illness, intending to return 12 months later to carry on where they left off. Ans. NON-COMPLETION. In the year of instance where they leave, they would be classed as a non- completion as they will not have completed the activity they intended to in that year of instance. (In the year of instance where they return, their completion status will depend on the modules taken in that year of instance.)

11. Table 6 Examples – included in Table 6 or not? • Q1. A HEFCE-fundable student starts a full-time degree in September 2011 having never studied at the institution before. • Ans. INCLUDED. This student would be included in Table 6 as they are active as a FTS UG HEFCE-fundable student in 2011-12 and have not been HEFCE-fundable or employer co-funded or ‘model 2’ LLN FTS UG students in either of the preceding two academic years as students of the same insitution.

12. Table 6 Examples – included in Table 6 or not? Q2. A HEFCE-fundable student starts a full-time degree in January 2012 (with non-standard years of instance) having never studied at the institution before. Ans. INCLUDED. This student would be included in the table as they are active as a FTS UG HEFCE-fundable student in 2011-12 and have not been HEFCE-fundable or employer co-funded or ‘model 2’ LLN FTS UG students in either of the preceding two academic years as students of the same institution.

13. Table 6 Examples – included in Table 6 or not? Q3. As in 2, but the student withdraws in March 2012. Ans. INCLUDED. Same answer as 2, as the criteria to be counted in the table includes students who withdraw after 2 weeks of starting their year of instance even if they non- complete their year of instance.

14. Table 6 Examples – included in Table 6 or not? Q4. A HEFCE-fundable student starts a full-time degree in January 2011 (with non-standard years of instance) having never studied at the institution before. Ans. NOT INCLUDED. This student would not be included in the table as they have been active as a FTS UG HEFCE-fundable student at that institution in 2010-11. However this student would have been counted in Table 6 of HESES10.

15. Table 7 ‘End on course’ - Example • A student studies full-time at a further education college towards an HNC during the 2011-12 academic year. Upon successful completion of the HNC, they progress at the college to a full-time HND starting in September 2012. Following successful completion of the HND, the student progresses to a full-time first degree with honours at a higher education institution in the 2013-14 academic year. • In this case, the HND cannot be treated as an end-on course to the HNC and therefore the student would be treated as subject to the new regime in 2012-13 and each subsequent year.

16. Table 7 ‘Transferring’ – Examples (1) • A full-time student commences study in 2011-12 for a HND in engineering, but on the recommendation of the academic authority changes to study full-time from 2012-13 for a BSc in mathematics instead • The student would be treated as having transferred because the mode and level of study has not changed, they have not taken any breaks beyond 12 months (disregarding an normal intervening vacation) and the transfer was on the recommendation of the academic authority

17. Table 7 ‘Transferring’ – Examples (2) • As in example 1, but the student changes to a part-time BSc in mathematics in 2012-13 • The student should not be treated as having transferred as the mode of study has changed from full-time to part-time

18. Table 7 ‘Transferring’ – Examples • A full-time student commences study for a BA in French in 2011-12, but decides (for whatever reason) that they no longer wish to continue the course and so they withdraw. They subsequently decide to commence study for a BA in history from 2012-13 • Because withdrawal from the French degree and commencement of the history degree were not the consequence of a recommendation by the academic authority, the student is not treated as a transfer