Welcome slide
Future arrangements for the
Destination of Leavers from
Higher Education Survey
Sarbani Banerjee – Senior Higher Education Policy Adviser for
the Provision of Information - HEFCE
London
30 August 2013
Aims of the event
Agenda
• Provide an update on the process
for 2014
• Hear from an institution that
manages the survey
• Hear from us about what a
potential contractor could offer
• Discuss the pros and cons of each
of our options and feed back to
us
Time
10:00 – 10:15
Session
Registration
Tea and Coffee
10:15 – 10:45
Welcome and introduction to policy changes.
Introduction from the AOC
HEFCE’s DLHE data requirements
What HESA will offer to FECs
10:45 – 11:15
Presentation from a HEI on how to run the DLHE
11:15 – 11:45
Presentation from HEFCE on how a contractor
would run the survey
11:45 – 12:15
Exploring options in group discussion
12:15 – 12:30
Group feedback
12:30 – 1:00
Lunch
Changes to DLHE survey 2014-15
Rationale
•
White Paper’s commitment to develop a ‘level
playing field’ between all types of HE provider
•
English FECs would be required to fund and
administer the DLHE survey for themselves
Circular letter outlining options for FECs (April 13)
•
To ‘go it alone’ - fund and administer the DLHE survey
for themselves
•
HEFCE to tender on behalf of FECs to establish a
framework supplier
•
To collaborate with other FECs/HEIs to run the survey
as a consortium
Update on the process
• Support to manage
procurement and data quality.
Expected Timeline
Aug 2013
Informal consultation events
• HEFCE to appoint a supplier
through OJEU open tender
process.
Sep 2013
Circular Letter outlining full
process.
Feb2014
• First tranche of the survey
(April 2014) for English FECs to
become optional
Complete OJEU competitive
tender
Feb 2014
Supplier appointed
Mar 2014
Training events for FECs
Apr 2014
Tranche one survey returns
(optional)
Apr 2014
FECs complete preparedness
checklist
May 2014
Feedback on checklist from
HEFCE
Oct 2014
Survey activity starts
• HEFCE supplier in place to
support second tranche
(January 2015)
• After 2015, FECs expected to
use framework supplier if data
does not meet requirements.
What this will mean for your institution.
We want to explore with you...
• What our proposals would mean for
your institution
• What considerations should we build
into the Invitation to Tender for
approved supplier.
• How we can further support you
through these changes
Association of Colleges (AoC)
Nick Davy – AoC HE Policy Manager
London
30 August 2013
Data Quality
Richard Puttock – HEFCE Head of data and management information
London
30 August 2013
Why good DLHE data is important
High response rates
• Target response rate:
• Full Time – 80%
• Part Time – 70%
Important because:
• Comparable and publishable data –
used to inform student choice
• Quality assurance and enhancement
• Informs public policy - the social,
cultural and economic benefit of
Higher Education
HEFCE’s Data Thresholds...
Currently a minimum of 23
students
• Concern of non-publishable data
• Round table discussions about data
thresholds
• Part of HEFCE’s financial
memorandum
• Data contributes to the wider debate
around the value of HE in FE
• Distinctive contribution of smaller
providers
HEFCE’s requirements
Data requirements
• Complete responses and full data
• Correct SOC and SIC coding
• Data submission via HEFCE extranet,
linked to ILR (XML format).
Preparedness checklist
• To help FECs think about the
practicalities of running the survey
• To allow HEFCE to act as a critical
friend
Resources from the Higher
Education Statistics Agency
(HESA)
Catherine Benfield - HESA
www.hesa.ac.uk/C11018
London
30 August 2013
An institution’s perspective
of running the survey
Amin Pradhan and Ruth Cartwright – University College
Birmingham
London
30 August 2013
University College Birmingham
Destination of Leavers in Higher Education
Amin Pradhan
Ruth Cartwright
Who uses the Data
• Statutory Customers, various bodies including BIS, HEFCE,
Training and Development Agency for Schools
• The HE sector in the UK
• Those involved in production of TQI and performance indicators,
League Tables
• UNISTATS – www.unistats.com compare institutions
• Public interest in HE
• Internal – academic staff, various business units, self assessment,
Careers Advisers, prospective students, current students
Time Line
October
Download DLHE population from HESA Data and
linked to Student Record System and identify contact
details and split data into returning and non-returning
students into two spreadsheets
Mid November
Email all students with the HESA on-line destination
form completion link
End of
November
Reminder sent via email to all only non respondent
Mid December
Prepare address labels and send paper forms to
students home address with a reply paid envelope
Before
Christmas
break
Send email to remind students to complete forms
either sent in post or on-line
Time Line
January
Prepare for telephone survey
Mid January
Send a text message reminder
February
Commence telephone survey and visit current
students in lectures
February/March Code, input and validate data
March
As a final attempt contact the
alumni/lecturers/careers to see if they have any
information about the students. (This must always
be as a last resort)
All students completing the survey are logged on daily basis so that we do
not contact them again
Telephone Survey Preparation
• Identify Student Ambassadors
• Take into consideration language requirements
if students are international
• Train them thoroughly ensure they understand
the need for accurate data
• Commence telephone survey evenings and
weekend with a supervisor who can advise
where necessary
Success of different methods used
Target Response Required by
HESA/HEFCE
UCB DLHE Survey Population
Academic Year 10/11 – 1070
Academic Year 11/12 – 1638
Target Response Rate Required:
• Full-time UK – 80% (UCB 87.0%)
• Part-Time UK – 70% (UCB 85.1%)
• EU – 50% (UCB 64.8%)
• International - 0% (UCB 21.5%)
CASCOT
• CASCOT is designed to assign a code to a piece of text. e.g. a SOC
code to a job title from the DLHE survey
• When CASCOT assigns a code to a piece of text it also calculates a
score from 1 to 100 which represents the degree of certainty that the
given code is correct, however, be aware that:
• you do not have to use the recommendation made by CASCOT
(regardless of the score it is given)
• Use your judgement to assess whether it is the most accurate code
and reflects the true nature of the job
• Make use of it. UCB could not do the DLHE return without it
Issues to watch out for
•
•
•
•
•
Ensure contact details are kept up-to-date
Classification of SOC codes
Postcodes
Ensure the salary field is for annual Salary
Ensure you have an effective procedure
for logging responses and you do not
contact any students who have replied
Things to consider for survey
•
•
What methods are you going to use:Postal forms
Online survey
Use PDFs
Undertake telephone survey
Current Students
Raising awareness of DLHE survey
Things to consider for survey
•
•
•
•
•
Some graduates will like to complete
forms online, others will not, so offer as
many methods of completing the survey
as possible
Up-to-date contact information
Call at the right times
Resource requirements
Collaboration/Managed service
Finally
• Plan well, do not leave it too late as this is
a time consuming task
• Make sure you have the necessary
resources available i.e. Can you manage
in-house or do you need extra help
• Keep an audit trail
What a contractor would
offer
Matthew Barrow – HE Policy Adviser for the Provision of
Information - HEFCE
London
30 August 2013
Running the DLHE survey through a contractor
• HEFCE to run a tender exercise to establish a
framework supplier.
• This should:
• Ensure economies of scale
• Reduce the burden for FECs to run
competitive tender exercises
• Support FECs to provide good quality
data
Current Contractor
• Current contractor for the
collection of DLHE data for FECs
covers:
• 116 colleges
• 22,438 graduates
• College populations range
from 4 to 1590
• Response target of 80% (high)
• Means contacting over 17,950
graduates
College’s Responsibility
• Provide the contractor with a
contact list of the survey sample
• Communicate with the
contractor
What the contractor will provide
Contracted to run the survey on your behalf
• Set up data systems
• Advertise and market the survey
• Digital copy of the survey sent out via e-mail
• Specialist online survey software with
unique access codes
• Adapted for smart phones
• Text messages
• Letters
• Fully trained call team
• Diagnostics
• Producing the data and analysing
Costs involved
Costs
• Currently, the survey runs at a cost of ≈
£ 10 per student
• Dependent on the bids that we receive
from our Invitation to Tender
• There may be an annual set up cost
• There may be a cost per student
Practicalities of using a contractor
Practicalities
• Staff and student awareness of the survey
running
• Quality of the alumni contact records
• Set up costs for institutions
Benefits to using a contractor
Benefits
• End to end service
• Reduced risk
• Fixed costs
• Expertise and experience
• Soc and Sic coding
• The rules and any changes
• No need to recruit temporary staff
• Economies of scale
• Brand awareness
Group Discussion
Sarbani Banerjee – Senior Higher Education Policy Adviser for
the Provision of Information - HEFCE
London
30 August 2013
Discuss in groups
• Feedback on HEFCE’s process
• Timing
• Options available
• Preparedness checklist
• What would be the implications for
your institution
• How can HEFCE support FECs
through these changes