Data and Statistics in Admissions
Data and Statistics for HE admissions
Summary of key data and statistical resources across the UK
August 2012
Contents:
page
1.
Introduction
2
2.
How HEIs use data and statistics
2
3.
UCAS data and statistics
3
4.
Additional data and statistics resources
4
UK- Wide
4
England
5
Northern Ireland
6
Scotland
7
Wales
7
Supporting Professionalism in Admissions Programme (SPA)
SPA is an independent and objective voice on UK higher education (HE) admissions. It leads on
the development of fair admissions, providing an evidence base and recommendations for good
practice to help universities and colleges maintain and enhance excellence and professionalism in
admissions, student recruitment and widening participation/access.
SPA works closely with HE institutions (HEIs) and other stakeholders to provide resource outputs to
help HEIs develop and update their admissions practice and policy to enhance quality,
transparency, reputation and fairness. Full information on SPA and its work can be found at
www.spa.ac.uk.
Disclaimer
This advice is for general guidance only, and should not be taken as a list of obligations or a legal
document. SPA emphasises that it does not offer legal advice and cannot take any responsibility for
actions taken based on this information. Institutions must always take their own legal advice as they
see appropriate. SPA takes no responsibility for the content of external websites and all links were
correct at time of publication.
If you have any queries about this piece of work, please contact enquiries@spa.ac.uk
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Data and Statistics in Admissions
1. Introduction
Good quality data and statistics provided in a timely way are essential tools for those working in
areas of academic administration including admissions, student recruitment, widening inclusion,
marketing and planning in HE provider institutions (HEIs). SPA encourages and supports HEIs in
making the most of data available from a variety of sources including UCAS and other external
bodies along with their own in-house data, to inform their planning and policies.
SPA has collated information about data from across the sector to provide this comprehensive guide
which includes: a detailed summary of the ways in which HEIs use data and statistics for
admissions; the particular tools UCAS provides; information about some additional resources for
data and statistics usage across the UK.
2. How HEIs use data and statistics
HEIs use data in various ways. This diversity reflects not just varied information needs, but also
different admissions structures and available resources (some HEIs maintain a dedicated staff
resource for the task of data analysis, and this resource may be based in many different parts of the
institution). The data may be used by staff involved in functions other than admissions; for example
in many HEIs it is used for marketing, management information, monitoring and strategic planning
purposes.
Data is used in many ways including:
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informing and supporting the planning of admissions targets
targeting widening inclusion activities and encouraging applications from under-represented
groups
focusing marketing and customer relationship building activities
providing contextual data to support admissions decision-making
providing management information on the current applications round or application data over
a period of time
monitoring and evaluating the success of admissions policies and providing a rationale for
change
providing the basis for tracking student progress and achievement at graduation
informing the validation process for new courses and predicting the sustainability of existing
ones.
Contextual data, data that puts attainment in the context of the circumstances in which it has been
obtained, can be used for different purposes within the same HEI.
There are many ways in which contextual data is used by HEIs, including:
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for widening inclusion - to target aspiration raising and fair access activities
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to establish who to interview
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to inform a decision on an application
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to identify applicants who may need additional support or advice during the application
process, transition or when registered as a student
to help assess applicants eligible for financial support
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for statistical and qualitative monitoring and reporting purposes.
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Data and Statistics in Admissions
SPA has undertaken extensive research in the current use of contextual data and published the
findings and reports. See our contextual data pages for further information.
Data can also be used for: benchmarking; trend analysis looking at applications, offers, or declines;
monitoring, either in-cycle or at the end of the cycle - ethnicity, diversity, disability or other ‘sensitive
data’ to see if admissions decision-making and those admitted reflects the admissions and equality
policies of the HEI. Where monitoring analysis shows discrepancies between benchmarks and
reality these can be reviewed and evaluated and policy amended as appropriate.
Analysis can also help to support targeted recruitment, marketing and widening inclusion activities.
Some HEI staff use data for mailings and other promotional purposes and to identify target markets
and trends in subjects (looking at applications, offers, or declines).
Users of management information can include Vice-Chancellors, Pro-Vice-Chancellors, Principals,
Vice-Principals, Deans, Heads of School, Directors, Senior Tutors, Senior Managers, Heads of
Admissions, Course Leaders, Admissions Tutors and other academic and professional staff
involved in any aspect of the admissions process.
Some HEIs make information available to all staff by posting regular reports on their intranet. Others
support use of the data by staff in Faculties, Schools or Departments, taking data directly online
from the main admissions software package so they can maintain their own system and analysis
(whilst aiming to avoid duplication of data and effort).
The varied use of data reflects not only the level of implementation (or not) of a third party
admissions software system, but could also be an indication of user role e.g. admissions staff are
likely to make different use compared to a member of staff involved in strategic planning. Some
HEIs have an identified "super-user" of their third party admissions software system or in-house
system. This individual would be the primary point of contact for all queries and liaison in relation to
the running of the system, including communication with representatives of a third party admissions
software system or internally with IT and MIS colleagues for example. SPA suggests that this
individual should normally report to the Head or Director of Admissions and should have appropriate
technical experience.
3. UCAS data and statistics
UCAS provides a wide range of data, statistics and reports, some of which are freely available to
members of UCAS, GTTR and CUKAS. The UK-wide data provided covers several years and is
supplementary to the institution specific reports which are available from UCAS web-link. In
addition, UCAS offers bespoke data analysis and products on a commercial basis.
UCAS data can be used to feed into strategic planning and management information requirements.
This would include planning admissions processes, using conversion rates to predict student
numbers, informing academic development and ensuring recruitment numbers hit target.
The following information can be accessed as raw data to enable you to perform your own analysis:
web-link is used by most HEIs for some form of checking and processing of applicant data, and/or
to set up course data;
Statistics Online provides datasets (both static and user defined) which can be viewed online or
downloaded into a spreadsheet for individual analysis;
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Data and Statistics in Admissions
Statistical Enquiry Tool provides UK data that can be customised for full time applicants at UCAS
HEIs; coverage is from 1996 to the previous academic year. Alternatively, a range of static data
tables can be accessed; these tables contain high level data covering a number of years across a
range of variables e.g. age, ethnicity, gender. The Applications Digests show the number of
applications received by each university and college at the same snapshot date each year. Each
table shows a comparison with the position at the same time last year. A media release
accompanies the publication of each Applications Digest.
Annual Datasets need to be downloaded into a spreadsheet for user analysis. They are broken
down by country, covering eight themes over a nine year period. They are available for a range of
variables: Institution, Subject, Age, Domicile, Qualifications, Ethnicity and International;
UCAS data sets can be used in a number of ways. For example, HEIs could use a reporting
package to view tables of the data in their own database and then use Standard Query Language
(SQL) to extract the required data from the set and perform further analyses in Excel;
Statistical Services provides a range of reports which are also accessible online (some of the data is
password protected for HE staff). These reports give the latest information on applications received
to date in the current cycle and include MS12 Analysis of Applications, Situation Reports and the
Applications Digest;
Applicant Statistics on the GTTR website provides weekly statistics on Postgraduate Teaching
Training applications and courses. The data is broken down by country, gender and teaching age
range. Teaching age range figures are broken down by country and compared to the previous year.
Applicant acceptance figures are produced on the same basis throughout the application cycle;
Annual Statistical Report is available from 2000 to the previous academic cycle;
Conservatoires UK Admissions website provides data in the form of an Annual Report;
AppTrack is a bespoke interactive web based service providing weekly application figures and
analysis by HEI benchmarked against previous application cycles. This enables HEI colleagues to
compare their current status at national, institutional and competitor level. Decision Tracker allows
HEIs to compare current performance against previous application cycles, your competitors' and
your own benchmarks.
4. Additional data and statistics resources
The links provided on these pages are a guide to different sources of data and statistics. We are
aware this is not an exhaustive list and are keen to know from HEIs of any other sources that would
be of use to colleagues, please email enquiries@spa.ac.uk if you would like to suggest additional
links.
UK Wide
HESA
HESA is the official agency for the collection, analysis and dissemination of quantitative information
about HE. Operating on behalf of the HE sector on a charitable basis, it delivers the information
required by HEIs for their planning and development. In addition, HESA supports and enhances the
ability of Government and its Agencies to determine HE policy and allocate funding, and aims to
satisfy public interest in the availability of quantitative information about HE.
The statistics section of the HESA website includes the latest Student data.
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Data and Statistics in Admissions
HESA - Information Provision Service
HESA’s bespoke data service aims to provide a customised data enquiry service to make available
information that may not be offered by existing HESA publications. HESA collects and analyses
data falling into a number of streams including:
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Students and a sub-stream of this is the HESA survey of HE leavers known as the
Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE)
Staff
Finance, deriving base data from HEIs’ various returns to the Agency.
HESA - Statistics on line
A number of data tables can also be viewed on line via the HESA website showing information on
staff, students, finance, estates management and destinations.
HESA - Performance Indicators
The HESA Performance Indicators provide comparative data on the performance of HEIs in
widening participation/access, student retention, learning and teaching outcomes, research output
and employment of graduates. They are published annually in June. This data is normally the
subject of media interest.
The Performance Indicators cover publicly-funded HEIs in the UK and HESA produces the
performance indicators on behalf of HEFCE, HEFCW, SFC and DELNI, covering each of the UK
administrations.
HESA - heidi
HESA runs heidi, the Higher Education Information Database for Institutions. heidi is a web-based
management information service providing easy access to a rich source of quantitative data about
HE. The data provided includes: key financial indicators, staff student ratios and performance
indicators (including non-continuation rates and participation of under-represented groups in HE).
The database allows you to create groups for reporting and comparator purposes. For example,
you could create a group consisting of your comparator institutions and analyse data based on
numbers of applications for particular JACS subject groupings across one or more admission years.
Once you have created a report, additional pieces of reporting and comparator information can
easily be added e.g. gender, age.
Reports can be produced in a variety of formats including statistical reporting and in chart form
(column, bar, pie, line and pattern charts) depending on the requirement.
heidi is available through subscription and free four week trials are available by emailing
heidi@hesa.ac.uk to request a free trial account. heidi seminars are also offered by HESA for users
of the data.
England:
Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)
HEFCE produces a wide range of publications including guides, reports, consultation documents,
research findings, good practice guidance and statistics - all available through their website.
HEFCE Extranet
The HE Data extranet is designed to allow stakeholders, via a log in and password, access to
applications, documents, and data which is not available to the general public. HEFCE produces a
range of derived statistics and makes available the resulting data files. Each year statistics are
published, derived from two sources:
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Data and Statistics in Admissions
1. HESA student data: a guide (2007-08 Statistics derived from HESA data: Guide to HEFCE web
facility) to the use of this data can be found on the website. The data sets are intended to inform
both WP allocation for the year and for monitoring and allocation of funding.
2. Learning and Skills Council (LSC) Individualised Learner Record (ILR) data: a user guide (200809 Statistics derived from ILR data) can also be found on the website.
HEFCE - POLAR data Participation of Local Areas (POLAR) uses maps to illustrate the broad
pattern of young participation in HE geographically and the relative likelihood and inclination to enter
HE. POLAR is intended as a web-based resource to aid those involved in WP activities in targeting
and measuring success.
POLAR2 is an updated classification based on participation rates between 2000 and 2004.
In 2012 HEFCE hopes to publish a further update to the POLAR classification which will draw upon
the most recent HE data sources, but maintain the same methodology as POLAR2.
Key Information Sets
Key Information Sets (KIS) are comparable sets of information about full or part time undergraduate
courses and are designed to meet the information needs of prospective students.
From September 2012 all KIS information will be published on the Unistats web-site and will also be
accessed via a small advert, or ‘widget’, on the course web pages of universities and colleges.
Prospective students will be able to compare all the KIS data for each course with data for other
courses on the Unistats web-site.
Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS)
BIS produce various reports and publications covering workforce skills, employment opportunities,
and challenges to and innovations for change in HE. The website lists various publications available
for viewing or downloading.
Department for Education
Tables on the DfE website provide information on the achievement and attainment of students of
sixth-form age in local secondary schools and FE colleges. The school performance tables also
show how these results compare with other schools and colleges in the area and in England as a
whole.
Northern Ireland
Department for Education Northern Ireland (DENI)
The facts and figures page on the DENI website provides statistics, research and analysis including
statistics relating to schools, pupils and teachers.
The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) has a range of education and
training statistics including participation rates and pupil: teacher ratios.
Department for Employment and Learning Northern Ireland (DELNI)
DELNI has a useful Statistics and Research Page providing statistics on employment, training
programmes and the HE and FE sectors in Northern Ireland; they commission research studies and
evaluation projects in the above areas. A number of publications providing statistics on the HE and
FE sectors are available from the site to either view online or download.
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Data and Statistics in Admissions
Scotland
Scottish Funding Council (SFC)
The SFC produces a variety of publications, research reports and statistics which can be accessed
online. The statistical information relates to both FE and HE in Scotland.
Scottish Government
There are tables available on the Scottish Government website under Scottish Schools online.
They provide a searchable database giving information on every school in Scotland, including
independent schools, examination results for years 4, 5 and 6, staying on rates, attendance and
absence, free school meals, leaver destinations, inspection reports and contact information. In
addition they show how the results compare with other schools and colleges in the area and in
Scotland as a whole from 2008/09 onwards.
Wales
Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW)
HEFCW and the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) produce a variety of data which can be
accessed online.
Select Post 16 Education and Training, Higher Education and Students to view reports including:
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Qualifications
Destination of leavers
Performance Indicators
Cross border flows of students
Welsh Assembly Government (WAG)
The WAG website includes the following information:
 the latest statistical bulletin on Welsh in HE, providing information about students enrolled at
Welsh HEIs taught through the medium of Welsh and staff teaching through the medium of
Welsh up to the 2007/08 academic year
 the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation is an official measure of deprivation in small areas in
Wales; it is constructed from eight different types of deprivation including education.
There is also a summary of students enrolled at Welsh HEIs and Welsh domiciled students enrolled
at HEIs throughout the UK in the academic year 2007/08, including key points for the Welsh sector
and a wide range of data on schools in Wales is also available.
Updated September 2012
www.spa.ac.uk
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