HESESHEIFES08 Seminar

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HESES/HEIFES08 Seminar
SOAS, London 16 July 2008
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HEFCE staff at this event
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Agenda for the day

• 10.30 11.30 Presentation with QAs on ELQs
• 11.30 11.45 Break
• 11.45 12.45 ELQs continued
• 12.45 13.30 Lunch
• 13.30 15.30ish Other HESES/HEIFES or
  HESA/ILR issues (and more ELQs if needed)

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Equivalent or lower qualifications (ELQs)
Data collection issues

• Identifying ELQ students
• Differences between how we determined funding
  adjustments and how fundability status changes
  from 2008-09
• Differences between exemptions and protected
  subjects
• Assessing levels of qualifications
• Audit issues

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2008-09 funding adjustments
Calculated to produce the savings required using
existing data

• Historical data (2005-06)
• Used JACS and learndirect codes to identify
  subjects
• Dependent on existing data fields for entry
  qualifications and qualification aims
• Will not be recalculated annually
• including SIVS allocation (other than inflation)

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Fundability status from 2008-09
Rules that determine whether a student is aiming
for an ELQ, or exempt, may differ from how the
funding adjustments were calculated

• Treatment of some levels of qualifications
• Identification of exempt areas

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Circular letter 07/2008
Changes since April

• MPharm to be treated as an undergraduate honours
  level qualification (para 12)
• allows us to fund one post-registration PGT
  pharmacy qualification
• other integrated masters qualifications still
  treated as M Level

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Circular letter 07/2008
Changes since April

• Exempt students include
• those on undergraduate and postgraduate courses
  for which an NHS bursary is payable (para 6d)
• those on a FT UG course leading on successful
  completion towards registration with the
  Architects Registration Board (para 6i)

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Identifying ELQ students (1)

• All students have to be assessed for ELQness
  (not just new entrants)
• fundability status reflects those funded through
  mainstream teaching grant, and all funding for
  non-exempt ELQ students has been taken out.
• There is now no concept of unknown and
  unknown-level entry qualification for ELQ
  purposes
• We expect institutions to be able to demonstrate
  they have taken a reasonable approach

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Identifying ELQ students (2)
Home EC students who are aiming for a
qualification whose level is equivalent to, or
lower than, a qualification they already hold.

• The qualification aim of the student is
  all-important
• Those with multiple stated qualification aims
  should be treated as aiming for the lower of
  those qualifications
• In general, use the Framework for Higher
  Education Qualifications (FHEQ) to determine a
  basic hierarchy of qualifications

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The hierarchy of qualifications (1)
Variations to the FHEQ for ELQ purposes

• Disaggregation within single levels of the FHEQ
  is not generally appropriate, but possible
  exceptions for
• level M Postgraduate Certificates gt Diplomas gt
  Masters
• level I Ordinary degree
• Credit applies to HEIs only
• students whose qualification aim is institutional
  credit should not be treated as ELQ on the basis
  of similar level HE credit already achieved

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The hierarchy of qualifications (2)
Postgraduate in time v postgraduate in level

• ELQ policy is about the academic level of a
  qualification (aim)
• HESES/HEIFES defines postgraduate as a course for
  which the normal entry requirement is an honours
  degree
• integrated masters PG in level, not PG in time
• graduate conversion course UG in level, PG in
  time
• Exceptions
• PGCE, MPharm
• in future perhaps, depending on review ofFHEQ,
  first registrable medicine, dentistry,vet
  science degrees

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Exemptions (1)
ELQ students can still be recorded as fundable if
they

• Are aiming for a foundation degree
• Are on an ITT or INSET course
• Are on an undergraduate course leading to a first
  registerable qualification in medicine
  dentistry nursing midwifery certain other
  named allied health professions social work
  veterinary science
• Or a post-registration undergraduate course for
  the above professions
• Or otherwise in a receipt of a (UG or PG)NHS
  bursary

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Exemptions (2)
ELQ students can still be recorded as fundable if
they

• Are on an undergraduate course leading to a
  professional qualification in youth and community
  work
• Are on a post-registration undergraduate course
  for youth and community workers
• Are on a full-time undergraduate course leading
  towards registration as an architect
• Are in receipt of Disabled Students Allowance
  (DSA)
• Studying in Northern Ireland with the OU

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Exemptions (3)
ELQ students counting toward co-funded employer
engagement allocations

• Are exempt
• But are still non-fundable in HESES/HEIFES
• because they are not funded through the
  mainstream teaching grant, but are subject to
  separate monitoring arrangements
• They can still be included in co-funded employer
  engagement monitoring forms as long as they meet
  all other eligibility criteria

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Strategically important vulnerable subjects
(SIVS)
SIVS are protected, but not exempt

• ELQ students in SIVS should be reported as
  non-fundable unless they are also in an exempt
  category (such as foundation degree, in receipt
  of DSA etc).
• The SIVS allocation relating to ELQ students will
  not be recalculated annually for changing student
  numbers
• it is intended to help maintain overall capacity
  in SIVS, be that for ELQ or non-ELQ students

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Institutions determine fundability status for ELQ
students
Use FUNDCODE field (HEIs) or Field A11 (FECs)

• We will use these fields in re-creating HESES and
  HEIFES returns from HESA and ILR data
• ELQ students will not be separately identifiable
  in HESES/HEIFES
• We will test whether institutions have determined
  fundability status appropriately through our
  audit and reconciliation work

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Auditing fundability status of ELQ students

• Institutions will need to keep audit records of
  how they have determined fundability status of
  students
• We will also test whether institutions are
  reporting fundability status appropriately using
  combinations of HESA or ILR fields and by linking
  data across years
• Audits may be prompted if we find, for example,
  disproportionately high numbers of students with
  unknown entry qualifications being recordedas
  fundable

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ELQs, fees and student support regulations (1)
See the OPSI web-site (www.opsi.gov.uk)

• Student fees (Qualifying Courses and Persons)
  (England) Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/778)
• defines the courses and students covered by the
  variable fee regime, whose fees are subject to
  prescribed limits
• Now updated by amendment in SI 2008/1640
• exclusion now applies to anyone aiming for an ELQ
  whose previous qualification was awarded anywhere
• but not those aiming for a foundation degree

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ELQs, fees and student support regulations (2)
See the OPSI web-site

• Education (Student Support) Regulations 2008 (SI
  2008/529)
• define student support regulations for 2008-09
• do not have an ELQ definition
• Education (Student Support) (No 2) Regulations
  (SI 2008/1582)
• define student support regulations for 2009-10
• contain an ELQ definition
• eligibility restricted for ELQ students

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Institutional fee charging policies
are generally a matter for institutions

• Compliance with regulations
• Clarity required about fee charging policies
• for all students
• but particularly those in receipt of DSA

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ELQ status can change over the duration of a
course
ELQ status should be reviewed annually

• Consistent with student fees and support
  regulations
• To take account of changing circumstances
• a student following two separate programmes of
  study receives a qualification for one before the
  other is complete
• a student becomes disabled
• a student changes their qualification aim

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Changing ELQ status within a year of study
Yes to correct for data error/new information.
No to reflect changed circumstances

• Correct in-year where
• new information emerges about a students prior
  entry qualifications, or a students eligibility
  for DSA
• Do not correct in-year, but correct for the start
  of the following year, where
• circumstances change, for example a student is
  awarded a qualification during the year or
  changes their stated qualification aim, which
  affectstheir ELQ status

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Meeting funding agreement targets

• FTE targets relating to additional student
  numbers have been adjusted to deduct an estimate
  of ELQ numbers
• Positions in the tolerance band have similarly
  been calculated to reflect an estimate of ELQ
  numbers
• Consistency in how we have adjusted funding and
  FTEs
• Appeals process
• have we deducted enough in implementingthe ELQ
  policy?

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Frequently asked questions (1)

• Are ELQ students whose previous qualification was
  awarded abroad/by a private institution/unfunded
  eligible for funding?
• ELQ policy applies irrespective of whereprevious
  qualification was achieved

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Frequently asked questions (2)

• Are model 2 LLN students covered by the same
  ELQ fundability rules as other students?
• Yes. Students aiming for an ELQ should not be
  reported in Column 5/5a of HESES and do not count
  towards delivery of model 2 LLN ASNs
• HESES07 Annex M para 7Provision for students
  in Column 5 is non-fundable by virtue only of the
  criterion in sub-paragraph 5bi of Annex G. Any
  LLN students that are non-fundable by virtue of
  the other criteria in paragraph 5 of Annex G
  should not be included in Column 5.

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Frequently asked questions (3)

• How do we check whether students have previous HE
  qualifications? Will HEFCE data linking help?
• we dont expect you will have to check the
  previous qualifications of all your students 18
  year-old entrants will generally not have an HE
  qualification
• HEFCE linking could provide some limited help,
  but does not go back before 1995-96 and only
  relates to students that studied at UK HEIs or
  English FECs
• we are investigating what kind of look-upservice
  might be developed

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Frequently asked questions (4)

• How do we assess the relative levels of different
  qualifications, such as professional
  qualifications and those awarded abroad?
• try www.naric.org.uk UK NARIC is the national
  agency responsible for providing information and
  advice about vocational, academic and
  professional skills and qualifications from all
  over the world

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Frequently asked questions (5)

• Will HEFCE adjust institutions funding
  retrospectively if it finds through its data
  linking that students have under-reported their
  entry qualifications?
• in considering whether to adjust funding we will
  consider whether an institution has taken
  reasonable steps to identify ELQ status
  appropriately and the scale of any funding
  implications that may arise