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AVA annual report Guidance notes, 2005-06

(report due at QAA: 1 December 2006)

Part 2: Data submission – guidance to AVAs (2005-06)

PDF version

Introduction

Authorised Validating Agencies; (AVAs') collection and provision of statistics about Access to HE allows QAA to publish national data about Access to HE programmes and learner profiles which can be compared over time. Each year, QAA publishes a statistical overview (Key Statistics), and a more detailed report (the Access to HE Joint Agency Statistical Report). Both documents are circulated widely to Access to HE providers, higher education institutions and a range of national agencies with an interest in Access to HE throughout England and Wales. It would not be possible to produce these publications without the statistics which are gathered by AVAs and submitted to QAA through this data collection exercise. The accuracy and completeness of the national data thus relies on the contributions of individual providers and AVAs.

In addition, AVAs are expected to refer to, and make use of, the data in monitoring and evaluating their own work, and informing their strategic planning and the development of Access to HE within the AVA. AVAs' statistics also enable QAA to monitor the success of the provision as a whole, and to assess the contribution made by individual AVAs in widening participation to higher education. AVAs' statistics are monitored through their inclusion within AVAs' annual reports to QAA, and they are also considered at AVA reviews, with key data being included in published review reports.

QAA expects AVAs to collect learner data direct from providers' central management information systems: individual tutors or course coordinators will not normally be involved in collecting data from Access to HE students for the AVA, other than through any involvement that they may have in the college's internal mechanisms for gathering data. The only exception to this may be for data on intended learner progression.

The guidance which follows relates to the submission of data by AVAs for 2005-06 to QAA by 1 December 2006.

Completion of the pro forma - please note

  1. AVA data is submitted to QAA both electronically and in hard copy.
  2. Electronic returns are made via a web form on a QAA secure extranet which may be accessed during October and November 2006. Each AVA can access the extranet through an individual password supplied by QAA. Please follow the directions provided on the form.
  3. QAA will extract the data from the web submission for each AVA to meet the requirement for an electronic copy of the data to be submitted with the electronic annual report. A copy of this data file will be forwarded to individual AVAs in hard copy for verification.
  4. A hard copy version of the return is included as an appendix to the AVA annual report. The completed web form should be printed out for this purpose.
  5. In order to minimise the need for providers to supply data in different formats for different purposes, and improve comparability of national data, data fields have been devised with reference to the requirements of other data-collection agencies.
    • Programme data: data returned to QAA about programmes should be consistent with information which is provided by AVAs to Universities and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS) for the database of Access to Higher Education programmes.
    • Learner registration profile data: aggregated data about all individual learners registered in 2005-06 should be consistent with that returned by providers to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) (F04 returns the first Monday in September 2006 in England) or to Department for Education and Lifelong Learning and Skills, Welsh Assembly Government (DELLS) (in Wales). For AVAs' and providers' reference, data which is also collected by the LSC and DELLS is identified here with the field number code, as provided in the LSC's Individualised Learner Record Specification (2005-06) (ILR) or by DELLS in its Lifelong Learning Wales Record (LLWR) documentation (www.elwa.ac.uk/ElwaWeb/elwa.aspx?pageid=2061), and common definitions are used wherever possible. Providers should understand that they are being requested to provide data within the LSC's or DELLS' categories, which is accurate at the time of the data collection deadline set by the AVA in order to meet QAA's requirements. QAA recognises that providers may make further amendments to data before the final F05 return in November to the LSC or the LLWR return to DELLS and accepts that this might create minor inconsistencies between its own and the funding bodies' published data.
  6. Learner profile data about programmes not funded by the LSC or by DELLS should be provided to be consistent with the definitions provided so far as is possible. Any particular difficulties which cannot be resolved and which affect the final data provided should receive comment in the AVA's annual report to QAA. In addition AVAs should note in the Annual Report numbers of learners on Access to HE courses not funded by the LSC or by DELLS.
  7. All information should relate to the academic year 2005-06 (ie 1 August 2005 - 31 July 2006).
  8. All cells should be completed. For a nil return, enter '0'.
  9. All numeric values should be integers.
  10. Absolute totals (ie not percentages) should be given throughout.
  11. Where a 'total' cell is provided, the sum of the values within the particular field will be calculated automatically, once the individual sections have been completed.
  12. Totals given within categories should be consistent with totals given across categories. All categories relating to learner profiles should provide an overall total which is the same as the total number of learner registrations (ie that provided as the overall total under Section B1). The web form will not accept totals under B2, B3, B4 or C1 which differ from this 'grand total' and will not allow the user to continue with the entry of the data until the discrepancy has been rectified.
  13. All data received from providers should be checked and referred back to providers for verification. If incomplete, ambiguous or contradictory data is received, it should be queried and corrected, as necessary.
  14. The data submission to QAA should be checked internally before the sign-off statement on the web form is completed. The data submission is then returned to the AVA for final manual verification and confirmation.
  15. Any anomalies should be explained in the commentary on statistical data provided in the annual report. (See separate guidance notes.) AVAs will not be able to provide explanatory text with the electronic submission of data.
  16. Detailed guidance for completing each section of the pro forma is provided in the notes that follow. Please follow this guidance closely.
  17. Complete data must be submitted to the QAA by 1 December 2006.

Section A: Providers andprogrammes

Definitions

Provider: a 'provider' is an educational institution or other organisation which is responsible for the registration of learners on programmes for the purposes of funding. (In most instances, this relates to the registration of learners on the LSC's ILR, or on DELLS' LLWR.) Providers may offer more than one programme.

Programme: a 'programme' is a course of study, comprising a defined and coherent set of learning experiences designed to provide a progression route to higher education, and which leads to the award of a QAA-recognised Access to HE certificate. QAA-recognised Access to HE programmes are recognised by licensed AVAs through approved procedures and according to agreed criteria.

Access to HE programmes may be organised, managed and delivered in any one of a variety of different ways, including the following:

  1. a programme of study in which all elements are common to all learners
  2. a programme of study in which some elements are common to all learners, but some specific options (defined at the point of recognition) are available
  3. a pathway within a framework of Access to HE provision, the elements and options of which are defined at the point of recognition as providing a designated route to the award of the Access to HE certificate. Some elements of the pathway may be common with other pathways leading to the award of the Access to HE certificate within the same framework
  4. a pathway within a framework of provision which includes Access to HE, and also includes other named exit routes, in which the elements and options of Access to HE pathways are defined at the point of recognition as providing a designated route to the award of the Access to HE certificate. Some elements of the pathway may be common with elements of other pathways in the same framework which have a different learning aim
  5. a framework of provision (which may be exclusively intended for Access for HE, or which may also include other named exit routes), in which each learner's programme of study is agreed between the learner and the provider on an individual basis. In this model, although separate pathways are not predetermined, the individual units of study available; the rules of combination; and the successful completion requirements for the award of the Access to HE certificate are approved at the point of recognition.

Definitions a to d all describe routes which may be followed by individual learners and which have been approved by the AVA as leading to the award of the Access to HE certificate. Definition e refers to the totality of a provider's Access to HE provision, which, because separate routes are not defined at recognition, cannot be so described. The way in which provision has been recognised by the AVA is significant for the classification made in this statistical return. For the purposes of this exercise, pathways defined at the point of recognition should be regarded as separate programmes which require separate counting; pathways defined by negotiation between learner and programme provider at the point of learner registration or later, should be regarded as part of a single programme, which is the complete framework. Such a 'complete framework' refers to a framework managed by a single provider: it does not refer to the totality of an AVA's recognised Access to HE provision.

A1 Providers offering Access to HE programmes

A2 Programmes available/running (by designated progression route)

Section B: Learner profile

Definitions

Registrations: numbers of registrations of individual learners (not learning aims of students) and details of learner profiles recorded here should be consistent with information recorded by providers for the LSC's F04 returns in September 2006 and DELLS' LLWR data return. The baseline number of learners recorded should be that which is supplied to the LSC or DELLS by providers together with any learners registered on QAA-recognised Access to HE programmes for whom data is not supplied to the LSC or DELLS. This figure should therefore represent the total number of all Access to HE learners who are registered by the provider with the Access to HE certificate as their primary learning aim at the point of registration, and also those with a learning aim other than the Access to HE certificate at initial registration, but whose learning aim is changed to the Access to HE certificate by the provider during the report year (see below - B1). The number of registrations should be equivalent to the number of individual learners, not FTEs.

If, for its own purposes, the AVA registers learners at a different point, it must ensure that the data it presents to QAA is based on providers' F04 returns in September 2006 to the LSC or full year LLWR returns to DELLS and not on data it may collect for other purposes.

All learners who are studying on a recognised Access to HE programme during the report year should be included within Section B. The 'total learners registered' should be the same in all sections.

B1 Total numbers of registered learners

Learners at initial registration

(ref: LSC's ILR field no - L03, [with reference to A09 for learning aim and with reference to LSC's ILR field no- A27/A28 for start date ] or
DELLS' LLWR field no - LN02, [with reference to LP17 for programme type and LA09/LA10 for start and expected end dates])

This category recognises that AVAs' statistics are prepared retrospectively, after certificates have been awarded, and that some learners who are ultimately awarded Access to HE certificates, may not have started with that learning aim. It should therefore include those learners who transfer into an Access to HE programme or start with more limited learning aims (such as a sub-set of the Access to HE programme's units) and later extend their learning aim to include the Access to HE certificate. (See definition of 'registrations' above) .

The overall total given must account for all registered learners in 2005-06 and must be consistent with totals of learner registrations given under sections B2, B3, B4, and C1.

B2 Learner profile at registration: age/ethnicity/sex

B3 Learner profile at registration: disadvantage

Definitions relate to the LSC's categories provided for eligibility for disadvantage uplift funding. This does not involve systematic collection of data about all learners who may be considered to be disadvantaged, and AVAs should not attempt to use this exercise for such purposes. The categories given here represent a summary of information supplied by providers to the LSC to support claims for uplift funding. QAA does not ask for information about individuals: data should be anonymous and aggregated. (DELLS' LLWR does not collect disadvantage information.)

B4 Learner profile at registration: disability and learning difficulty

While the LSC and DELLS collect information about different types of disability and learning difficulty, this detail is not required and information should be aggregated here. The five categories within this section will indicate numbers who, when asked by the provider, a considered that they had a disability or disabilities, b considered that they had a learning difficulty or difficulties, c considered that they had both a disability or disabilities and a learning difficulty or difficulties, d considered that they did not have any disabilities or learning difficulties, e did not provide any information.

Section C: Learner Completion, Achievement and Destination

C1 Learner completion/achievement

All registered learners recorded under section B1 should be accounted for within section C1. Cross-tabulation in this area requires the number of learners in each category of learner completion to be broken down according to their achievement. The total of all completion categories should equal the total of all achievement categories. Achievement categories should equate to awards made by the AVA.

Completion ( ref: LSC's ILR field no - A34 or DELLS' LLWR field no - LP41 [informed by LA31])

Achievement ( ref: LSC's ILR field no - A35 or DELLS' LLWR field no - AW12)

C2 Learner registrations and awards (by designated progression route)

This section records the number of learners registered on each programme type, classified by the designated progression routes used to describe programmes running, as identified under A2, and the number of learners who are awarded Access to HE certificates within each route.

C3 Learner destinations (ref: DELLS' LLWR field no - LP42)

This section records information collected by the AVA about intended destinations for registered learners who were recorded as expected to complete the programme before 1 August 2006under Section B1, as well as for registered learners who were awarded Access to HE certificates. The total of the 'learner registrations' column should therefore be equivalent to the two categories under B1 'New learners registered: expected end date before 1 August 2006' and 'Re-registered (same programme): expected end date before 1 August 2006'.

* Learners who are offered a place on a further or higher education course but who formally defer entry for one year should be included in the section further education (within FE or HE institution) or higher education (within FE or HE institution), as appropriate.Learners who indicate an intention to apply for a course at afuture date, but who have not engaged in the formal admissions process should be recorded under the section that most closely describes their immediate progression route.

Appendix A - JACS codes (adapted for use for AVA data collection)

A Medicines and Dentistry

includes:
Pre-clinical Medicine
Pre-clinical Dentistry
Clinical Medicine
Clinical Dentistry
Others in Medicine and Dentistry

B Subjects Allied to Medicine

includes:
Anatomy, Physiology and Pathology
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmacy
Complementary Medicine
Nutrition
Ophthalmics
Aural and Oral Sciences
Nursing
Medical Technology
Others in Subjects Allied to Medicine

C Biological Sciences

includes:
Biology
Botany
Zoology
Genetics
Microbiology
Sports Science
Molecular Biology, Biophysics and Biochemistry
Psychology
Others in Biological Sciences

D Veterinary Sciences, Agriculture and related subjects

includes:
Pre-clinical Veterinary Medicine
Clinical Veterinary Medicine and Dentistry
Animal Science
Agriculture
Forestry
Food and Beverage Studies
Agricultural Sciences
Others in Veterinary Sciences, Agriculture and related subjects

F Physical Sciences

includes:
Chemistry
Materials Science
Physics
Forensic and Archaeological Science
Astronomy
Geology
Ocean Sciences
Physical and Terrestrial Geographical and Environmental Sciences
Others in Physical Sciences

G Mathematical and Computer Sciences

includes:
Mathematics
Operational Research
Statistics
Computer Science
Information Systems
Software Engineering
Artificial Intelligence
Others in Mathematical and Computer Sciences

H Engineering

includes:
General Engineering
Civil Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Aerospace Engineering
Naval Architecture
Electronic and Electrical Engineering
Production and Manufacturing Engineering
Chemical, Process and Energy Engineering
Others in Engineering

J Technologies

includes:
Minerals Technology
Metallurgy
Ceramics and Glass
Polymers and Textiles
Materials Technology not otherwise specified
Maritime Technology
Industrial Biotechnology
Others in Technology

K Architecture, Building and Planning

includes:
Architecture
Building
Landscape Design
Planning (Urban, Rural and Regional)
Others in Architecture, Building and Planning

L Social studies

includes:
Economics
Politics
Sociology
Social Policy
Social Work
Anthropology
Human and Social Geography
Others in Social Studies

M Law

includes:
Law by Area
Law by Topic
Others in Law

N Business and Administrative Studies

includes:
Business Studies
Management Studies
Finance
Accounting
Marketing
Human Resource Management
Office Skills
Tourism, Transport and Travel
Others in Business and Administrative Studies

P Mass Communications and Documentation

includes:
Information Services
Publicity Studies
Media Studies
Publishing
Journalism
Others in Mass Communications and Documentation

Q Linguistics, Classics and related subjects

includes:
Linguistics
Comparative Literary Studies
English Studies
Ancient Language studies
Celtic Studies
Latin Studies
Classical Greek Studies
Classical Studies
Others in Linguistics, Classics and related subjects

R European Languages, Literature and related subjects

includes:
French Studies
German Studies
Italian Studies
Spanish Studies
Portuguese Studies
Scandinavian Studies
Russian and East European Studies
Others in European Languages, Literature and related subjects

T Eastern, Asiatic, African, American and Australasian Languages, Literature and related subjects

includes:
Chinese Studies
Japanese Studies
South Asian Studies
Other Asian Studies
African studies
Modern Middle-Eastern Studies
American Studies
Australasian Studies
Others in Eastern, Asiatic, African, American and Australasian Languages, Literature and related subjects

V Historical and Philosophical Studies

includes:
History by Period
History by Area
History by Topic
Archaeology
Philosophy
Theology and Religious Studies
Others in Historical and Philosophical Studies

W Creative Arts and Design

includes:
Fine Art
Design Studies
Music
Drama
Dance
Cinematics and Photography
Crafts
Imaginative Writing
Others in Creative Arts and Design

X Education

includes:
Training Teachers
Research and Study Skills in Education
Academic studies in Education
Others in Education

Z1 Combined arts

Z2 Combined sciences

Z3 Combined social studies

Z4 Science combined with social studies/arts

Z5 Social studies combined with arts

Z6 Other general and combined studies

Appendix B - Sample web pro forma

AVA code

 

AVA name

 

Phone number

 

Email address

 

Contact name

 

Section A: Providers and programmes

A1 Providers offering Access to HE programmes

 

Providers offering programmes

Programmes available

Programmes running

New programmes recognised

Place of delivery

HE institutions

 

 

 

 

 

FE institutions

 

 

 

 

 

Sixth form colleges

 

 

 

 

 

Adult/community education centres

 

 

 

 

 

Schools

 

 

 

 

 

Voluntary organisations

 

 

 

 

 

Employers and employer organisations

 

 

 

 

 

Private training providers

 

 

 

 

 

Other

 

 

 

 

 

Total

 

 

 

 

 

Go back to section A1

A2 Awards available (by designated progression route)

 

2005-06

 

Programmes available

Programmes running

A Medicine and Dentistry

 

 

B Subjects Allied to Medicine (Equal to B1 + B2 + B3)

 

 

B1 Nursing

 

 

B2 Health Studies

 

 

B3 Other Allied to Medicine

 

 

C Biological Sciences

 

 

D Veterinary Sciences, Agriculture and related subjects

 

 

F Physical Sciences

 

 

G Mathematical and Computer Sciences

 

 

H Engineering

 

 

J Technologies

 

 

K Architecture, Building and Planning

 

 

L Social Studies (Equal to L1 + L2)

 

 

L1 Social Work

 

 

L2 Other Social Studies

 

 

M Law

 

 

N Business and Administrative Studies

 

 

P Mass Communication and Documentation

 

 

Q Linguistics, Classics and related studies

 

 

R European Languages, Literature and related studies

 

 

T Other Languages, Literature and related studies

 

 

V Historical and Philosophical Studies

 

 

W Creative Arts and Design

 

 

X Education (Equal to X1 + X2)

 

 

X1 Teaching

 

 

X2 Other Education

 

 

Z1 Combined Arts

 

 

Z2 Combined Sciences

 

 

Z3 Combined Social Sciences

 

 

Z4 Science Combined with Social Studies/Arts

 

 

Z5 Social Studies Combined with Arts

 

 

Z6 Other General and Combined Studies

 

 

Total

 

 

Go back to section A2

Section B: Learner profile

B1 Total number of registered learners

Learning aim at initial registration

Total Access to HE Learners

New learners registered: planned end date before 1 August 2006

 

Re-registered (same programme): planned end date before
1 August 2006

 

Sub total planned end date before 1 August 2006

 

New learners registered: planned end date on or after
1 August 2006

 

Re-registered (same programme): planned end date on or after
1 August 2006

 

Sub total planned end date after 1 August 2006

 

Total

 

Go back to section B1

B2 Learner profile at registration: age/sex/ethnicity

Age

Under 20

20-29

30-39

40-49

50-59

60+

Age unknown

Total

 

Sex

M

F

M

F

M

F

M

F

M

F

M

F

M

F

 

 

Asian or Asian British-Bangladeshi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asian or Asian British-Indian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asian or Asian British-Pakistani

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asian or Asian British-any other Asian background

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black or Black British-African

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black or Black British-Caribbean

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black or Black British-any other Black background

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chinese

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mixed-White and Asian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mixed-White and Black African

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mixed White and Black Caribbean

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mixed-any other mixed background

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

White-British

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

White-Irish

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

White-any other white background

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

any other

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

not known/not provided

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grand Total

Go back to section B2

B3 Learner profile at registration: disadvantage

 

2005-06

From deprived area (ward based uplift) - postcode on LSC's file

 

From deprived area (ward based uplift) - postcode not on LSC's file

 

Other LSC-defined disadvantage (uplift funding claimed)

 

Not eligible for disadvantage uplift/unknown

 

Total (of all registrations)

 

Go back to section B3

B4 Learner profile at registration: disability and learning difficulty

 

2005-06

Disability/ies

 

Learning difficulty/ies

 

Disability and learning difficulty/ies

 

No disability or learning difficulties

 

No information provided

 

Total (of all registrations)

 

Go back to section B4

Section C: Learner achievement

C1 learner completion/achievement

Achievement

Access to HE certificate awarded

Partial achievement accredited

No achievement accredited

Study continuing

Total

Continuing programme

 

 

 

 

 

Completed programme

 

 

 

 

 

Withdrawn from programme

 

 

 

 

 

Transferred from programme

 

 

 

 

 

Unknown

 

 

 

 

 

Total

 

 

 

 

 

Go back to section C1

C2 Learner registration and awards (by designated progression route)

 

2005-06

 

Registered Learners

Access to HE certificates awarded

A Medicine and Dentistry

 

 

B Subjects Allied to Medicine (Equal to B1 + B2 + B3)

 

 

B1 Nursing

 

 

B2 Health Studies

 

 

B3 Other Allied to Medicine

 

 

C Biological Sciences

 

 

D Veterinary Sciences, Agriculture and related subjects

 

 

F Physical Sciences

 

 

G Mathematical and Computer Sciences

 

 

H Engineering

 

 

J Technologies

 

 

K Architecture, Building and Planning

 

 

L Social Studies (Equal to L1 + L2)

 

 

L1 Social Work

 

 

L2 Other Social Studies

 

 

M Law

 

 

N Business and Administrative Studies

 

 

P Mass Communication and Documentation

 

 

Q Linguistics, Classics and related studies

 

 

R European Languages, Literature and related studies

 

 

T Other Languages, Literature and related studies

 

 

V Historical and Philosophical Studies

 

 

W Creative Arts and Design

 

 

X Education (Equal to X1 + X2)

 

 

X1 Teaching

 

 

X2 Other Education

 

 

Z1 Combined Arts

 

 

Z2 Combined Sciences

 

 

Z3 Combined Social Sciences

 

 

Z4 Science Combined with Social Studies/Arts

 

 

Z5 Social Studies Combined with Arts

 

 

Z6 Other General and Combined Studies

 

 

Total

 

 

Go back to section C2

C3 Learner destination

 

Registered
learners

Access to HE certificates

Continuing existing programme of study

 

 

Further education (within FE or HE institution)

 

 

Higher education (within FE or HE institution)

 

 

Employment

 

 

Other

 

 

Destination unknown

 

 

Withdrawn

 

 

Total

 

 

Go back to section C3