Category 1: Statistical data on the composition of the student body and on

All four higher education institutions produce statistical data on an annual basis about the composition of the first-year undergraduate cohort. Similar information is produced for postgraduates but it did not differentiate between first-year postgraduates and subsequent years.

The statistical information was not readily available outside the institutions although it was available from the staff intranet within the institutions, often under the aegis of planning departments. The Teaching Quality Information (TQI, 2006) website publishes statistical information by institution and course but not by year of study. Statistical information about first-year students was not accessible to externals from any of the four institution websites, although they provided data on request under the Freedom of Information Act.

The information is currently gathered via the student management system in each of the four institutions. Students each had an identification number, information about them was obtained via enrolment and from this information the statistics were

produced. Information about each student’s progression was input, for example after examination boards. Information against specific variables, such as year of study, exists and may be provided on request although it may not always be ‘ready-made’. For example at York St John data may not be presented by year, but if an issue emerges they can ‘drill down’ to obtain it. The method of gathering the data is important not only for the actual statistical tables produced but because it provides the starting point for data collection in other contexts. For example, at Sheffield Hallam, Student Services maintained a database of student’s contact with different services, the presenting issue and the number of appointments. The database recorded the individual student ID, so that it was then possible to relate the database information to the variables of the student management system.

The type of information available at Sheffield Hallam only is described as an example since similar types of information were available in each of the four institutions. For example, York St John currently produces tables indicating retention figures by year for a course (retained, not retained, transferred). Bradford produces statistical information for academic staff to feed into their quality reviews. For example, for each department, it produces statistics on admissions by year for the last six years, so that comparisons could be made. The data included gender, age, special needs declared, nationality

(EU/Overseas/ UK), ethnicity, entry qualifications. There is also data on how many first-year undergraduates proceeded to the next stage and how many withdrew.

At Sheffield Hallam, the data is currently displayed in EXCEL pivot tables, which can be manipulated to summarise the data in many ways. Information on first- year students can be obtained by selecting ‘New’ as an option: ‘New > 1’ limits the summary to students starting a new course but exempt from the first year. Most tables are updated daily and show the position at the close of the previous day. The type of information gathered at Sheffield Hallam is indicated in some detail (Table 4). It is an indication of the information available in institutions, which might be used for further analysis of the first-year experience, although, currently, interrogation of such data seems to be limited.

At Sheffield Hallam, the current practice is for retention information to be coded by administrators in the faculties and fed into the student management system. It includes a code for reasons for leaving but the categories are broad (for example, ‘personal’) and, therefore, not very informative. There was no other formal

Table 4: Type of statistical data collected at Sheffield Hallam.

Enrolment information

Student profile Student progression reports

Summary information

Break down: mode of attendance, source of funding, course.

Break down: new students, academic year, course. Break down: similar to student profile reports. Includes: Faculty Division Type of course (undergrad., postgraduate. etc) Attendance mode Fee status (home, overseas etc) Gender Disabled Learning contract (disabled students) Mature students Ethnicity Associate college (if attended prior to course) Domicile Includes: Age group A-level points Tariff points Disability Entry qualifications Ethnicity Gender Subject Progression options: Qualified Completed (not gained award, not returning) Pass (expected to continue the following year) Alternate qualification Extension (extra time to complete) Writing up (extra time to complete) Repeat year Withdrawn Transfer (to a new course in the university). Provided by: Faculty Division Type of course (undergrad., postgraduate. etc) Attendance mode Fee Status (home, overseas etc) Source of funding Age

Ethnicity

Associate college (if attended prior to course)

Although the statistical data did not provide information about the student experience, they could alert an institution to issues needing further exploration, for example, if high numbers withdrew in a particular subject area. The types of data gathered indicated the aspects about students that higher education

institutions considered impinged on their experience, for example gender, age and prior qualifications. Discussions within the institutions suggested the possible implications, for the student experience, of this biographical data. These included the relationship between the type of prior qualification and progression, or the effect on the student experience of students tending to be local and, therefore, coming into a university as a group, with existing friends from school or further education. However, the research did not identify any institutional grey literature exploring these implications within the sample institutions.