Discover Uni record 2024/25
Discover Uni record 2024/25 - Data collection schedule
Version 1.0 Produced 2024-05-01
The document below is designed to guide providers through the stages of data submission for the Discover Uni record.
At a glance
| From August 2023 | Data capture and collation |
| March 2024 | Validate data locally using validation kit |
| By 31 May 2024 | C24061 Data Collection System opens |
| 19 July 2024 | Valid data submission required |
| 19 July 2024 | Nil return confirmation |
| Provisional: by 7 August 2024 | Graduate Outcomes and NSS data added* |
| 23 August 2024 | Sign off |
| Provisional: by 2 October 2024 | Official Statistics publication of 2024 Discover Uni (formerly Unistats) dataset on the HESA website* |
| Provisional: by 3 October 2024 | Update Discover Uni website with 2024 dataset* |
| Provisional: 30 November 2024 | Deadline for up to date widgets on providers' websites* |
*subject to final decisions
Please note that the above schedule may be subject to change. Further information on the deadlines, including specific dates, will be announced once confirmed and the schedule will be updated.
This publication outlines arrangements for the 2024 Discover Uni data collection (formerly Unistats). Providers should take note of the information it contains and plan to meet the anticipated deadlines for submitting data set out in the timetable of key dates.
It is intended for the following higher education providers required to return Discover Uni data:
- Providers in England that are registered with the Office for Students (OfS).
- Publicly funded providers in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales higher education institutions in Northern Ireland.
- The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) and the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) may write separately to providers in Wales and Scotland respectively.
Data should be returned for eligible courses delivered by the provider itself or by other providers on its behalf through a subcontractual agreement. Eligible courses are defined in the coverage of the Discover Uni record.
Providers who have recently joined the OfS register
For the attention of English providers that registered with the Office for Students on or after 23 June 2024:
The deadline to have submitted and signed off a valid Discover Uni return is 12.00 p.m. two months after a provider's date of registration, or the next working day if that is a weekend. Newly registered providers do not have to work to the timetable highlighted above. For example, if a provider registered with the OfS on 7 July 2024, a submit and sign off Discover Uni return is required by 12.00 p.m. on 7 September 2024. For more information please contact [email protected].
Missed deadlines
HESA is required to report any providers who miss any of the deadlines detailed in the schedule to the relevant statutory customer. These are the valid data submission required, nil return confirmation and sign off deadlines.
For the C24061 collection, providers in England are required to complete a late form where the nil return confirmation and sign off deadlines are missed. Please note that although the Accountable Officer is only required to sign the late form for the sign off deadline, they should be kept informed of any missed deadlines. For all administrations the reason for late submission will be shared with the primary regulator or funder.
Providers are reminded to make use of the HESA Liaison team and to make them aware of any issues that could impact on the providers’ ability to meet these deadlines.
Detailed requirements
From August 2023: Data capture and collation
Providers should read the C24061 Discover Uni record coding manual and associated documentation for details of the requirements for the return.
During these months providers will need to load and maintain local record systems.
If a provider has any queries regarding the requirements for the C24061 collection please contact Liaison at [email protected].
March 2024 onwards: Validate data locally using validation kit
HESA's data quality assurance processes are outlined in the validation overview .
The C24061 validation kit is made available to download from: validation kits.
The validation kit contains the schema and business rules for C24061. Further details of validation can be found in the Quality Rules section of the coding manual.
The validation kit enables providers to test their data locally ahead of the Data Collection System opening in May 2024. Providers are strongly encouraged to use the validation kit as part of their data preparations.
A guide to using the validation kit can be found on the 'help with validation kits' page, alternatively, please contact Liaison.
By 31 May 2024: C24061 Data Collection System opens
The C24061 collection is available on HESA Data Collection System, giving providers the opportunity to test files against the validation ahead of the first deadline.
A user guide for the submission of C24061 Discover Uni data to the Data Collection System can be found in the support guides section of the website.
Access to the Data Collection System is granted by the Discover Uni Record Contact via the HESA Identity System. An email will be sent to inform relevant colleagues when the Data Collection System becomes available. Please note that ahead of the collection opening, Discover Uni Record Contacts are required to complete the Grantable Roles Review in the HESA Identity System. Further information on the review can be found in the IDS User Guide.
It is a provider’s responsibility to ensure that they are progressing reasonably towards the deadlines; if any issues become apparent or assistance is required with the submission process then please contact Liaison. HESA does monitor provider interactions to feed into their own risk assessments and this information may be shared with the primary regulator or funder of a provider.
19 July 2024: Valid data submission required
Providers are required to send a file which has no business or exception stage errors triggering and contains the majority of their courses to HESA by 19 July 2024.
Please note that Discover Uni exception stage errors can be resolved by the sign off deadline.
This schedule allows for providers to review their reports, perform quality checks and make any amendments required before sign off.
Where errors are triggering for genuine data, a switch will need to be requested. This request should be sent to Liaison by email, detailing the rule and an explanation for why this data is genuine, in good time prior to the deadline. More information on requesting a switch can be found in the support guides section of the website.
19 July 2024: Nil return confirmation
Providers are required to submit a nil return form to indicate that their provider has no courses which meet the eligibility criteria for the Discover Uni record as specified in the coverage of the record. The completed form needs to be emailed to Liaison by 5.00 p.m. on 19 July 2024 to guarantee this will be actioned by the deadline. The form is available from the coding manual and needs to be signed by the provider’s Accountable Officer (England and Wales) or Head of Provider (Scotland and Northern Ireland).
Provisional: by 7 August 2024: Graduate Outcomes and NSS data added
Provisionally anticipated by 7 August 2024, Graduate Outcomes and NSS data will be provided for providers. The Discover Uni file and other reports which reference this data will then become available for providers to download and review. From this point onward it will be possible for providers to sign off the Discover Uni data provided all errors have been resolved.
23 August 2024: Sign off deadline
Providers are required to have their data marked as signed off on the Data Collection System by 23 August 2024. The sign off form needs to be emailed to Liaison by 5.00 p.m. on 23 August to guarantee sign off on the deadline.
Once a provider's data has been approved on the Data Collection System, the sign off button directs the user to a web page from where the form can be downloaded. The sign off form must be completed by the provider’s Accountable Officer (England and Wales) or the Head of Provider (Scotland and Northern Ireland). Once completed, the form should be emailed to [email protected]. Please note that the transaction number on the sign off form must correspond to that of the data being signed off.
Sign off completes the data collection process. Timely sign off ensures that a provider's data is included in any data deliveries to statutory customers, as well as onward uses of the data.
Provisional: by 2 October 2024: Official Statistics publication of 2024 Discover Uni (formerly Unistats) dataset on the HESA website
It is provisionally anticipated that data signed off in the week previous to publication will be published as Official Statistics on the Discover Uni (formerly Unistats) page of the HESA website by 2 October 2024 for prospective students to view. Thereafter, updates will be published on a weekly cycle.
Provisional: by 3 October 2024: Update Discover Uni website with 2024 dataset
Data that is signed-off in the week previous to publication is scheduled to be published on the Discover Uni website by 3 October 2024 for prospective students to view. Thereafter, updates will be published on a weekly cycle. To clarify, the Discover Uni website will continue to display the C23061 Discover Uni dataset until that time.
Provisional: by 30 November 2024: Deadline for up-to-date widgets on providers' websites
In November, providers should have up-to-date widgets embedded on their course pages for each course within the Discover Uni return.
Making updates to the Discover Uni submission
Providers are expected to make in year updates if changes occur to the course offering. The Discover Uni submission should reflect the latest and most up to date information available.
If an update is required, the updated data and completed sign off form must both be received by HESA Liaison by 12.00 p.m. on the relevant Tuesday in order for the updates to be included in the weekly updates to the Discover Uni website.
Need help?
Contact Liaison by email or on +44 (0)1242 388 531.