SROC 2013 Data transparency and UnistatsSuzie Dent and Jonathan Waller

Session objectives

Data transparency• Brief delegates on the pressures to improve access to HE data

and the competing constraints on a more open access approach.• Provide examples of Government aspirations to improve data

sharing and linking.• Discuss HESA’s response to these pressures.

Unistats as an open access resource• Explain how Unistats data have been made available on an

open-access basis.• Discuss institutional use and requirements for Unistats data.

Data transparency

“Data is the 21st century’s new raw material. Its value is in holding government to account; in driving choice and improvements in public services and in inspiring innovation and enterprise that spurs social and economic growth.”

Rt Hon. Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet OfficeOpen Data White Paper ‘Unleashing the potential’, June 2012

Some history

• Previous government – ‘Putting the frontline first: smarter government’ (December 2009) – Public Data Principles

• data.gov.uk launched January 2010

• Prime Minister’s letter to Departments, May 2010

• Public Sector Transparency Board, June 2010

• Tim Kelsey appointed as Executive Director of Transparency and Open Data, Jan 2012

• Open Data White Paper, June 2012

Closer to home – higher education

• BIS Open Data Strategy 2012-2014

• Administrative Data Taskforce, December 2011

• Ministerial Data Sharing Group, November 2011

• Social Mobility Transparency Board, May 2012

Expectations on HESA

• Government initiatives around open data, data sharing and linking– Ministerial Data Sharing Group – market providers of

information for prospective students– Linked National Pupil Database, Individual Learner Record

and HESA Student Record data– ONS population migration statistics programme– Electoral Registration Transformation Programme– DfE Key Stage 5 Destination measures– Unistats and KIS

Constraints and compliance

• Data Protection – preserving confidentiality of individuals

• Official Statistics

• Freedom of Information

• Competition Law

• Risk of misinterpretation/mis-use of data

HESA’s response – improving access to, and use of, data

• Strategic aim to “Use the information resource and HESA’s expertise in responsible and insightful ways that benefit higher education and wider society.“

• Open vs ‘facilitated’ access• Engaging positively with Government initiatives• Review of publications and services• UK Data Archive• Exploration of linked data possibilities• Establishment of sector working group to engage with HEIs on

issues around third party uses of HE data

Questions for delegates

• What do you think of open data principles as they apply to HE data?

• Are you concerned by the risk of misunderstanding and misuse?

• Do you think HESA is striking the right balance here?

• How can we respond to the pressures whilst preserving the interests of data subjects and HEIs?

• Are there particular examples of uses of HE data that concern you?

Unistats Dataset

• The raw dataset which underlies the Unistats website is freely available at: www.hesa.ac.uk/unistatsdata

• Available in both XML and CSV formats

• Updated weekly on Tuesday, alerts via JISCMAIL mailing list

• Provided under an ‘open’ licence

• Datasets include: – 4 student– 4 Destinations of Leavers from HE (DLHE)– 1 National Student Survey (NSS)

• Data shown at – KIS course level, – subject level 3 (108 groups), – subject level 2 (42 groups) – or subject level 1 (21 groups)

• If student numbers are less than 22.5, data is aggregated using one, then two years of data and then to the next level, where possible, otherwise suppressed

• NSS and DLHE salary also requires at least 50% response

Unistats Dataset continued

• There are currently around 315,00 KIS courses across 336 institutions

• Due to the different population restrictions across the datasets, the data may be aggregated to different levels for any given KIS course

• Subject field indicates the level at which the data will be published, this field is blank for data shown at course level

• Multiple subjects may be shown for a given KIS course

• For KIS type 3 courses, information is collected at subject level 2, so more detailed information will be unavailable

• Data shown as percentages, rounded to nearest percentage or nearest 5% (for populations of less than 52.5)

Structure of the Unistats output file

To join the individual csv files, join the child csv to the parent using PARENTID from the child to the unique RECORDID key from the parent

Unistats discussion questions

• Do you use the Unistats datasets?

• How do you use the data?

• How could the format or structure of the dataset be improved to aid analysis by HEIs?

Any further thoughts/questions after today…

• Suzie Dent (suzie.dent@hesa.ac.uk)

• Jonathan Waller (jonathan.waller@hesa.ac.uk)