Understanding HESA Derivation Steps

Academic institutions submit the student-based statistical returns to HESA as an XML file. The XML file is composed of entities. Each entity, in turn, is composed of data fields. For example, the Institution entity in the student return has three data fields: INSTAPP, RECID, and UKPRN. The specifications for HESA returns are available from the HESA website. The specifications on the HESA website also include field validations and the valid field values for the various returns.

See also Understanding HESA Returns

This documentation discusses the:

• Campus Solution pages that the Create Extract Application Engine (SSR_HE_DATA) process uses to derive each field.

• Steps that the Create Extract process performs to derive each field.

This documentation does not list the Constant and Default fields on the HESA Fields page that the Create Extract process uses for derivation. However, it does note the step where the Create Extract process uses a constant and default value for derivation. For information about the HESA Fields page, see Setting Up a HESA Return

The Create Extract process performs a sequence of steps to derive a field. If the process finds a value in a certain step, it does not perform the next step. For example, the process performs the following steps to derive the Course.BITTM field value:

1. Use constant.

2. If Course entity is based on a subplan, derive from the Sub-Plan HESA page.

3. Derive from the Plan HESA Data page.

4. Derive from the Program HESA Data page.

5. Use default.

6. Derive as NULL ERROR.

If a constant value exists for Course.BITTM, then the process uses the constant value in the return and does not perform Step 2 and the remaining steps. If a constant value does not exist, the process performs the next step in the sequence, which Step 2. If the process is not able to derive the value after performing Steps 1 through 5, it performs the last step and sets the Course.BITTM value to NULL ERROR in the HESA return.

The last derivation step for most fields is to either assign the value as NULL ERROR or not to derive a value and leave the field as blank. If HESA requires a value for a field, the last derivation step is to assign the field a value of NULL ERROR. Conversely, if HESA does not require a value for a field, the last derivation step is to not derive a value and leave the field value as blank. For example, if the Create Extract process cannot derive a Course.FEQAIMC value, it leaves the Course.FEQAIMC value as blank because HESA does not require a value for Course.FEQAIMC for a Course entity.

In some cases, before executing the derivation steps, the Create Extract process checks the Field Derivation Rule to determine whether a value should be derived. If a value should not be derived, the process leaves the field value as blank. For example, before performing the derivation steps for Course.BITTM, the process first checks whether:

• Country = Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland

• Course.REDUCEDC = 00, 01, or 04

• Course.TTCID = 1 or 2

The process starts performing the derivation steps for Course.BITTM only if all three conditions are met. If all three conditions are not met, the process leaves the field value as blank.

For information about the Extract Data pages, see Understanding Generating a HESA Return and Creating a Return File

The following table lists the navigation paths for the pages mentioned throughout the HESA field derivation documentation:

For information about these pages and how to generate HESA Returns, see

• Setting Up a HESA Return

• Setting Up and Entering Data for HESA Reporting

• Preparing for Generating Graduate Outcomes Return

• Generating a HESA Return and Creating a Return File

Oracle recommends that you review the return type specification that is available from the HESA website for field descriptions, validations, and valid field values.

See http://www.hesa.ac.uk.