Joint agency statistical report 2011

Introduction

The agencies which contributed to the 2011 Joint agency statistical report for Access to HE are:

The composite report is divided into four sections, with each agency's data provided separately. While we aim to provide comparability of data wherever possible, there are differences in the categories between the sections, because each agency collects data for different purposes. In making comparisons between the sections, you should take into account individual agencies' comments about the source and coverage of their own data. Each agency has verified its own contribution.

All numbers relating to students in this report are rounded to the nearest five. Total numbers are also rounded, with the result that the sum of numbers in each row or column may not match the total shown.

The following table details the cohorts on which each agency's data is based, highlighting the differences between each data set.

	Student cohort on which 2011 report is based	Year of study on Access to HE course	Included in the data set	Not included in the data set
QAA data	studying on QAA-recognised Access to HE course	2009-10	full and part-time students students in England and Wales (and the Channel Islands) LSC/DCELLS-funded and non-publicly funded	students on other 'access' courses (including courses in Scotland)
Data Service/ DCELLS data	studying on QAA-recognised Access to HE course	2009-10	full and part-time students students in England (Data Service) and Wales (DCELLS) courses/ students supported by LSC/DCELLS funding	students on other 'access' courses (including courses in Scotland)
UCAS data	with, or working towards, an Access to HE qualification and applying for entry to HE in 2009-10 entry cycle with, or working towards, an Access to HE qualification and accepted for entry to HE	During or prior to 2009-10	resident in England and Wales students with a QAA-recognised Access to HE qualification	students applying to/accepted on part-time HE courses students who make applications outside the UCAS system students resident in Scotland and Northern Ireland
HESA data	entering undergraduate programmes in 2009-10, with a QAA-recognised Access to HE qualification (that is, not the same cohort of students as reported by QAA, Data Service, DCELLS or UCAS)	During or prior to 2008-09	full and part-time students registered in the first year of undergraduate courses in HE institutions in England and Wales	students who enter HE courses in FE institutions students from England and Wales who enter HE courses in HEIs in Scotland students with other 'access' qualifications