Data and Statistics
How institutions make use of the data
Institutions use data in various ways. This diversity reflects not just varied information needs, but also different admissions structures and available resources (some institutions maintain a dedicated staff resource for the task of data analysis, which can be based in many different parts of the institution). The data may be used by staff involved in functions other than admissions; in many institutions it is used for marketing, management information, monitoring and strategic planning purposes.
UCAS data can be used to feed into strategic planning and management information requirements. This would include planning admissions processes, using conversion rates to predict student numbers, informing academic development and ensuring recruitment numbers hit target.
Data can also be used for benchmarking, trend analysis looking at applications, offers, or declines and for monitoring, either in-cycle or at the end of the cycle, ethnicity, diversity, disability or other ‘sensitive data’ to see if admissions decision-making and those admitted reflects the admissions and equality policies of the institution. Where monitoring analysis shows discrepancies between benchmarks and reality this can be reviewed and evaluated and policy amended as appropriate.
Analysis can also help to support targeted recruitment, marketing and widening participation/access activities. Some HEI staff use data for mailings and other promotional purposes and to identify target markets and trends in subjects (looking at applications, offers, or declines).
UCAS data sets can be used in a number of ways. For example, institutions could use a reporting package to view tables of the data in the institution database and use Standard Query Language (SQL) to extract the required data from the set and perform further analysis in Excel.
Users of management information can include Vice-Chancellors, Pro-Vice-Chancellors, Principals, Deans, Heads of School, Directors, Senior Tutors, Senior Managers, Heads of Admissions, Course Leaders, Admissions Tutors and other academic and professional staff involved in any aspect of the admissions process.
Some institutions make information available to all staff by posting regular reports on their intranet. Others support use of the data by staff in Faculties, Schools or Departments, taking data directly online from the main admissions software package so they can maintain their own system and analysis (whilst aiming to avoid duplication of data and effort). Most use web-link for some form of checking and processing of applicant data, and/or to set up course data, and/or to access AppTrack. This diversity of use reflects not only the level of implementation (or not) of a third party admissions software system, but could also be an indication of user role e.g. admissions staff are likely to make different use compared to a member of staff involved in strategic planning.
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Reviewed: July 2009