About the data dashboard

Watch our introductory video for an overview of what you can use the access and participation data dashboard for, or continue reading our guide below for the same information.

What does the dashboard measure?

The access and participation data dashboard shows data for individual providers across different student characteristics. 

The data includes indicators and gaps as measures of performance for each stage of a student’s journey through higher education:

• Access
  These measures show the makeup of students entering higher education.
• Continuation
  These measures show whether students continue their studies or not.
• Completion
  These measures track students through later stages of their studies to see whether they have qualified or remain studying.
• Attainment (degree outcomes)
  These measures examine the numbers of graduates who achieve a first or upper second class degree.
• Progression
  These measures report on whether students are in highly skilled employment, further study or have other positive outcomes 15 months after leaving higher education. This data represents the results of the Graduate Outcomes (GO) survey from 2017-18 onwards.

Some of the measures in the dashboard are affected by data quality issues for the 2022-23 academic year. For more information read our data quality notes.

The data contained in the dashboard covers a period that coincides with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. There are also other changes in the data landscape which could affect the indicators in the dashboard. You can find more information about this in our frequently asked questions about data dashboards.

The data covers all universities and colleges registered with the Office for Students. It reports the latest six years of data available at the time of publication. Progression data is available for fewer than six years because the GO survey has only been running since 2017-18.

We have published this data to help universities and colleges develop and monitor their access and participation plans.

The dashboard can be used to evaluate access and participation at specific universities and colleges in a consistent and transparent way.

It makes it easy to compare different student groups and pinpoint specific areas where a university or college can make improvements.

In 2022 we consulted on updates to the definitions of some of the measures shown in the access and participation data dashboard, and their consistent application in how we regulate access, participation and student outcomes through conditions of registration and the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). This access and participation data dashboard reflects the updated definitions following the outcomes of the consultation. Datafiles related to the dashboard that we previously published in March 2022 remain available to enable users to understand the impact of these updated definitions on access and participation targets and commitments.