Data dashboards frequently asked questions

In using the dashboards, you’ll see reference to the following terms and features of the student outcome and experience measures:

• Denominator of the indicator: The total number of students in the population for which we are measuring outcomes or experiences.
• Numerator of the indicator: The number of students who achieve the outcome or experience in question.
• Indicator value (as a proportion): Calculated in percentage terms as the numerator divided by the denominator. This is the rate at which students have achieved the outcome or experience in question, expressed as a point estimate providing a factual representation of the actual population of students present at a particular provider at a particular time.
• Benchmark value (as a proportion): Calculated in percentage terms for each provider as a weighted sector average which takes account of that provider’s particular mix of students. Benchmarks give information about the values that the sector overall might have achieved for the indicator if the characteristics included in the benchmarking factors are the only ones that are important.
• Difference between indicator and benchmark values: This is a point estimate of the difference between the indicator and benchmark (expressed as indicator minus benchmark).
• Contribution to own benchmark: Calculated in percentage terms for each provider as the weighted average of the provider’s own students contributing to the sector averages that are used to calculate their benchmark.
• Survey response rates (for progression outcomes and student experience measures): Calculated in percentage terms as the number of students who responded to the relevant survey, divided by the total number of students eligible to be surveyed.

We have published a user guide for each of our interactive data dashboards. Please refer to the text above each dashboard for a link to the relevant user guide.

Each dashboard also contains a ‘Help guide’ button in the top right, providing key points for how to navigate and use the dashboard.

When you select a filter category, where other filters are set to inapplicable selections, charts may initially show a ‘Data unavailable’ message. Filters with inapplicable selections will show the selection in parentheses. Selecting an applicable category from the filter dropdown should load data for the charts.

Charts could also contain data that are suppressed and may appear in the charts with either nothing showing at all, or with discontinuous lines or points. Use the detailed view in the dashboard to view a data table underneath the charts showing why data has been suppressed.

Throughout the dashboards, student outcome and experience measures are presented with ‘shaded bars’ to represent the statistical uncertainty associated with indicator values, differences between the indicator and benchmark values and percentage point gaps between different indicator values.

The shaded bars are constructed around the point estimate and aim to represent the continuous spread (or distribution) of statistical uncertainty around the different values that we have calculated to understand a provider’s performance. The shading of the bars indicates the changing likelihood that underlying provider performance takes different values, with the darkest shading representing the range in which there is the greatest likelihood that true provider performance might lie. Much like the ‘bell curve’ of the Normal distribution, as the shading lightens in both directions it represents a lower likelihood that true underlying performance falls at that point.

The shaded bars are constructed around the point estimates by calculating a set of confidence intervals, starting with the 75 per cent confidence interval with further intervals calculated at 2.5 percentage point increments up to a maximum of a 99.7 per cent confidence interval, and the bar is shaded between each of these intervals. 

A more detailed, technical description of the statistical methods used to create the shaded bars is available within our 'Description of student outcome and experience measures' document.

Our regulation of condition B3 will make use of the shaded bars by establishing the confidence with which we can say that the underlying performance of a provider is above or below a numerical threshold.

To facilitate consistent interpretations of this confidence by users, we have summarised the proportion of the statistical uncertainty distribution represented by the shaded bar that falls above or below those thresholds. These summary figures are reported in a supplementary table alongside the shaded bars, with the intention that the two are used together to inform an accurate and consistent interpretation of statistical confidence related to the thresholds.

For each type of shaded bar, green or blue, the student outcomes data dashboard reports on:

• Green bar (absolute performance):
  • proportion of the statistical uncertainty distribution below the numerical threshold for condition B3
  • proportion of the statistical uncertainty distribution above the numerical threshold for condition B3
• Blue bar (relative performance):
  • proportion of the statistical uncertainty distribution below the benchmark
  • proportion of the statistical uncertainty distribution above the benchmark.

These proportions are shaded when the values are at 75 or higher. We have deliberately set that to be lower than our lowest interpretation of strength of statistical evidence (around 80 per cent). This is designed to be helpful to the user rather than representing what the term ‘around’ could mean or as a direct mapping of where the lowest interpretation of strength of statistical evidence falls.

A more detailed, technical description of the statistical methods used to create the shaded bars is available within our 'Description of student outcome and experience measures' document.

TEF assessments will make use of the shaded bars by establishing the confidence with which we can say that the underlying performance provider is materially above or below the provider’s benchmark.

To facilitate consistent interpretations of this confidence by users, we have summarised the proportion of the statistical uncertainty distribution represented by the shaded bar that falls above or below the values that define those materiality areas. These summary figures are reported in a supplementary table alongside the shaded bars, with the intention that the two are used together to inform an accurate and consistent interpretation of statistical confidence related to the thresholds.

The TEF data dashboard reports on:

• Green bar (absolute performance). No supplementary information is provided.
• Blue bar (relative performance):
  • proportion of the uncertainty distribution in the materially below benchmark area, with the value that defines this area set at -2.5
  • proportion of the uncertainty distribution in the broadly in line with benchmark area, between the values that define this area of -2.5 and 2.5
  • proportion of the uncertainty distribution in the materially above benchmark area, with the value that defines this area set at 2.5.

These proportions are shaded when the values are at 75 or higher. We have deliberately set that to be lower than our lowest interpretation of strength of statistical evidence (around 80 per cent). This is designed to be helpful to the user rather than representing what the term ‘around’ could mean or as a direct mapping of where the lowest interpretation of strength of statistical evidence falls.

In the TEF data dashboard, where the benchmark is at 95 per cent or higher, we also colour the point estimate of the shaded bar yellow and highlight the benchmark yellow.

A more detailed, technical description of the statistical methods used to create the shaded bars is available within our 'Description of student outcome and experience measures' document.

The shaded bars are constructed using a series of confidence intervals. The confidence intervals we plot as the shaded bars begin at the 75 per cent significance level and increase in 2.5 percentage point increments. The 75 per cent confidence interval in the centre of the bar is shaded darkest and then the limits of the subsequent confidence intervals get incrementally lighter in shading for each increase to the significance level.

When constructing the shaded bars, the upper and lower limits of each increasing confidence interval correspond to the points on the bar where the shading changes either side of the observed value.

The upper and lower limits for each confidence interval represented by the shaded bars are available in data downloads corresponding to the relevant dashboard (see the 'Get the dashboard data' section associated with each dashboard).

For the student outcomes and TEF data dashboard, the data downloads provide information in two formats: CSV and Excel workbooks. In both data downloads, each row corresponds to an individual shaded bar after filters have been applied.

In the CSV files:

• The confidence limits used to construct the green shaded bars for the indicators are named “INDICATOR_LOWERXX” and “INDICATOR_UPPERXX”
• The confidence limits used to construct the blue shaded bars for the difference between indicator and benchmark are named “DIFFERENCE_LOWERXX” and “DIFFERENCE_UPPERXX”.

In the Excel files:

• The confidence limits used to construct the green shaded bars for the indicators are named “Indicator confidence interval (lower, %) XX” and “Indicator confidence interval (upper, %) XX”
• The confidence limits used to construct the blue shaded bars for the difference between indicator and benchmark are named “Difference confidence interval (lower, %) XX” and “Difference confidence interval (upper, %) XX”.

For the access and participation data dashboard, the data downloads area available as CSV files. Each row represents an individual shaded bar in the time series after filters have been applied.

In the CSV files:

• The confidence limits used to construct the shaded bars for the indicators and gaps are named “LOWERCIXX” and “UPPERCIXX”. These relate to the uncertainty distribution for indicators for rows relating to indicators (where TYPE = Single), and to the uncertainty distribution for gaps for rows relating to gaps (where TYPE = Compare).

In all cases, the XX suffix refers to a given confidence interval and can take a value starting at the 75 per cent significance level and increasing in 2.5 percentage point increments thereafter.

We have published separate guidance for providers writing an access and participation plan. This includes guidance on effective practice for different student groups.

Providers can use our published technical documentation to understand their own student data and conduct a thorough assessment of performance.

The dashboards have been created using Tableau software. For the best experience, we recommend that users use a web browser on a desktop computer or laptop. The dashboards do work on touch screen devices such as phones or tablets, but the functionality can be more limiting, particularly in using filters or tooltips.

No, the dashboards can only be used with an active internet connection.

The dashboards contain multiple filters and it will take a moment to reload the dashboard when each filter is changed. This loading time can vary based on internet speed and the processing power of the device used.

Users can open multiple tabs in their web browser or multiple windows if they wish to compare elements of the dashboards without having to re-select filters.

There are alternative data resources available that include Excel workbooks and CSV files showing all of the data contained with the dashboards. These can be accessed from the ‘Get the data’ page associated with each dashboard. They do not include the visualisations used in the dashboards, but all of the component parts that are used to produce them.

Given the volume of data, this means the file sizes are large.

For access and participation, we have published the data for individual providers and for the sector as a CSV file. This format is most suitable for users who have access to a statistical or database package. To use Microsoft Excel, we recommend downloading either the separate CSV data by provider, or the Microsoft Excel files split by lifecycle stage. These are small enough to be viewed in Microsoft Excel.

Users will be unable to print directly from the dashboards, but will be able to take screenshots.

Data may be copied or reproduced provided the Office for Students is acknowledged and the material is not used, wholly or in part, for commercial gain. Anyone who wishes to use the data for commercial gain must get our written permission.

This can commonly be resolved by closing and restarting your Internet browser or switching to a different browser.

Dashboards may also fail to load when experiencing high web traffic. Please close the webpage and check back again later.

In the rare event that dashboards will be unavailable for an extended time, we will post a message on our Twitter.

If you receive an error message beginning with '{"result":' when trying to view a dashboard on our website, try closing and restarting your Internet browser. This issue can occur if you have viewed a dashboard on the OfS portal since opening your current browser session.

It is not possible to view our dashboards on the portal and on our website concurrently in the same browser. To switch between them you will need to restart your browser, delete your browser cookies, or use two different browsers.

The definitions of the student outcome and experience measures used throughout these dashboards follow from our recent consultation on the construction of student outcome and experience data indicators for use in our regulation. Student outcome and experience indicators are produced in the same way for each provider we regulate, using available national datasets and consistent definitions and approaches to data.

Details of the definitions and approaches used in the construction of the student outcome and experience indicators and more detailed information on some of the terms used within the dashboards can be found in our technical documents.

Each year, we expect to update the data dashboards with the most recent data as it becomes available. The data contained within each data dashboard has different sources and the timing of the update for the data dashboards are influenced by the availability of its different data sources.

Typically we are able to update:

• The size and shape of provision data, access, continuation, completion and degree outcomes measures in spring to incorporate the most recent Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) and Individualised Learner Record (ILR) student records used in their construction.
• The progression measures in summer to incorporate the most recent Graduate Outcomes survey responses used in their construction.
• The student experience measures in autumn to incorporate the most recent National Student Survey responses used in their construction.

The TEF data dashboards were used to inform the TEF 2023 assessments. They were published in September 2022 and remain unchanged.

The coverage of each indicator is discussed in detail within the indicator-specific definitions given within ‘Description and definition of student outcome and experience measures’.

The data covers UK-domiciled undergraduate entrants registered at English higher education providers. A small number of the characteristics included in these data resources are necessarily limited to coverage of English-domiciled undergraduate entrants.

Providers are included within the data resources if they are registered by the OfS, where the indicators then reflect the numbers and outcomes of students registered at that provider. Students taught by one provider on behalf of another, under sub-contractual arrangements, are not included in the data of the teaching provider.

For providers that teach registered and sub-contracted students, this means that the data will not reflect all the students they teach. It only reflects the students that should be covered by that provider's access and participation plan.

The dashboard indicates the spread of indicator and benchmark values across OfS-registered English providers. It uses the same underlying data published alongside the student outcomes and TEF data dashboards. Any data point that is not reportable for any of these reasons are not included on the sector distribution of student outcome and experience measures dashboard:

• where there are fewer than 23 students in the denominator.
• where data has been suppressed for data protection reasons for the ‘free-school meals’ split indicator.

For the progression measures we do not suppress on the basis of response rates, but we do allow users to toggle between showing data that does or does not meet the survey response rate threshold.

All proportions are rounded to one decimal place. This applies to all indicator, benchmark and difference from benchmark values included in the data dashboards.

Student numbers are reported as counts rounded to the nearest 10.

Student numbers are suppressed where there are fewer than 23 students (prior to rounding) in the chosen category.

These thresholds were chosen to retain as much information as possible, while ensuring that information about individuals cannot be identified from the data.

All of the data has been calculated on unrounded values. In order to prevent the disclosure of sensitive data, we have subsequently applied rounding and suppression rules as follows:

• [none]: there are 2 or fewer students in the denominator. These rows do not appear in the dashboards or CSV files.
• [low]: where there are more than 2 but fewer than 23 students in the denominator.
• [N/A]: where the data item is not applicable to that population. For example, benchmark data is not applicable to the sector rates (*All OfS registered providers option in the dashboard) and these are shown as [N/A].
• [RR]: for the progression or student experience measures where the provider participated in the relevant survey (Graduate Outcomes survey or National Student Survey respectively) but has not met response rate threshold required (50 per cent for the National Student Survey, 30 per cent for the Graduate Outcomes survey).
• [BK]: where the benchmarks are suppressed because there are at least 50 per cent of the provider’s students have unknown information for one or more of the factors used for that benchmark calculation.
• [DPL]: where data has been suppressed for data protection reasons. The code [DPL] has been used to indicate where the data has been suppressed due to numerator or headcount that is less than or equal to 2, meaning that the indicator will take on a value close to 0 per cent.
• [DPH]: where data has been suppressed for data protection reasons. For the indicators data, the code [DPH] has been used to indicate where data has been suppressed due to a numerator that is greater than 2 but is within 2 of the denominator. For the overall shape and size of provision data, the code [DPH] has been used to indicate where data has been suppressed due to a headcount for a particular category of students being greater than 2 but within 2 of the total number of students who are taught or registered by the provider, meaning that the indicator will take on a value close to 100 per cent. 
• [DP]: where data has been suppressed for data protection reasons. The code [DP] has been used where further data protection has taken place for sensitive data.

In the access and participation dashboard we have included aggregations across the latest two and four years of the time series in the data. Where data is suppressed in the time series, the data may be reportable in either of the aggregates.

The student outcome and experience measures covered by these dashboards are those within scope of our regulation of student outcomes through registration condition B3 and assessments through the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF).

Provider-level data reporting on measures of access and degree outcomes are reported through the access and participation data dashboard.

The coverage of each indicator is discussed in detail within the indicator-specific definitions given within ‘Description and definition of student outcome and experience measures'.

The degree outcomes (attainment) indicator expresses the number of leavers from Level 6+ undergraduate degrees who were awarded first or upper second (2:1) degree classifications as a percentage of all those leavers from Level 6+ undergraduate degrees who were awarded classified degrees.

The attainment indicators are shown for all providers, whether or not they hold their own taught degree awarding powers. Students who have studied at Levels 4 or 5 are not currently included in the indicator definition. 

All apprenticeship students are reported as a separate mode of study in the data resources. We identify their level of study according to the level of study of the component higher education qualification that sits within the apprenticeship standard (or framework). The student outcomes we report correspond to their outcomes in respect of the component qualification, and not necessarily outcomes from the apprenticeship as a whole (unless the end point for the component qualification marks the same end point for the overall apprenticeship).

Deprivation measures in the access and participation dataset are based on the English Index of Multiple Deprivations (IMD). These measures are periodically updated to reflect the latest national data relating to deprivation – the latest version is 2019. Providers may have set targets in their access and participation plans using the 2015 version included in previous releases of the access and participation dashboard.

We have included both the 2015 and 2019 versions in the current dataset so providers can track their progress against targets they may have set themselves using previous measures and understand their performance against the latest measure and set onward targets.

The Deprivation quintile (IMD) split indicator in the student outcomes, TEF, size and shape and sector distribution of student outcomes and experiences dashboards is the 2019 version.

The dashboards include data up to the 2021-22 academic year. There may be some expectation that these statistics will reflect changes due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, given that the first lockdown in the UK was declared in March 2020. For example, the impact of the pandemic could have affected student’s decisions in terms of whether and how they might choose to enrol on higher education courses, and subsequently continue with their studies.

However, users should not automatically interpret changes seen in the data since this point to have been caused by the pandemic. It is often not possible to attribute cause without further knowledge of the motivations and experiences of the students involved. 

With regards to access and participation plans, we also know that disruption caused by the pandemic posed challenges for providers in the timing and format of assessments leading to the awarding of qualifications. As a result of the pandemic, a number of providers made changes to assessment and classification arrangements to ensure students were not disadvantaged by the impact of the pandemic when it came to assessment in 2019-20 and 2020-21.

Providers did not adopt a single approach, and as a result, the impact of these changes will have varied from provider to provider. It is not possible to determine the extent to which these actions by providers may have influenced the increase in attainment rates seen between 2018-19 and 2019-20.

We know that qualifications awarded prior to 2019-20 could not have been affected by the pandemic.

The dashboard shows the percentage of students in each breakdown of mode and level of study, by student or course characteristic. The default percentage type shows the percentage calculated on the whole taught or registered (TorR) population within a given mode and broad level of study. There is an alternative percentage type available which shows percentages calculated on a population of students with known and applicable attributes. Users may wish to use this percentage type if they want to look at the distribution of students across the attributes excluding those students with unknown or not applicable attributes. For example, the ‘Ethnicity’ characteristic will show students as a proportion of all taught or registered (TorR) students who are UK-domiciled and have a known ethnicity. Note that for the ‘Eligibility for free school meals’ characteristic data is only displayed for the ‘Percentage of known and applicable’ percentage type.