KIS AT NORTHUMBRIA
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
September 2012
Contents
The KIS
Who is KIS for? - 1 -
Do we have to participate in KIS? - 1 -
Which programmes are included? - 1 -
Do we get an opportunity to view the KIS before publication? - 1 -
When will we see other University’s KIS - 2 -
Where will KIS be published? - 2 -
When will the KIS be published? - 2 -
Can we amend our KIS once published? - 2 -
NSS & DHLE
Which NSS Questions are included in the KIS? - 2 -
What will happen where there are a low number of responses to NSS from
students on my programme? - 3 -
Which information from the DLHE will appear on the KIS? - 3 -
How does NSS and DHLE Information get onto the KIS? - 3 -
What happens where there is a low response rate for my programme
to the DLHE? - 3 -
Learning and Teaching
How do I find out more information about the Learning and Teaching
Definitions? - 4 -
How has the proportion of time spent in teaching and learning activities
been arrived at? - 4 -
How has assessment been calculated? - 4 -
Accreditation
What information will be included about professional, statutory and
regulatory body accreditation? - 5 -
The professional, statutory or regulatory body information for my
programme is not appearing – why? - 5 -
Accommodation
What information will be included about accommodation? - 5 -
Fees & Financial Support
What financial support information is included? - 5 -
How will the fee information get onto the KIS? - 5 -
The Widget
What are the pieces of information on the widget? - 6 -
Useful Links
How can I find out more about KIS - 6 -
Where do I find further information and FAQs? - 6 -
The KIS
What is KIS?
Key information Set – KIS is a data set which consists of the following key pieces of information:
1. Student satisfaction – information taken from the National Student Survey (NSS)
2. Careers and Employability – information taken from Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE)
3. Course delivery – information about how students learn on the course % split between scheduled activity, guided independent study and placements
4. Course assessment - information about how the programme is assessed % split between written examinations, coursework and practicals
5. Professional body accreditation – indicates were courses are accredited
6. Accommodation – information about the costs of university owned accommodation and privately owned accommodation in Newcastle
7. Fees – the fees for home students on courses
8. Financial Support – information about Fee waivers, scholarships and bursaries
9. Satisfaction with Students Union – taken from additional question on NSS 2012
Do we have to participate in KIS?
Yes, KIS is mandatory for institutions in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is optional for Scottish Universities
Which programmes are included?
We have to include all Undergraduate programmes which are over 120 credits. Closed courses are not included and neither are programmes delivered mainly overseas or courses run in the UK but only for international and/or EU students. Part-time courses where there is a full-time equivalent are not returned as a separate KIS course.
Do we get an opportunity to view the KIS before publication?
No. We will be able to view the KIS widget once HEFCE release the functionality week commencing 24 September 2012.
When will we see other University’s KIS?
There will be limited access to the whole data set during the week beginning 17 September before go live on the 27th September.
Where will KIS be published?
KIS will be published on the new Unistats website. We will have to put a “widget” which is supplied to us by HEFCE on course pages for KIS courses which will include 10 key pieces of KIS information. Clicking on this will take applicants through to the Unistats website where applicants will be able to view the full KIS data set and compare our data with courses at other HEIs. Similarly, students viewing the Unistats website will be able to click links that take them to our institution course pages.
When will the KIS be published?
The Unistats site will go live on 27th September 2012. Institutions have to make the widget live on their web pages by October 31st 2012.
Can we amend our KIS once published?
Yes, after 27 September 2012 we can resubmit our whole KIS which will have to be signed off by the VC if we need to make any changes. Faculties will be issued with guidance on the process and criteria for resubmission.
NSS & DHLE
(National Student Survey & Destination of Leavers From Higher Education)
Which NSS Questions are included in the KIS?
1. Staff are good at explaining things (1)
2. Staff have made the subject interesting (2)
3. Overall, I am satisfied with the quality of my course (22)
4. I have received sufficient advice and support with my studies (10)
5. Feedback on my work has been prompt (7)
6. Feedback on my work has helped me clarify things I did not understand (9)
7. The library resources are good enough for my needs (16)
8. I have been able to access general IT resources when I needed to (17)
What will happen where there are a low number of responses to NSS from students on my programme?
HEFCE will aggregate data for NSS as follows –
¡ The publication thresholds for the NSS are that 50% of the eligible students must have responded and that these must represent at least 23 students
¡ Where NSS and DLHE data for a particular course fail to meet the publication thresholds (see above) then data will be aggregated in the following order until data that meet the thresholds are achieved:
v Course level most recent two years
v JACS subject level 3 most recent year
v JACS subject level 3 most recent two years
v JACS subject level 2 most recent year
v JACS subject level 2 most recent two years
v JACS subject level 1 most recent year
v JACS subject level 1 most recent two years
Which information from the DLHE will appear on the KIS?
1. The destinations of graduates six months after completing their course – comprising working, studying, working and studying, unemployed, and not available for work
2. Of those in employment, the proportion in managerial/professional jobs six months after graduation.
3. Salary data:
v upper quartile, median and lower quartile six months after graduation from the course at the institution displaying the KIS
v upper quartile, median and lower quartile for the subject across all institutions six months after graduation
v upper quartile, median and lower quartile for the subject across all institutions at 40 months after graduation
How does NSS and DHLE Information get onto the KIS?
This information is added by HEFCE
What happens where there is a low response rate for my programme to the DLHE?
¡ The publication thresholds for the DLHE differ in that the number of students covered by the indicator must be at least 23 (a 50% threshold is not applied)
¡ However, for salary information, at least 50% of the students who are employed full-time i.e. the population of the statistic, must have given a salary. Thus, for salary data to be published at least 23 students who are employed full-time must have given a salary and these must represent at least 50% of the students employed full-time
¡ Where NSS and DLHE data for a particular course fail to meet the publication thresholds then data will be aggregated in the following order until data that meet the thresholds are achieved:
o Course level most recent two years
o JACS subject level 3 most recent year
o JACS subject level 3 most recent two years
o JACS subject level 2 most recent year
o JACS subject level 2 most recent two years
o JACS subject level 1 most recent year
o JACS subject level 1 most recent two years
Learning and Teaching
How do I find out more information about the Learning and Teaching Definitions?
The below link will take you to the HESA webpage detailing information about Learning and teaching definitions.
http://www.hesa.ac.uk/component/option,com_studrec/task,show_file/Itemid,233/mnl,12061/href,Calculations_methods.html/#LearningandTeaching
How has the proportion of time spent in teaching and learning activities been arrived at?
Schools have checked and confirmed the validated NSW on each module and mapped this to the HEFCE definitions that have been provided for KIS. Normally each year of the programme will equate to 1200 hours (10 credits = 10 hours). Where exceptionally a year has more or less credit than adjustments have been made.
The “typical student pathway” has been arrived at by selecting the most popular 120 credits for each year of the programme in 2011/12. Where programmes have activity that meet the criteria but which is delivered at programme level rather than module level this has been added. The % are expressed as a proportion of 1200 hours so if a course is showing 20% of scheduled activity this will equate to 240 hours over the year.
How has assessment been calculated?
The assessment information can only include summative assessment – formative assessment has to be included in learning and teaching activities. We already hold the components of assessment for each module on SITS and these have been mapped to the KIS criteria. This data is checked annually by schools in preparation for marks entry and has been checked and confirmed for the KIS
Accreditation
What information will be included about professional, statutory and regulatory body accreditation?
The KIS will include whether the course is accredited or recognised by Professional, Statutory or Regulatory Body and a link to the relevant body’s website will be provided. There is also the capacity to include details where accreditation is dependent on following a specific route through a programme.
The professional, statutory or regulatory body information for my programme is not appearing – why?
We have had to use a list of professional, statutory, and regulatory bodies that has been supplied by HEFCE – we understand that we will be able to get other bodies onto this list for the next round. In the meantime, we will have to ensure that this information is available on the course page on the web
Accommodation
What information will be included about accommodation?
¡ Institution owned/sponsored accommodation: average annual costs – upper and lower quartiles, and number of units (to which students can reasonably expect to have access)
¡ Private rental accommodation: average annual costs – upper and lower quartiles
Fees & Financial Support
What financial support information is included?
¡ Financial support available from the institution: whether it offers a fee waiver; means-tested support; non means-tested support; National Scholarship Programme; and a link to more detailed information
How will the fee information get onto the KIS?
¡ We will provide the fee information to UCAS for all courses recruited through UCAS – they will then provide this to HEFCE who will add it to our KIS
¡ We will provide information for any course that does not recruit through UCAS directly to HEFCE
The Widget
What are the pieces of information on the widget?
1. % Staff are good at explaining things
2. % Staff have made the subject interesting
3. % Overall student satisfaction
4. % Go on to work or study
5. Accredited Yes or No
6. % Received sufficient advice and support
7. % of those who work are in a graduate job
8. £xx Annual cost of institutional accommodation
9. % Course time in lectures, seminars and similar
10. % Assessments are written exams
Useful Links
How can I find out more about KIS?
¡ http://www.hefce.ac.uk/whatwedo/lt/publicinfo/kis
Where do I find further information and FAQs?
¡ Further answers to HESAs FAQs are at the following link: http://www.hesa.ac.uk/content/view/2297/233/
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