Equivalent or lower qualifications ELQs

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Equivalent or lower qualifications (ELQs)
Toby West-Taylor Head of Funding, HEFCE
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Equivalent or lower qualifications (ELQs)
Expanded guidance in HESES/HEIFES09

• Identifying ELQ students
• Differences between exemptions and protected
  subjects
• Assessing levels of qualifications
• Reviewing ELQ status periodically
• Relationship with student fees and support
  regulations
• Audit issues

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Identifying ELQ students
Home EC students who are aiming for a
qualification whose level is equivalent to, or
lower than, a qualification they already hold.

• The qualification aim of the student is all
  important
• Those with multiple stated qualification aims
  should be treated as aiming for the lower of
  those qualifications
• In general, use the Framework for Higher
  Education Qualifications (FHEQ) to determine a
  basic hierarchy of qualifications
• HESES/HEIFES09 Annex G paragraphs 9 and 15

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The hierarchy of qualifications (1)
Variations to the FHEQ for ELQ purposes

• Disaggregation within single levels of the FHEQ
  is not generally appropriate, but exceptions for
• Level 7 Postgraduate Certificates gt Diplomas gt
  Masters
• Level 6 Ordinary bachelors degree gt Bachelors
  with honours
• Level 5 Foundation degree gt Foundation degree
  bridging course
• HESES/HEIFES09 G16

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The hierarchy of qualifications (2)
Postgraduate in time v postgraduate in level the
relevance of entry v exit qualifications

• ELQ policy is about the academic level of a
  qualification (aim)
• HESES/HEIFES defines postgraduate as a course for
  which the normal entry requirement is an honours
  degree
• Integrated masters PG in level, not PG in time
• Graduate conversion course UG in level, PG in
  time
• Exceptions
• First registrable medicine, dentistry, veterinary
  science degrees
• MPharm
• PGCE
• HESES09 G17, G18, G19, G22 HEIFES09 G17, G18, G20

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The hierarchy of qualifications (3)

• Credit applies to HEIs only
• Students whose qualification aim is institutional
  credit should not be treated as ELQ on the basis
  of similar level HE credit already achieved
• HESES09 G23, G24

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The hierarchy of qualifications (4)

• The equivalence of qualifications awarded abroad
• Try naric.org.uk UK NARIC is the national agency
  responsible for providing information and advice
  about vocational, academic and professional
  skills and qualifications from all over the world
• A student has a degree awarded in another country
  as their highest qualification and is aiming for
  a degree in the UK. If UK NARIC says that the
  former is below the level of the latter, it is
  acceptable to treat the student as not aiming for
  an ELQ
• HESES09 G25, HEIFES09 G22

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Exemptions (1)
ELQ students may still be recorded as fundable if
they

• Are aiming for a foundation degree
• Are on an ITT or INSET course (at any level)
• Are on an undergraduate course leading to a first
  registerable qualification in medicine
  dentistry nursing midwifery certain other
  named allied health professions social work
  veterinary science.
• Or a post-registration undergraduate course for
  the above professions.
• Or otherwise in a receipt of an (UG or PG)NHS
  bursary
• HESES/HEIFES09 G7

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Exemptions (2)
ELQ students may still be recorded as fundable if
they

• Are on an undergraduate course leading to a
  professional qualification in youth and community
  work
• Are on a post-registration undergraduate course
  for youth and community workers
• Are on a full-time undergraduate course leading
  towards registration as an architect
• Are in receipt of Disabled Students Allowance
• Are studying in Northern Ireland with the OU
• HESES/HEIFES09 G7

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Exemptions (3)
ELQ students counting toward co-funded employer
engagement allocations

• Are exempt
• But are still non-fundable in HESES/HEIFES
• Because they are not funded through the
  mainstream teaching grant, but are subject to
  separate monitoring arrangements
• They may still be included in co-funded employer
  engagement monitoring forms as long as they meet
  all other eligibility criteria
• HESES/HEIFES09 G6b

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Strategically important and vulnerable subjects
(SIVS)
SIVS are protected, but not exempt

• ELQ students in SIVS should be reported as
  non-fundable unless they are also in an exempt
  category (such as foundation degree in receipt
  of DSA etc.)
• The SIVS allocation relating to ELQ students will
  not be recalculated annually for changing student
  numbers
• It is intended to help maintain overall capacity
  in SIVS, be that for ELQ or non-ELQ students
• HESES/HEIFES09 G8

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ELQ status can change over the duration of a
course
ELQ status should be reviewed annually

• Consistent with student fees and support
  regulations
• To take account of changing circumstances
• A student following two separate programmes of
  study receives a qualification for one before the
  other is complete
• A student becomes disabled
• A student changes their qualification aim
• HESES09 G26, G27 HEIFES09 G23, G24

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Changing ELQ status within a year of study
Yes to correct for data error/new information.
No to reflect changed circumstances.

• Correct in-year where
• New information emerges about a students prior
  entry qualifications, or a students eligibility
  for DSA.
• Do not correct in-year, but correct for the start
  of the following year, where
• Circumstances change, for example a student is
  awarded a qualification during the year or
  changes their stated qualification aim, which
  affectstheir ELQ status.

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Students who do not collect their qualifications

• Students who are entitled to receive a
  qualification for which they were aiming but have
  not formally completed the process of collecting
  it should be treated for ELQ purposes as if they
  have the qualification. For example
• Students who have not completed the formal
  process of attending a graduation ceremony, where
  this is required
• Students who have not been permitted to collect
  their qualification because they are in default
  of a payment to the institution
• HESES/HEIFES09 G21

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2009-10 ELQs, fees and student support
regulations (1)
See the OPSI web-site

• Student fees (Qualifying Courses and Persons)
  (England) Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/778)
• Defines the courses and students covered by the
  variable fee regime, whose fees are subject to
  prescribed limits
• Now updated by amendment in SI 2008/1640
• Exclusion now applies to anyone aiming for an ELQ
  whose previous qualification was awarded anywhere
• But not those aiming for a foundation degree

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2009-10 ELQs, fees and student support
regulations (2)
See the OPSI web-site

• The Student Fees (Amounts) (England) (Amendment)
  Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/2507)
• Define the maximum fees that can be charged for
  students that are subject to regulated fees
• (those defined in the Student fees (Qualifying
  Courses and Persons) (England) Regulations 2007
  (SI 2007/778), as amended)
• (amendment to the Student Fees (Amounts)
  (England) Regulations 2004 (SI 2004/1932))

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2009-10 ELQs, fees and student support
regulations (3)
See the OPSI web-site

• Education (Student Support) (No. 2) Regulations
  2008 (SI 2008/1582)
• Define student support regulations for 2009-10
• Contain an ELQ definition
• Eligibility restricted for ELQ students
• Amended by Education (Student Support)
  (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 2008 (SI
  2008/2939)
• Revisions relating to financial thresholds and
  levels for student support

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Institutional fee charging policies
are generally a matter for institutions

• Compliance with regulations
• Clarity required about fee charging policies
• For all students
• But particularly those in receipt of DSA
• Any questions about fees and student support
  regulations to the Student Finance England
  helpline 0845 602 0583

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Differences between fees/student support
regulations and HEFCE funding policy on ELQs

• Students exempt from ELQ policy for HEFCE funding
  purposes, but not subject to regulated fees. For
  example
• A student with a BSc who starts a first
  registrable medical/dental/vet sci degree
• A student with an unrelated BA who starts a
  full-time undergraduate course leading towards
  registration with the Architects Registration
  Board
• There should not be ELQ students not exempt from
  the policy who are still subject to regulated
  fees
• HESES09 G28 HEIFES09 G25

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Institutions determine fundability status for ELQ
students
Use FUNDCODE field (HEIs) or Field A11 (FECs)

• We will use these fields in re-creating HESES and
  HEIFES returns from HESA and ILR data
• ELQ students will not be separately identifiable
  in HESES/HEIFES
• We will test whether institutions have determined
  fundability status appropriately through our
  audit and reconciliation work

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Auditing fundability status of ELQ students

• Institutions will need to keep audit records of
  how they have determined fundability status of
  students
• We will also test whether institutions are
  reporting fundability status appropriately using
  combinations of HESA or ILR fields and by linking
  data across years
• Audits may be prompted if we find, for example,
  disproportionately high numbers of students with
  unknown entry qualifications being recordedas
  fundable.

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Other HESES/HEIFES issues
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Changes to HESES/HEIFES for 2009-10

• Table 6 has been removed
• HEFCE-recognised funding consortia no longer
  exist
• Table 4 has been expanded to collect new entrants
• With a view to us being better able to monitor
  growth in new entrants from 2010-11
• A minor change in how to calculate what
  proportion of students funded from other sources
  should be reported as non-fundable or
  independently-funded
• To take account of the 65 million efficiency
  saving

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Clarifications to HESES/HEIFES for 2009-10 (1)

• Non-completion definition and examples
• The flexible study measure does not change how
  institutions report completion in HESES
• Expanded guidance in HESES on how to count
  modules that span years of instance
• Expanded guidance on ELQs

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Clarifications to HESES/HEIFES for 2009-10 (2)

• Students recruited to the 10,000 new places
  announced in July 2009 should be reported in
  HESES/HEIFES in the usual way they will not be
  monitored separately
• Clarifications relating to the fact that NHS
  bursaries apply to years of courses, not
  necessarily whole courses
• Clarification on assignment to price groups of
  medical and dental courses and other activity in
  cost centres 1 and 2 (HESES only)
• Clarification on assignment to cost centres
  on franchised-out activity (HESES only)

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Process changes for HESES/HEIFES for 2009-10

• Notification of audit for those HEIs that have
  not had a HESES audit in the last two years
• Some changes to our verification process
• HESES and HEIFES now need to be signed off (at
  the end of the verification process) by the head
  of the institution
• Earlier sign-off date for HEIFES (FECs only)
• Process for raising queries relating to missing
  or incorrect learner aim type of Learndirect
  codes on the FE Data Services LAD has changed
  (FECs only)

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Frequently/occasionally asked questions (1)

• Is it optional or compulsory to claim for partial
  completion students from 2009-10?
• How does HEFCE expect institutions to account for
  partial completions in the HESES09 return, e.g.
  will institutions have to take account of such
  students when determining their non-completion
  rates?

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Frequently/occasionally asked questions (2)

• More guidance on how we can include a proportion
  of our students with unknown entry qualification
  as non-fundable in the HESES return.  For the
  HESES return this can be done by adjusting the
  FTE for all students with an unknown highest
  qualification upon entry as per the HEFCE
  methodology however this is not appropriate at
  student level in the HESA return upon which the
  HESES re-creation is based.

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Frequently/occasionally asked questions (3)

• The circumstances in which holders of PGT
  qualifications (PG certs/dips/masters) are, or
  are not, considered to be studying for ELQs when
  they enrol for another PGT qualification. 
  Basically how can ELQ status be determined for
  these students?

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Frequently/occasionally asked questions (4)

• Keen to know how other HEIs manage non-standard
  years of instance

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Frequently/occasionally asked questions (5)

• Please advise on the correct method of
  forecasting late registrations for those students
  who have a COMDATE prior to the current reporting
  period (and therefore cannot be identified as
  late registrations from the previous years HESA
  Return).
• How to deal with late registrations that change
  the TYPEYR from 1 to 2, i.e. Continuing Education
  students who register by 1 December for modules
  that will complete by 31 July and subsequently
  register for modules that will complete after
  31 July.

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Frequently/occasionally asked questions (6)

• What approach will HEFCE take to auditing the
  methods by which students studying towards an ELQ
  are identified, bearing in mind the room for
  interpretation in the HEFCE guidance for ranking
  qualifications?
• Are any amendments to the current price band
  weightings anticipated now or in the near future?
  If so, are details available?

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Frequently/occasionally asked questions (7)

• Further details on the structure and scope of the
  audit that we are expecting to undergo next year
  and exactly what aspects of/how HESA data will be
  factored into the audit.
• It would also be very useful to know when the
  HESES09 guidance will be released and what
  changes, if any, we can expect for this year's
  return

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Frequently/occasionally asked questions (8)

• Can you please provide a guide to premiums for
  long and/or flexible programmes, and the impact
  of any funding changes on HESES09?
• Full-time undergraduate programmes leading to
  registration with the ARB are ELQ exempt. We are
  apparently unique in having a part-time version
  of the Professional Diploma in Architecture Part
  2 which did not exist at the time that the
  guidance was issued.  Is this also exempt? All
  the others in this category apart from the ARB
  one states Undergraduate programmes in any mode
  of study ...