Administrative data guide

This Administrative data guide (hosted on GitHub) is a practical guide for evaluators, academic researchers, delivery staff, and others interested in utilising administrative data to conduct research or evaluate interventions designed to reduce equality gaps in higher education. 

The guidance covers key administrative data sources relevant to higher education including: 

• The National Pupil Database
• The Higher Education Statistics Agency 
• Longitudinal Education Outcomes Data 
• The University College Admissions Service 
• The Higher Education Access Tracker

The guide provides information about each database’s: 

• key variables 
• population and temporal coverage 
• key limitations 
• access procedures 
• ethical considerations 
• application to higher education research and evaluation.

In addition, the guide includes case studies demonstrating how recent TASO-funded projects have utilised administrative data.