Project | Institutional data use (IDU)

About institutional data use

Many higher education providers offer interventions and activities such as transition and academic skills support, and mentoring to improve student success and reduce equality gaps. As part of this, a wide range of data is collected, such as student demographics, class attendance, interaction with virtual learning environments, and attainment. This institutional data can be used to evaluate the success of these interventions.

This project aims to help higher education providers use their institutional data to better evaluate the success of their interventions.

We have appointed four higher education providers (University of Huddersfield, Lancaster University, Nottingham Trent University and University of East Anglia) who have provided institutional data, including student engagement with specific support interventions, for evaluation.

A team from Staffordshire University were appointed as independent evaluators for the work.

Through this work we have developed a set of recommendations and two resources which will help higher education providers develop and use their institutional data more effectively when evaluating student success.

Related outputs

Resources from higher education providers

To help the sector generate evidence about what works to support student success we worked with four providers – University of Huddersfield, Lancaster University, Nottingham Trent University and University of East Anglia – who provided institutional data, including student engagement with specific support interventions, for evaluation.

A team from Staffordshire University has independently evaluated this work.

We have published the following resources:

• Report: Facilitating analysis of institutional data: practical steps for providers
• Data infrastructure guide
• Post-entry Mapping Outcomes and Activities Tool (MOAT)

University of Huddersfield: Score As I Learn (SAIL) 

• Enhanced Theory of Change (PDF)
• Trial protocol (PDF)
• Impact evaluation (PDF)
• Implementation and process evaluation (PDF)

Lancaster University: Lancaster Success Programme 

• Enhanced Theory of Change (PDF)
• Trial protocol (PDF)
• Impact evaluation (PDF)
• Implementation and process evaluation (PDF)

Nottingham Trent University: Black Leadership Programme

• Case study: Using institutional data to track post-entry participant outcomes (PDF)
• Case study: Developing a post-HE-entry activity typology and the transition to recording onto HEAT database (PDF)
• Enhanced Theory of Change (PDF)
• Trial protocol (PDF)
• Impact evaluation (PDF)
• Implementation and process evaluation (PDF)

University of East Anglia: Peer Assisted Learning programme

• Enhanced Theory of Change (PDF)
• Trial protocol (PDF)
• Impact evaluation (PDF)
• Implementation and process evaluation (PDF)

Background

Data collected by higher education providers over the course of a student’s journey from entry to graduation is rich and varied. This institutional data can be used to evaluate the success of student support interventions. However, these evaluations are often limited in scope because there is insufficient historical data to faciliate evaluation or student engagement with support services is not recorded.

This project aimed to identify the barriers and enablers to using institutional data.