Statistics Publication Notice: Early Destinations of Students Qualifying from Scottish Higher Education Institutions 2010-11

Methodological Note

Data Sources

This publication contains information on the first destination of students from Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) in Scotland who gained higher education qualifications in academic year 2010-11. These statistics are collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) through the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education survey.

Data Quality

Information provided here on the destination of students who have qualified from higher education is collected in the survey of Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE). This is co-ordinated by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) and administered by each HEI. The survey is handed out to all qualifiers from full-time and part-time higher education courses at HEIs whose pre-study domicile was within the EU. Non-EU students are not surveyed due to difficulties in maintaining contact details and the subsequent low response rate observed. The current response rate for those in the survey is 72.9%

The DLHE survey is optional for qualifiers, and therefore not all will opt to complete the survey. The data that has been successfully collected has been used to estimate the most likely responses of those who opted not to complete the survey. The response rates for different categories of student were analysed to determine the extent of non-response for each group. We have found, for example, that students who have obtained a good class of first degree (first or upper second) are more likely to respond to the survey than those who obtained a poorer class of degree. High performing students had therefore been over-represented in the respondents population.

Different demographics therefore had their survey results altered to be more representative of the standard student population eligible to complete the survey. The adjustments were made separately based on pre-study location (domicile), region of institution, level of qualification studied for and class of first degree. The adjustment factors ranged from 1.2 to 2.0. Where adjustments have been made, it is noted under the relevant table of results.

Further information on the quality the data used in this publication can be found on the Lifelong Learning Statistics website at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Lifelong-learning/LLStatsQuality

Open University

Students attending the Open University whose pre study domicile was in Scotland are included in this publication as studying at a Scottish HEI. This methodology differs from that used by HESA where Open University is counted as a wholly English institution. As a result figures reported in this release will differ from those reported by HESA.

International Students

European Union (EU) figures include accession countries according to EU membership at the start of each academic year. In 2010-11 EU member countries included; Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. In this release the United Kingdom is reported separately from other EU countries.

Level of Study

Postgraduate level qualifications include; doctorate, masters, postgraduate bachelors degrees, postgraduate diplomas or certificates, PGCE/PGDE and professional qualification at postgraduate level. From 2007-08 professional graduate certificates in education were reported as undergraduate qualifications and separately from postgraduate certificates in education, in years prior to this both are reported as postgraduate certificates in education.

First Degree qualifications include; first degrees, first degrees with qualified teacher status, enhanced first degrees, first degrees obtained concurrently with a diploma and intercalated first degrees.

Other Undergraduate qualifications include; Diploma of Higher Education (DipHE), Certificate of Higher Education (CertHE), professional qualification at undergraduate level, foundation courses at HE level, HND, HNC, NVQ/SVQ levels 5 and 4, diplomas and certificates at undergraduate level and other formal HE qualifications of less than degree standard. Other HE includes all undergraduate level study excluding first degree and HNCs/HNDs.

Subject Tables

Subject data from higher education institutions is apportioned to broadly reflect the weight of a particular subject within the study programmes of individual enrolments. This process is consistent with the treatment of subject breakdowns by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Supplementary subject figures are included in the main subject groupings. They are also reported separately for clarity. Economics and politics are included in social studies, English is included in languages, geography is included in social studies and psychology is included in biological sciences.

Data Presentation

In all tables in this release student numbers have been rounded to the nearest 5 and percentages to one decimal place. Within tables, missing values have been replaced with “-“. Unknown values are not displayed individually in tables but are included in totals. Figures may not sum to totals due to rounding and the inclusion of unknown values. Unless stated otherwise, percentages in tables are calculated from unrounded values. Percentages in the text and charts are calculated from rounded values.