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THE Impact Rankings 2024 FAQ

The document provides frequently asked questions about the THE Impact Rankings. The rankings measure universities' contributions towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It allows universities to showcase work not captured in other rankings. Participation is open to all institutions; they must provide data on SDG 17 and at least 3 other goals to be included in the overall ranking. Scores are calculated based on goals' metrics and data from universities and bibliometric sources.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
293 views13 pages

THE Impact Rankings 2024 FAQ

The document provides frequently asked questions about the THE Impact Rankings. The rankings measure universities' contributions towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It allows universities to showcase work not captured in other rankings. Participation is open to all institutions; they must provide data on SDG 17 and at least 3 other goals to be included in the overall ranking. Scores are calculated based on goals' metrics and data from universities and bibliometric sources.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Frequently Asked Questions

What are the THE Impact Rankings?


The THE Impact Rankings show how the global higher education sector is working towards the
United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Why are the THE Impact Rankings important?

It provides a showcase for the work being delivered by universities in our communities, and it is an
opportunity to shine a light on institutional activities and efforts not covered in other rankings. It will
allow us to demonstrate the differences a university is making to the world we live in.

What does this ranking do that other rankings do not do?


The Times Higher Education World University Rankings are designed for research-intensive global
universities and are dominated by indicators of research excellence.
THE’s data team has also successfully pioneered new teaching-led rankings, focusing on teaching
excellence and student success, in Japan and in the US (in partnership with The Wall Street Journal).
The Impact Rankings, however, explore the impact that a university can make, specifically by looking
at themes of poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice.

What are the UN Sustainable Development Goals?


There are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which were adopted by the UN in 2015 to
provide a framework to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.
These include ending poverty and hunger; promoting good health and well-being and quality
education; achieving gender equality and economic growth; providing access to clean water and
sanitation and affordable and clean energy; fostering innovation; reducing inequalities; building
sustainable cities and communities and achieving responsible consumption and production; tackling
climate change; managing sustainably life below water and life on land; promoting peaceful
societies; and revitalising global partnerships.

Can all institutions participate in this ranking?


This ranking is open to any higher education institution in the world. We want this ranking to be as
inclusive as possible.

This is different from the THE World University Rankings, which includes a minimum publication
volume as part of the eligibility criteria.

However, if an institution does not provide any data, it will not be ranked.

If you would like to take part in the rankings please email [email protected] .
There is no participation fee.

How will the ranking work?


The ranking is based on the 17 SDGs. Not every target in the SDGs relates directly to universities, but
we believe that the higher education sector has a significant role to play in helping nations to deliver
on the SDGs agenda. For each SDG, we have identified a limited set of metrics that can give an
insight into progress.
In the first year, we collected data on 11 of the 17 goals from participating universities. For 2020, we
expanded this to all 17 SDGs.
Universities may provide data on one or more of the SDGs.
We produce an overall ranking of universities based on institutions’ data for SDG 17 (the only
mandatory goal) plus their best three results on the remaining SDGs. This will allow universities to
demonstrate their excellence in the areas that are most relevant to them, their community and their
country.
Rankings of the universities that are best achieving the individual SDGs will also be published.

My university is not active (or does not record data) across all SDGs – is it worth
participating?
Not all universities will be able to report on all the metrics covered in the rankings. To be included in
the overall ranking, we ask that you submit data on SDG 17, which is mandatory, and at least three
other SDGs of your choice.
A university that submits data in fewer than three other SDGs cannot be included in the overall
ranking. However, it can still be ranked in the tables on individual goals. For example, if you have
done great work on climate action, submitting in that category alone would enable you to be ranked
for it.
The ranking will reflect local activities as well as international activities.

What happens if we submit data for more than four SDG areas?
We will evaluate your performance in all areas and then choose the three goals in which you excel;
these will count towards the overall university score.

How many rankings will THE produce?


THE will use provided data to produce:
• An overall ranking of universities based on the top three SDGs for each individual
university, plus SDG 17 (revitalising global partnerships)
• Individual rankings of universities based on performance in each SDG

Are other stakeholders involved in this ranking?


An Advisory Board has been set up to help us develop and improve the rankings, it consists of people
from a range of institutions across the world. During the initial development of the rankings we
consulted widely with universities and individuals to ensure that the rankings are as fair and
balanced as possible. Our bibliometric supplier for this ranking is Elsevier.

What is the rankings methodology?


The THE Impact Rankings is created using the UN Sustainable Development Goals as reference.
Each SDG has a small number of metrics associated with it.
Data will come from a variety of sources, including:
• Direct submissions from institutions
• Bibliometric datasets from Elsevier

The total score will be calculated by counting SDG 17 (revitalising global partnerships) as a
mandatory data field and combining this with data on the best three SDGs per university.
The score for the overall ranking is an average of the last two year’s total scores.
Please email [email protected] for a copy of the document.

How did you come up with the methodology?


THE has been discussing aspects of university impact for several years. This has included a lengthy
consultation with interested parties, culminating in an open session at the THE Young Universities
Summit in Florida in June 2018.
Other crucial aspects informing our decision were feasibility and access to data.

How do you come up with the final scores?


Evidence-based answers are scored as described in the above webinar, with credit given for the
answer, for openness, for recency, and (depending on the question) for factors such as cost.
Quantitative data is evaluated, and we use normal CDF and exponential CDF for scoring to give a
score that can be compared to other universities. This is then weighted to the correct percentage for
that metric.

How should a university interpret the results of the overall ranking if different
universities are supplying data on different areas?
The overall ranking provides a sense of which universities are making positive steps towards the
SDGs most strongly.
Universities can be compared more easily in the individual SDG tables.

Why did we select SDG 17 as mandatory?


SDG 17 can be considered as a meta-SDG. Working together through partnerships and
collaborations in order to achieve the 2030 agenda highlights the cooperation and publishing aspect
of the goals. However, as we have selected this as the mandatory SDG, we have decreased its score
in the overall value. While every other SDG is valued at 26 per cent, SDG 17 only makes up 22 per
cent of the overall score.

Won’t this just favour big, established universities?


We have tried to define the metrics in a way that allows all universities to participate; this has
included focusing on definitions that rely on less complex calculations than is ideal. We have also
tried to ensure that the choice of metrics is not overly biased towards wealth.

As with the World University Rankings, we will normalise for university size where appropriate, and
use other measures to ensure equity between different countries and universities.

We do not expect universities in different parts of the world to have the same areas of focus. By
combining the SDGs and allowing flexibility, we open up the project to universities that have very
different missions and ensure that institutions in Western Europe and North America do not have
an unfair advantage.
Can we participate in SDG 5 (gender equality) if we are a women's only institution?
Yes. The substance of this SDG is about addressing women's representation and access to higher
education. So, if you are a women's institution with no enrolled male students this will not
negatively affect your score for this SDG.

Were there any methodological changes in 2024 compared with 2023?


There are no new changes to the methodology apart from the requested relevant years for data and
evidence. We did revise how we calculate the overall score back in 2023, which you can read more
about here: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/what-will-be-changing-impact-
rankings-2023
We have added a few clarifications on guidance in the methodology, which can be found in the
changes section.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE
What is the time frame for this ranking?
Data collection for the Impact Rankings 2024 will open on the 18th of September 2023 and close on
the 10h of November 2023.
The Impact Rankings 2024 are expected to be published in June 2024, but this is yet to be
confirmed.
What is the first step for an institution looking to participate in the THE Impact
Rankings?
The first step to participate in our rankings is to create a profile for your institution if it does not
already exist. There are no fees or costs to participate.
Participation (and evaluation) will depend on the provision of necessary data.
The institution needs to nominate a data provider and approver (head of institution). For both, the
following details are required:
• First name
• Last name
• Institutional email
• Job title
• Department
• Telephone number
Once a data provider contact has been provided, they will receive an email with instructions on how
to submit relevant information.
For further questions contact [email protected]

HOW TO SUBMIT DATA


What are your data sources?
We invite universities to submit data in a subset of SDGs. For each SDG, there will be some data that
are collected from universities as well as bibliometric data provided by Elsevier.

Which year should data be based on for the 2024 ranking?

This year we request data from the academic year 2022.

A university “year” may be a calendar year or may be seasonal. Some institutions’ academic years
are different from their financial years.
“Year” for the purposes of this ranking is defined as follows:
· The calendar year January to December
· The academic year that ended in 2021-22
· The financial year that ended in 2022
However, note that these are only examples. You may use the most appropriate annual cycle that
best fits your data, but ends in 2022.

For policies, we ask an institution to submit the date the policy was created and the date it was last
reviewed. At least one of these dates must be submitted to establish whether a policy is an active
policy. We expect policies to be regularly reviewed, meaning it should have been created or
reviewed in the last five years.

Which types of evidence do you accept?


We accept links to documents or websites and publicly available timetables, brochures, magazines
and articles.

If provided documents are confidential, universities must explicitly indicate this on their data
submission.

We are not looking for a large volume of evidence; rather, we ask institutions to submit the best
pieces of evidence. We allow up to two evidence items to be uploaded for each question, where
relevant.

We do not expect universities to submit all the evidence in English.

If one piece of evidence is applicable for more than one question you can re-submit the same piece
of evidence.

More credit will be given to publicly available evidence but we do not rate different forms of
evidence differently. For example, we do not consider public websites more or less important than a
public PDF document or brochure.

You cannot upload videos as evidence but you can provide a URL that includes a video on the page.

We look for evidence from the "university as a whole" rather than, for example, a course in a single
department.

If we provide evidence this year that we already provided last year, will we still
receive credit for that evidence?
Where evidence from last year is still valid you can reuse it. For example, we don’t necessarily expect
policies to have changed.

How do we deal with measures that are already regulated by state or federal law?
Laws specify minimum standards and tell institutions what they cannot do. Policies should explain
how particular laws are reflected in practice in the university. So, in most cases, we would expect a
policy alongside the law. Please provide a URL to the relevant law on the government website.
However, there are exceptions. For example, in Spain academic freedom is a constitutional
requirement and therefore we will accept that that means that institutions in the country have a
policy on supporting academic freedom.
If you think there are other exceptions, please contact us at [email protected].
Must universities submit data for all SDGs in order to participate?
Only SDG 17 (global partnerships) is a mandatory SDG for inclusion in the overall ranking.

Otherwise, universities may submit data on as many SDGs as they would like or are able to.

We do not have all the data needed for a specific SDG – what will happen?
If certain data points within an SDG can’t be answered because data is not available, the institution
will receive a score of zero for that specific data point. The institution can still be ranked in that SDG
but will score at a lower level than institutions that are able to provide all data. We would encourage
you to provide data wherever you can, and to look to record data for future years, too.

Do you have a detailed description of the data fields?


We are providing a methodology document, which includes data submission guidance and explains
key aspects of the process, including data field definitions.

If you have any queries, please send your questions to: [email protected]

What do you mean by 'university as a body'?


When we refer to 'university as a body' we mean you should provide evidence whenever your
institution, rather than individuals or faculties, work towards the metric.

The work done by individuals, for instance, a lecturer or researcher working for the university, can
be accepted as evidence if their work is associated with an institutional action. For example, a local
or national programme of environmental education, which is performed by the researcher, but
thoroughly supported or carried out by the university.

Can the keyword search terms be accessed?


All research metrics are measured against a keyword search of the Scopus dataset. The search terms
are available here:https://elsevier.digitalcommonsdata.com/datasets/y2zyy9vwzy/1

Have the keyword search queries been updated?


For the Impact Rankings 2022, Elsevier increased the number of keywords for SDG 3 to include
covid-19 related queries and included additional publications identified by artificial intelligence.

In 2023, Elsevier have created a new SDG query for SDG 17: Partnership for the goals, however, this
is not used in the 2024 Impact Rankings, as we have not made any methodology changes this year.

How do you define 'number of students'?

Number of students means number of full time equivalent students in all years and all programmes
that lead to a degree, certificate, institutional credit or other qualification. We are looking for
undergraduate and postgraduate students who are studying for higher education programmes such
as bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral or other equivalent degrees or components of those programmes.
Please do not include postdoctoral students. We use the International Standard Classification of
Education (ISCED) as a guiding framework.

HOW WILL THE SUBMISSION BE EVALUATED?


How will you validate the data?
Universities will be asked to provide evidence or documentation to support their submissions.
Information will be cross-checked against external sources at our discretion, and we reserve the
right to investigate institutions where we believe inappropriate data collection or submission has
taken place.
We encourage universities to publish their evidence, and in many cases we expect the evidence to
be sourced from existing public sources, for example, annual reports. Public documents do not have
password protections or time limits.
Our team of analysts will compare evidence that is provided to the definitions, and it will be marked
accordingly.

We do not have a ‘policy’, but we do have a set of standards we apply. Will you accept
this?
Ideally, the evidence should be a policy, but anything that shows that a set of standards or rules are
implemented can be accepted.

What is your process for assessing the quality of qualitative evidence?


Where we are looking for evidence of action – for example the existence of mentoring programmes
– our metrics require universities to provide evidence to support their claims. In these cases we will
give credit for the evidence, and for the evidence being public.
We are not in a position to explore whether a policy is the best possible one, but we do aim to assess
the evidence submitted consistently and fairly.
Evidence is evaluated against a set of criteria and decisions are cross-validated where there is
uncertainty. Evidence is not required to be exhaustive – we are looking for examples that
demonstrate best practice at the institutions concerned.

Will participating institutions be able to benchmark their data against peers?


Yes. There will be opportunity for benchmarking, using the SDG Impact Dashboard. It provides
detailed, but easy to understand analysis of performance in the THE Impact Rankings. Strategic
planners particularly will benefit from the user-friendly benchmarking and competitor analysis tools
that can be customised for both global and domestic regions.

Contact [email protected] if you would like to learn more about SDG Impact
Dashboard.

PORTAL ACCESS
How do I get access to the THE data collection portal?
Please send an email to [email protected] to nominate your data provider. The
data collection portal URL is at: https://secure.timeshighereducation.co.uk/wur/portal. The
institution’s data provider representative will be sent the THE data portal URL and their login details
in order to access the portal.

How do I change my password?


To change your password, log in and go to the main navigation of the portal. Click on your name in
the top right-hand side of the screen. You can reset your password from here. If you are
experiencing problems changing your password, contact [email protected]

I have forgotten my password. How do I reset it?


Click on the “forgot password?” link on the login page of the THE Data Collection Portal to reset your
password.
INSTITUTION DETAILS
How can I change my institution details (name/address/email/telephone number)?
If you wish to change your institution details, please contact us at
[email protected]

GENERAL QUERIES
How can I stay informed?
Periodic announcements and results will be sent to the email addresses provided for data
submission. Please contact our team at [email protected] to add members of your
team to our distribution list.

Please also visit our website here: http://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-


rankings/

Is there a cost associated with participation in the rankings?


No. Times Higher Education does not charge for participation.

DATA PRIVACY
Who has access to our data?
Information on how we use your data and who has access to the data can be found in the Terms &
Conditions: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/terms-and-conditions/

Is the website secure?


The THE World University Ranking data collection site is encrypted with an https SSL certificate.

TIMING
We cannot submit by the deadline - what do we do?
The data collection period is planned to start on September 18 and the final deadline for
submissions is November 10. If you believe there will be an issue in meeting this deadline, please
contact us at [email protected]

SAVE/SUBMIT
How do I submit?
In order to submit your data, please go to the last section "Review, Print & Submit". Please take note
of any errors highlighted on this page that may prevent your submission as you will need to correct
these in order to submit. At the bottom of the page, there is a check box to confirm your agreement
with the terms and conditions, then please click "Submit".

Why can't I submit my data?


If you haven't fully completed all the compulsory fields the system will not allow you to submit the
data. We also have some validation checks that will flag an error to you and block your submission if
your data is deemed to be inconsistent. All such errors will be shown to you on the final "Review,
Print & Submit" submission page. Please correct any such errors, then you should be able to submit.

Also, don’t forget to agree to the Terms & Conditions.


Can I print out the data collection questions?
Yes, there is a print and review feature on the final page of the data submission portal, which will
display all the data fields of the SDGs you have selected and entered data for, as well as some
validation check results. For a complete submission template of the data collection questions,
please contact [email protected]

Can I submit data using another method?


Providing us with your institution's data through our online portal is the only way you can be
considered in the THE Impact Rankings.

Can my data still be changed after I pressed submit?


If you have made an error in your data, and the deadline has not yet passed, please contact
[email protected] to request that your data be unsubmitted.

How do we know if we have submitted our data?


When you have submitted your data, the “Submit” button will no longer appear on the portal. This
means you have successfully completed your data submission. You would also no longer be able to
edit it.

Publishing SDG related data via Tableau public website


This would not be accepted as an actual report, so it would not be acceptable as an answer for 12.4
‘Publication of sustainability report’ since a report should also speak to commitments and objectives
and we would expect some commentary alongside it.

However, publishing SDG related data via the tableau public website would count towards 17.3
(clear measurement of progress against SDGs).

Publication of SDG reports – Is a webpage for each SDG acceptable?


This relates to SDG17.3 'Publication of SDG reports': A webpage for each SDG which pulls out key
areas of recent activity relating to that SDG is acceptable as evidence.

MISSING DATA
I do not have sufficient data to complete the data collection portal, can I still submit?
You do not have to submit data for every field, but to be considered for a ranking for a particular
SDG you must submit some data in that section. If you indicate that data is unavailable for a specific
data point, we will not impute data values, and your score for the empty questions will be zero.

To be considered for the overall THE Impact Rankings data must be submitted for SDG17 -
Partnerships for the Goals and three elective SDGs from the non-mandatory list.

It is challenging for us to provide accurate data as our records are not compatible with the
THE data definitions
The THE data definitions are designed to collect information that is relevant and comparable
globally. We appreciate that these definitions may differ from the definitions used in particular
geographical regions. Should you have questions about how to interpret data definitions or report
data, please contact the data collection team at [email protected]
I do not have exact data of some fields - can I estimate?
It is acceptable to provide estimations where exact data is not available - please describe how you
have made the estimation in the Comments box.

May we provide a note explaining limitations or unique characteristics of our submitted


data?
For some data elements it is possible to write a note (this should be done in English) which can
include clarifying data and explanations. However, the primary data we refer to will be that in the
data fields.

Can I submit financial data in multiple currencies?


No, you must submit all financial data in the same currency.

Can I submit data in units other than those specified?


No, please use the units specified. This ensures that we have a consistent way of evaluating the data.

ENTITY LEVEL
My institution is very large with multiple branches all over the country. How should I report
my institution; should each campus be reported individually or should I provide the
information on the main campus?
Many institutions have constituent parts, and we recognise that it is often difficult to view these
elements independently. To help you decide whether to include data relating to such affiliated
institutions, it is worth considering if such elements are included or excluded from your annual and
financial reports, or are a single legal entity or not. Once you decide whether an affiliated
institution’s data should be included or not, please retain consistency with all related data.

Can my institution participate in the ranking separately from our main campus
participating? We would like to report our institution independently in addition to the main
university.
Your institution may decide to report separately from the main campus, however this should be
agreed with the other affiliates of the institution. If the main campus agrees, then the data
submission of the main campus must not include the data of the affiliate reporting separately, to
prevent double-counting.

Should we include income generated from the university hospital?


The income for the University Hospital should only include income used for teaching or research and
should not include operational income of the Hospital. Therefore, funding for clinical trials for
example, can be included, but not income generated from general medical service fees.

YEAR QUERIES
What year data do you collect?
Please see the statement on dates in the introduction to the methodology. Please also note the
guidance by each question in the methodology identifying the relevant year.

We have more recent data available than is requested in the data collection portal. Where
can we enter this data?
Data can only be entered for the years outlined in the data collection portal.
PEOPLE DEFINITIONS
What counts as long-term? Should temporary, short-term teaching staff be counted?
“Academic staff” pertains to permanent staff and those employed on long-term contracts. We
realise that for all data collected, institutions’ interpretations of our requirements will vary to a
degree. The distinction of “permanent staff and those employed on long-term contracts” is there to
deter the reporting of temporary, short-term employees. We are aiming for a number that
represents the overall, stable size of your academic staff. As a guidance, we can indicate that an
academic staff is considered ‘long-term’ if they have been at the university for around 6 months.
However, please note this is guidance only. We are looking here for staff who have ‘long-term
relationship with the university’. What should not be included are all kinds of atypical employment,
very casual staff or visiting professors.

For SDG 8 there is a specific definition of contract length that is collected for other reasons.

Can we include temporary staff in the count for employees?


Here we are applying the same reasoning as seen above for ‘academic staff’. We allow temporary
staff to be included as full-time equivalent (FTE), if they are there for 6 months or more.

Should non-tenure track professors be included in the academic staff?


Yes, non-tenure track professors – such as regular adjunct professors or sessionals – can be included
in the academic staff body. We are looking for a number that represents the overall, stable size of
your academic staff, and if they are a distinctive and stable part of the academic staff body, they
should be included.

Should research staff include those researchers who work on our campuses but are
employed (contracted and paid) by a partner research organization?
Staff included in your data should be part of your organisation's stable staff numbers.

Academic staff “... will NOT include: ... technicians and staff that support the general
infrastructure of the institution or students (of all levels). ...” Does this mean posts such as
Vice-Chancellor, Deputy Vice-Chancellors, Deans, etc. (who have a support function in terms
of student / institutional administration, yet also have an academic function and partake in
teaching and research and are mostly Professors) should be excluded or not?
If they have an academic function and partake in teaching then yes they should count towards
academic staff, but their contribution should be calculated in FTE terms, since only their academic /
teaching role should count towards this, not their time spent in their support function / general
infrastructure role.
For example, if a normal full-time workload is 20 hours; a Dean who works full time, and splits half
her/his time (10 hours) in admin tasks, and half her/his time (10 hours) in teaching/research tasks,
she/he would count as 0.5 FTE academic staff.

Should we include students studying uniquely online?


We have previously suggested that online students can be reported, as long as the staff teaching
these students are also reported, and that the online activities are leading to some kind of
institutional award / they are taking a credit bearing course. They should also be sure to report them
in FTE, so if the students are on flexible “credit hours”, you should report the FTE of one year’s worth
of credit hours. For example, if a year requires 50 credit hours to complete, then a student that
enrols to 25 credit hours in their first year is 0.5 FTE.

How is online teaching treated under Covid-19?


When we evaluate student numbers we are expecting you to provide the numbers associated with
students who would normally be being taught in a mainly ‘in person’ approach – your normal
definitions should apply. If they have been taught remotely during the covid crisis this is acceptable.

Can online resources be counted as educational outreach activities beyond campus?


Yes, if, for example, the evidence shows resources provided by the university for teachers and
students in schools and if there is evidence of use, e.g. targeting etc.

How do we treat placement students?


Please include placement students, if their placement forms part of their credit for their degree.

Regarding exchange students, do we include outgoing and incoming exchange students?


Please include incoming exchange students and exclude outgoing exchange students.

DEGREE LEVEL
We're a Grande Ecole in France – our students pass 2 years of ‘classes préparatoires’ and a
highly competitive entrance exam before entering. They then study to obtain a specialist
diplôme, but often pass a masters in parallel. How should we record our students?
According to the Unesco ISCED guidelines upon which we base our definitions, graduates from
Grande Ecoles attain the equivalent of a bachelors / undergraduate qualification level, so please
input your student data in these fields.

How do we classify the "diplom"?


In the case of European universities, “diplom” awards are classified as programmes that are five or
more years in duration that prepare the student for a first degree/qualification, and can be classified
as either an undergraduate or a master's degree. Institutions should consider carefully, in
consultation with the Unesco ISCED guidelines, which category their diplom falls into and whether it
is in accordance with our definition:
http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/international-standard-classification-of-
education-isced-2011-en.pdf

Our university system includes programmes of five and six years duration, that are not
separated into undergraduate first then masters, but only receive a masters degree at the
end - are they undergraduate or masters students?
It is the level of degree that the student attains that is important here, rather than the duration of
the course. If they would receive an undergraduate (bachelors) degree at the end of their course
they should be included in that category, alternatively if they would receive a masters degree at the
end of their course then please include them in the masters category.
What is meant by “occupational programmes”?
Some institutions refer to the skills of mechanics, electricians, etc, as “vocational” rather than
“occupational”, so the definition can be misleading. Here are some web definitions to consider when
deciding who to include in your reporting:
• Occupation is a field or an area of work, for example; agriculture, business, medicine.
• Vocation is a specific work in an occupation e.g. building construction or electrical works in
technical.

Various types of education can be considered “occupational”. For example, students who aim to
become carpenters or electricians often work as apprentices to get practical training, while others
attend vocational schools to train as nursing assistants or hairdressers. In some regions, vocational
education may be classified as teaching “procedural” or “imperative” knowledge as opposed to
“descriptive” or “declarative” knowledge, as used in education in a usually broader scientific field,
which might focus on theory and abstract conceptual knowledge, characteristic of higher education.

When we say to exclude “occupational professions”, we understand that this might be interpreted
to include medical (and similar) students, which is not our meaning. Data for all professional studies,
eg, medical, law, etc, should be included in your entry.

Where shall we categorise the JD / LLB?


A JD/LLB should be treated as a professional undergraduate degree.

FINANCIAL DATA
What currency should I report financial data in?
The first time you submit data within the portal, it will allow you to enter and therefore specify the
currency used by your institution under the ‘Institutional profile’ tab.

I still need more help – what do I do?


Guidelines and documentation are built into the collection tool pages. Should you have any further
questions, please contact the data collection team by email at [email protected] ,
alternatively contact us via telephone +44 (0) 2039634700 during UK office hours (Monday to Friday:
9am to 5pm).

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