Hesa postpones ‘once-in-a-generation’ data overhaul

The Higher Education Statistics Agency has delayed its Data Futures project, which it says will modernise its data collection.

The programme, which seeks to rationalise how student data are collected, was scheduled to be launched in 2019-20. However, on 12 March the agency confirmed the programme would not be going live during that academic year. Hesa said “technical challenges” meant the programme might not be able to deliver the required data quality in the time available.

“This is clearly a significant development, with practical implications for all parties. We are aware that it may cause difficulties for some providers in particular,” Hesa said in a statement. On 11 February, Hesa released a blog post saying the project was still set to go ahead.