Information for Students and Parents
Higher education activities and the Uni Connect programme Higher education outreach activities are aimed at showing students the higher education opportunities available at college and university, and how completing a higher education course can benefit their job prospects. The activities may also work to support student academic confidence and attainment. The Uni Connect Programme (UCP) – formerly the National Collaborative Outreach Programme (NCOP) – aims to increase the number of students progressing to university and higher education, regardless of their background. The HeppSY team are a collection of practitioners who deliver impartial information advice and guidance related to Higher Education progression. HeppSY and their partners 1 are being funded by the Office for Students (OfS). More information about HeppSY and its partners can be accessed through the links below:
HeppSY – https://www.heppsy.org Higher Education Progression Partnership (HEPP) – https://www.hepp.ac.uk/
Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) – https://www.shu.ac.uk/about-us/schools-and-community-outreach
The University of Sheffield (TUoS) – https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/schools
Why do we need to collect data and evaluate higher education activities?
To make sure the activities we provide are useful and effective for students, we need to gather certain information which we use purely for monitoring, research, and evaluation purposes. Under data protection law we are able to process this data because the activities are a task carried out are in the public interest. It is also important to prove that what we do is working. We must:
- ensure that the activities we offer are appropriate
- identify the most effective activities and best practice
- measure the impact of our activities
Collecting individual information
We ask HeppSY partnerschool/colleges to provide information about all of the students in the school/college at the start of the academic year. We collect this information to identify participants for outreach activities, monitor and evaluate our work in line with other datasets, and to enable us to track individual students over time to find out whether or not they eventually apply to any form of higher education. We may also ask students who have taken part in a HeppSY activity (face to face or digital) or used a HeppSY resource online to fill in a short form or register on an approved platform that allows us to monitor and evaluate what is used and by whom. The types of data we collect are
outlined below:
Full Name Ethnicity Young Carer status
Details of activity
attended/undertaken
Date of Birth Disability Looked after child/Care leaver
status Year Group
Postcode Free school meals status Estranged status (if available) School/College attended
Gender2 Pupil premium If first generation of Higher Education (if available)
Other equal opportunity monitoring information where appropriate
1 Sheffield Hallam University (SHU), The University of Sheffield (TUoS) and the Higher Education Progression Partnership (HEPP)
2 Due to changes on the HEAT database, this information as collected by schools and colleges, and shared with the HeppSY partnership will be recorded on HEAT under the label ‘Sex’.
HEAT
Secure storage of the student data will be done using the Higher Education Access Tracker (HEAT). The HEAT service and database record the students attending outreach activities, with the aim of following their potential progression towards higher education. The data protection and storage processes set in place by HEAT ensure that the data is stored securely and not shared without your permission.
Data sharing and protection Data will be processed and shared in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018, as well as all legislation enacted in the UK in respect of the protection of personal data. As Uni Connect is a collaborative programme, the information gathered will be shared between HeppSY, Sheffield Hallam University, The University of Sheffield and the Higher Education Progression Partnership (Hepp). For specific activity we may also share data gathered with other collaborative and funding partners including South Yorkshire Futures,
Local Authorities, partnerschools and colleges, and the Office for Students.
The data controllers for the HeppSY programme are Sheffield Hallam University and The University of Sheffield, unless otherwise stated in specific agreements. HeppSY and its partners will not release individual information to anyone who is unauthorised.
Data retention
Students engaging in outreach activity whilst under the age of 21 will have their data retained by HeppSY and the Universities on the HEAT database for 15 years after their graduation, or until they reach 30 years of age (whichever comes first). Students engaging in outreach activity whilst over the age of 21 will have their data retained by HeppSY and the Universities on the HEAT database for 15 years after their graduation, or 10 years after first intervention (whichever comes first).
Questionnaires and Evaluation Data Collection
As part of the Uni Connect evaluation, we will ask the students in Year 10-13 or in Level 1-3 to complete a survey in the autumn term. The survey is designed to collect information about each student’s knowledge and attitudes towards university/higher education. Students will be given separate information before completing this survey, and participation is entirely voluntary.
As part of our ongoing research and evaluation activities, we will look to collect data from programme participants where appropriate. This may include but is not restricted to short surveys before and after taking part in HeppSY funded activity, creative tasks and follow-up interviews and focus groups.
Your rights You have a number of rights under data protection law, including the ‘right to object’, request for your data to be removed from our system, or Subject Access Request. If you have a query, complaint or request about the use of your data please contact Evaluation and Data Teamusing the details below.
Evaluation and Data Team
HeppSY
0114 225 4329
heppsydata@shu.ac.uk
Further information can be found in our longer privacy notice held on our website:
https://extra.shu.ac.uk/heppsy/schools/dataandevaluation/