Support Manual:

Data Fields and Guidance

Contents

Data fields Used

Data Fields

The following uses plain English data field names and reference guidance for completing the collection.

First name

The first name or forename of the member of staff known by the organisation. This might not be the staff member’s legal name but the name used within the organisation.

Please ensure spelling and case sensitivity is correct e.g. John Smith not JOHN SMITH. Many names include characters with accents and other diacritics that are not supported by the standard ASCII character set. The general policy is to support all Latin-based characters but not non-Latin characters.

This field should not include maiden names for example Mary Jones - nee Smith / Mary Jones - was Smith

The field does not accept numeric values for example Richard 1st.

Last name

The surname or family name of the member of staff known by the organisation. This might not be the staff member’s legal last name but the name used within the organisation.

Please ensure spelling and case sensitivity is correct e.g. John Smith not JOHN SMITH. Many names include characters with accents and other diacritics that are not supported by the standard ASCII character set. The general policy is to support all Latin-based characters but not non-Latin characters.

This field should not include maiden names for example Mary Jones - nee Smith / Mary Jones - was Smith

The field does not accept numeric values. For example, Johnson3.

Date of Birth

The date of birth of the member of staff

There is an upper and lower limit predefined for a staff member’s date of birth.
Staff members must be at least 16 years old and the upper age limit is 115. The system will provide error messaging when inaccuracies are detected.

Gender

The declared gender of the member of staff.

Options are:

• Male
• Female
• Identifies in another way
• Prefer not to say

Ethnicity

The collection’s ethnicity list uses the latest Office for national statistics (ONS) ethnicity groups and sub group options based on the 2021 census.

The ethnic origin of the staff member.

Ethnic group options are:

White
• English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British or Irish
• Gypsy or Irish Traveller
• Roma
• Any Other White background

• Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups
• White and Black Caribbean
• White and Black African
• White and Asian
• Any Other Mixed or Multiple background

• Asian/Asian British
• Indian
• Pakistani
• Bangladeshi
• Chinese
• Any other Asian background

• Black/African/Caribbean/Black British
• African

Disability

Indicates if the member of staff has reported themselves as having a disability.

Options are:

• Yes
• No
• Prefer not to say

Job Roles

Staff members can have multiple job roles. Record all roles applicable to the staff member. For example. Jenny is a manager but also teaches. Additional data is collected for staff members that have teaching responsibilities.

If the individual only has one role within the organisation, then the answer for the main role should match the answer to Sub Role 1.

Sub Roles

Sub roles need to be selected for a staff member. Up to 5 sub roles can be selected for each staff member across the job roles. When a job role has been selected at least one sub role must be selected for that job role.

Main Role

The sub role where the member of staff spends most of their time. For example. Jenny is a manager but also teaches. Jenny has both a Curriculum Lead Manager sub role and Advanced Practitioner Teacher sub role selected.

Her main role is ‘Curriculum Lead’ because she spends most of her time working in her managerial role.

If an individual’s time is split evenly between sub roles, you should make an informed decision as to which role is the main one.

Senior Leader

Senior Leader is used here as a generic job role term.

Providers may use different job titles e.g. Assistant Head, Assistant Principal, CEO, Director, Executive Head Teacher, Managing Director, Principal/Head Teacher, Senior Manager, Vice-Principal.

Manager

Manager is used here as a generic job role term. Providers may use different job titles such as Curriculum Lead, Faculty Lead, Functional Manager, Head of Department, Programme Lead, Quality Assurance Manager.

Teacher

A teacher is member of staff who has a teaching role even if this is not their main role. Additional data is collected for staff members that have teaching responsibilities.

Teacher is being used as a generic job role term. Providers may use different job titles for teaching roles for example, Advanced Practitioner, Instructor, Lecturer, Practitioner, Teacher, Trainer, Tutor.

Support

Support is being used as a generic job role term. Providers may use different job titles for support roles for example, Assessor, Behaviour Specialist, Bilingual Support Assistant, Careers Advisor, Counsellor, Cover Supervisor, Education Welfare Officer, Higher Level Teaching Assistant, Language Support, Learning Facilitator, Learning Mentor, Learning Support, Learning Support Assistant (SEN), Librarian, Pastoral Support, SEN Coordinator, Sports Coach, Teaching Assistant, Technician, Therapist.

Administration

Those that support the delivery of the FE provision in an administrative capacity such as Administrator, Admissions, Apprenticeships Administrator, Bursar, Business Manager, Clerk, Communication Support, Data Analyst, DSL and Safe Guarding Officer, Employer Engagement, Examinations Administrator, External Grants and Funding, Finance Officer, Human Resources (HR), ICT Network Manager, Information Services (MIS), Legal, Marketing Administrator, Office Manager, Payroll Administrator, Programme Recruitment, Receptionist, Secretary, Technology Support.

Head of FE Provision

The member of staff who is the head of FE provision for the provider.

A head of FE Provision can be in any Senior Leader role. Heads of provision can have teaching responsibilities. Additional data is collected for staff members that have teaching responsibilities.

Teaching Responsibilities

Staff members who have not been previously indicated as having teaching responsibilities, must have their teaching responsibility recorded. Additional data items related to what they teach, what experience they have outside of FE and any teaching status qualifications if any are collected.

If a staff member has been indicated as having teaching responsibilities, then additional data items are collected.

Qualifications or Programmes Taught

Record the qualifications or programmes taught by staff members with teaching responsibilities.

• Academic qualifications: A levels and GCSEs

• Vocational programmes: BTECS, apprenticeships, traineeships, T levels

• Other learning programmes: Functional skills English, Maths and IT, ESOL, SEN or supported learning, Preparation for work and life skills, Community learning and Family

Main Subject Area Taught

If a staff member teaches more than one subject, the main subject area taught should be determined by where the most time is spent. For example, Kate teaches Agriculture and Horticulture programmes and also teaches Digital / ICT skills. Her week is split but works more hours teaching Agriculture and Horticulture which therefore should be recorded as her main subject area taught.

Highest Qualification Taught

Staff can teach across multiple qualification levels for different amounts of time duration during the academic year.

Record the highest qualification taught regardless of time spent teaching the highest difficulty level.

Refer to qualification levels and what they mean on Gov.uk for additional guidance

Staff Members Highest English Qualification

Record the highest English qualification held by staff members that have a teaching role even if it’s not their main role. Please see 'Use of the Not known answer' to understand the implications of providing a 'Not known' answer.

Options are:

• Level 2 (GCSE grade A* - C or equivalent)
• Level 3 (A Level or equivalent)
• Level 4 (Certificate of higher education)
• Level 5 (Foundation degree)
• Level 6 (Undergraduate degree or equivalent)
• Level 7 (Postgraduate degree or equivalent)
• Level 8 (Doctorates, award, certificate diploma in strategic direction)
• Other
• None
• Not known – Employee chose not to disclose
• Not known – Unable to find the answer

Staff Members Highest Maths Qualification

Record the highest maths qualification held by staff members that have a teaching role even its not their main role.

Please see 'Use of the Not known answer' to understand the implications of providing a 'Not known answer'.

Options are:

• Level 2 (GCSE grade A* - C or equivalent)
• Level 3 (A Level or equivalent)
• Level 4 (Certificate of higher education)
• Level 5 (Foundation degree)
• Level 6 (Undergraduate degree or equivalent)
• Level 7 (Postgraduate degree or equivalent)
• Level 8 (Doctorates, award, certificate diploma in strategic direction)
• Other
• None
• Not known – Employee chose not to disclose
• Not known – Unable to find the answer

Staff Members Highest Teaching Qualification

Collected for staff members that have or had a teaching responsibility regardless of teaching being their main role or not.

Record the highest teaching qualification held by the member of staff.

Please see 'Use of the Not known answer' to understand the implications of providing a 'Not known answer'.

Options are:

• Level 2 (GCSE grade A* - C or equivalent)
• Level 3 (A Level or equivalent)
• Level 4 (Certificate of higher education)
• Level 5 (Foundation degree)
• Level 6 (Undergraduate degree or equivalent)
• Level 7 (Postgraduate degree or equivalent)
• Level 8 (Doctorates, award, certificate diploma in strategic direction)
• Other
• None
• Not known – Employee chose not to disclose
• Not known – Unable to find the answer

Staff Member Working Towards a Teaching Qualification

Collected for staff members who have or had a teaching responsibility and who are or were working towards achieving a teaching qualification regardless of teaching being their main role or not.

Record the teaching qualification the staff member is working towards.

Options are:

• Level 3 (Award in Education and Training, Level 3 Award in Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (PTLLS))
• Level 4 (in Education and Training, Level 4 Certificate in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector )
• Level 5 (in Diploma in Education and Training, Level 5 Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector (DTLLS), Level 5 Cert Ed)
• Level 6 (Bachelor’s in Education (BEd), Level 6 Professional certificate in education (PGCE))
• Level 7 (Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) or Masters)
• Other

Teaching Qualification Funding Method

Collected for staff members who have or had a teaching responsibility and who are or were working towards achieving a teaching qualification regardless of teaching being their main role or not.

Options are:

• Yes, we’re paying for all of it
• Yes, we’re paying for some of it
• No

Professional Teaching Status

Collected for staff members who have or had teaching responsibility in the academic year specified regardless of teaching being their main role or not.

Record the professional teaching status of the member of staff.

Please see 'Use of the Not known' answer to understand the implications of providing a 'Not known' answer.

Options are:

• QTS (Qualified Teacher Status)
• QTLS (Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills status)
• Advanced teacher status (Society for Education and Training)
• Chartered teacher status (College of Teaching)
• Other
• None
• Not known – Employee chose not to disclose
• Not known – Unable to find the answer

DfE Programme

Collected for staff members who have or had teaching responsibility in the academic year specified regardless of teaching being their main role or not.

Record all DfE programmes that the staff member has participated in or benefitted from or indicate none or not known.

Please see section Use of the 'Not known' answer to understand the implications of providing a 'Not known' answer

Options are:

• Taking Teaching Further (TTF)
• Mentor Training Programme (either as a mentor or mentee)
• Teach in FE Platform
• Bursaries in FE Teacher Training
• T Level Professional Development
• Strategic Development Fund (SDF)/ Local Skills Improvement Fund (LSIF).
• A targeted retention and/or recruitment financial incentive? For example: An early career, joiner, or retention incentive, targeted salary uplift (consolidated) or a targeted non-consolidated payment
• None
• Not known

Industry Experience Duration

Prior to working in further education, record the length of time the member of staff spent working in industry in a role relevant to the subject they teach.

This field collects historic relevant industry experience duration before working for the provider.

Collected for staff members who have or had a teaching role which can be alongside any other further education role or as a main role.

Example: If a staff member worked in industry for 3 years 11 months or less than 4 years. Record them using the 1 to 3 option. This is because they have worked in industry for less than 4 years.

Please see section Use of the 'Not known' answer to understand the implications of providing a 'Not known' answer.

Options are:

• Less than one year
• 1 to less than 4 years
• 4 to less than 11 years
• 11 to less than 21 years

Current Industry Experience

Collected for staff members that have or had a teaching role which can be alongside any other FE role or as a main role.

This data regarding a member of staff is only required for the period that they are working within FE. For Example, in the circumstance that a provider offers both further education and other levels of education.

If a teacher only started working within FE on the 15th of July 2019, but has worked for the company since the 20th of May 2015, then the former date should be given as the employees start date for employment.

Indicates whether the member of staff currently works in industry alongside their role in further education.

Please see section Use of the 'Not known' answer to understand the implications of providing a 'Not known' answer.

Options are:

• Yes
• No
• Not known – Employee chose not to disclose
• Not known – Unable to find the answer

Annual Salary

Annual Salary is collected for all staff members where they are contractually paid a salary and not an hourly rate.

Note either salary of hourly rate must be supplied for all staff members. Do not record both an annual salary and hourly rate for the same staff member in XML file returns. This will result in file errors.

If a staff member holds more than one contract, then their Annual Salary should just be for the main contract. The main contract should be the one that is for the most hours.

Include any London weighting element where applicable for the staff member. Example: Use the latest gross annual salary (whole number) for the member of staff. For a salary of £27420.48 enter 27420.

Hourly Rate

Hourly Rate should be collected for all staff members who are contractually paid an hourly rate.

Note either salary of hourly rate must be supplied for all staff members. Do not record both an hourly rate and annual salary for the same staff member in XML file returns. This will result in file errors.

Use the latest gross hourly rate of pay for the member of staff. For example, enter 11.36 for an hourly rate of eleven pounds thirty-six pence.

Include any London weighting element where applicable for the staff member.

Pay Rise

Indicates whether, the staff member has received any form of pay rise over the last academic year, outside of organisation wide increases. For example, those linked to inflation. Examples may include where an individual has been promoted, taken on additional responsibility or progressed up an organisation’s agreed pay bands, if appropriate.

Options are:

• Yes
• No

Weekly Contracted Hours

Providers can set their weekly contracted hours for staff members.

Where an individual has more than one contract, only record the number of hours contracted for their main role.

Responses here are capped at 55 hours per week.

FTE

The proportion of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) standard week that a member of staff is contracted to work. 1.0 FTE being what the organisation deems to be ‘full time’
Responses should be between 0.01 and 1.5. For example:
• if a member of staff works full time, their FTE is 1.0.
• If a member of staff works 60% of a full-time working week, their FTE is 0.6.

If a staff member works for part of the year, e.g., they are on a fixed term contract, or their permanent contract ends midway through the year, you should input their weekly FTE for their period of employment.

Though we would expect responses for most staff to be 1.0 or lower, the collection will allow responses up to 1.5. Anything above this will return an error message

Weeks a Year Contracted to Work

• FTE / hours worked per week
• Annual Salary / hourly rate
• Weeks a year contracted to work

For example:
Employee A
• Details on employee A:
• They have one contract.
• They are a permanent member of staff.
• FTE = 1 (i.e., they work a full week).
• Contracted to work 52 weeks per year (this includes any paid holiday).
• The employee receives an annual salary of £36,000.
• You should submit:
• Number of contracts = 1
• FTE = 1.0.
• Weeks a Year Contracted to Work = 52.
• Annual Salary = £36,000.

Employee B
• Details on employee B:
• They have one contract.
• They are a permanent member of staff.
• FTE = 0.5 (i.e., they work half the week).
• Contracted to work 52 weeks per year (this includes any paid holiday).
• The employee receives an annual salary of £18,000.
• You should submit:
• Number of contracts = 1
• FTE = 0.5
• Weeks a Year Contracted to Work = 52.
• Annual Salary = £18,000.
You should not attempt to scale up the part time salary to a full-time equivalent salary.

Employee C
• Details on employee C:
• They have one contract.
• They are a permanent member of staff.
• FTE = 0.5 (i.e., they work half the week).
• Contracted to work term time only (41 weeks in this example – 38 weeks working plus 3 weeks holiday).
• The employee receives an annual salary of £15,000.
• You should submit:
• Number of contracts = 1
• FTE = 0.5
• Weeks a Year Contracted to Work = 41
• Annual Salary = £15,000.
You should not attempt to scale up the part time salary to a full-time equivalent salary.

Employee D
• Details on employee D:
• They are a permanent member of staff.
• They have two contracts.
• Their main contract FTE = 0.8 (i.e., they work 80% of the week).
• Their second contract FTE = 0.2. (i.e., they work 20% of the week).
• The main contract is to work term time only (41 weeks in this example – 38 weeks working plus 3 weeks holiday). The employee receives an annual salary for their main contract of £22,000.
• You should submit:
• Number of contracts = 2 or more.
• FTE = 1.0 (FTE should be the combination of all contracts).
• Weeks a Year Contracted to Work = 41
• Annual Salary = £22,000.
You should not attempt to scale up the part time salary to a full-time equivalent salary.

Employee E
• Details on employee E:
• This employee left the establishment 12 weeks into the academic year.
• When they were employed:
• They had one contract.
• They were a permanent member of staff
• FTE = 0.5 (i.e., worked half the week)
• Contracted to work term time only (41 weeks in this example – 38 weeks working plus 3 weeks holiday).
• The employee received an annual salary of £15,000.
• You should submit:
• Number of contracts = 1
• FTE = 0.5
• Weeks a Year Contracted to Work = 41
• Annual Salary = £15,000.
• Employment end date = 2023/12/01
You should not attempt to scale up the part time salary to a full-time equivalent salary.

You should not attempt to scale the “Weeks a Year Contracted to Work” measure to show that they left part way through the year. We will use the employment end data to calculate this.

Employee F
• Details on employee F:
• They are on a fixed term contract of 6 months (i.e., contracted to work 26 weeks, which may include some
holiday).
• They have one contract.
• FTE = 0.6 (i.e., they work 3 days of the week).
• The employee receives an annual salary of £10,000.
• You should submit: o Number of contracts = 1 o FTE = 0.6.
• Weeks a Year Contracted to Work = 26
• Annual Salary = £10,000.
You should not attempt to scale up the part time salary to a full-time equivalent salary.

Employee G
• Details on employee G:
• This employee left the establishment 12 weeks into the academic year.
• When they were employed:
o They had one contract.
o They were on a fixed term contract of 6 months
(i.e., contracted to work 26 weeks, which may include some holiday).
o FTE = 0.6 (i.e., they worked 3 days of the week).
▪ The employee received an annual salary of £10,000.
• You should submit:
• Number of contracts = 1
• FTE = 0.6.
• Weeks a Year Contracted to Work = 26
• Annual Salary = £10,000
• Employment end date = 2023/12/01
You should not attempt to scale up the part time salary to a full-time equivalent salary

You should not attempt to scale the “Weeks a Year Contracted to Work” measure to show that they left part way through the year. We will use the employment end data to calculate this.

Contract Type

Record the main type of contract that the member holds.

Options are:

• Permanent
• Fixed term
• Variable hours
• Zero hours
• Other

If a staff member holds more than one contract, then the main contract should be the one that is for the most hours.

If a main contract specifies variable or zero hours, then the contract type should be recorded as variable or zero hours and not as permanent or fixed term if applicable.

Number of Contracts

If a staff member holds more than one contract, then the main contract should be the one that is for the most hours.

If a main contract specifies variable or zero hours, then the contract type should be recorded as variable or zero hours and not as permanent or fixed term if applicable.

Indicator to determine whether the member of staff holds a single or multiple contracts with the provider.

Options are:

• One
• More than one

If an individual (employee) has more than one concurrent contract with an organisation, then the salary should be given for the contract that accounts for the major of the employee’s time.

Employment Start Date

The employment start date for the member of staff. If a staff member has had a number of periods of employment with the provider, then the start date should be the start date of the latest period of employment.

For employee transfers, use the original employment start date from the transferring from employer in the case of TUPE transfers and modification orders.

For example, two colleges have merged, record the original contract start date of the staff member from one of the pre-merger colleges (and not the date that the college had merged)

Employment End Date

Only required when a member of staff has left the organisation during the academic year specified.

Record the employment end date for the member of staff.

Staff Member Duration in their Current Role with the Organisation

Record the length of time the member of staff has worked in their current position up to the end of July of the academic year.

Options are:

• Less than one year
• 1 to less than 4 years
• 4 to less than 11 years
• 11 to less than 21 years
• Over 21 years

If a staff member has worked in their current role for 3 years 9 months or less than 4 years. Record them using the 1 to 3 option. This is because they have worked in their current role for less than 4 years.

Staff Member Duration in Further Education

Record the length of time the member of staff has worked in FE by the academic year specified for the collection.

The length of time the member of staff has worked in further education (FE) either continuous or total if the staff member returns after having a break of employment from FE.

If a staff member has worked in FE 3 years 9 months or less than 4 years. Record them using the 1 to 3 years option.

Options are:

• Less than one year
• 1 to 3 years
• 4 to 10 years
• 11 to 20 years
• Over 20 years
• Not known – Employee chose not to disclose
• Not known – Unable to find the answer

Reason for Leaving

The reason for leaving given by a member of staff that has left your organisation during the academic year specified for the collection.

Options are:

• 1 Resignation - job change outside of education
• 2 Resignation - job change within FE sector
• 3 Resignation - job change within education but not FE
• 4 Resignation - career break
• 5 Resignation - other
• 6 End of contract
• 7 Retirement
• 8 Redundancy – voluntary
• 9 Redundancy – compulsory
• 10 Deceased
• 11 Other

Campus Identifier

Most providers do not need to return campus identifier data.

The campus identifier must only be returned where the provider has been notified that they should use this field. If a provider returns the field and it's not been requested to do so, the file will be flagged as containing errors and the correction must be made to remove the data.

The campus identifier field is only available in the desktop application and its template file.

Providers using their own systems for the collection do not need to include the field unless they’ve been notified to do so.

This field records the identifier of a campus within a college group who is no longer a separate legal entity but previously operated as an incorporated college with a UKPRN.

The campus identifier must be linked to a college group with a separate UKPRN.

In all instances refer to the FE Workforce staff record specification for technical guidance