EMWPREP News
Team
Team Update
Once again, the annual institutional meetings have come around quickly! During November the EMWPREP team have been busy travelling across the Midlands to meet with partners and set priorities for the year ahead. It was great to catch up with so many of you and lovely to meet some new faces too.
The EMWPREP team are excited for the coming year. With the continual development of the database and the highest number of partners engaging with it yet, the new year is set to be a big one for EMWPREP.
Database
Feedback and Future Development
It is our continual aim to refine and improve the database, however we can’t do this without your help. As a result, we have set up a database ops group, which partners are encouraged to send representation to. If you would like to attend the ops group, then please email Emma Burr – E.L.Burr@lboro.ac.uk
During the next stage of development we are focusing on how to grow the database, especially in relation to reporting. So before the meeting, please would partners give feedback through the feedback document.
Inputting
We regularly clean the data on the database and recently have noticed an increased number of duplicates on the system. We encourage partners to refresh their knowledge on duplicates by downloading the most recent user manual.
Should you find a duplicate on the system, please let us know via the contact section on the database and we can merge the records.
In the new year we will introduce quarterly participant checks, which (alongside the activity checking document) will highlight possible data inputting errors related to participants’ records.
Please note that only Version 7 data collection forms should be in circulation and entered on the system.
Database Access
When new staff or student helpers require access to the system, the Super User should contact Emma Burr (E.L.Burr@lboro.ac.uk) with the following information:
- Name of the individual
- Email address
- Job title
- Level access required
Before correct access levels are set, new users will receive their account details by email and be asked to log onto the system and confirm their change of password.
We aim to process these requests within 48 hours.
Reports
HESA Reports
After a three month delay, the HESA data finally arrived and EMWPREP were able to start their analysis. All partners will now have received their draft individual institutional HESA reports. Soon, EMWPREP will be working with HESA again to prepare for next year’s data requests.
We welcome suggestions about new analysis that could be included in the HESA reports. If you have any ideas, then please email Emma Church – E.Church@lboro.ac.uk
Cohort Lists
The cohort lists is a cyclical process, where each year, EMWPREP liaise with local authorities (LAs) to help identify targeted cohorts of learners.
In order to target the learners, a combination of socio-economic criteria (such as IMD and FSM) and proxies for potential (such as percentage chance of students attaining Level 2 qualifications) are used. These measures help schools identify the most appropriate students for WP interventions.
Unfortunately, changes in data sharing permissions (post-GDPR) has slowed the process of accessing the data. We are currently waiting for LAs to confirm their willingness to share data again this year. Further updates will be shared in due course.
If you would like more information about this process and which LAs are sharing data, then please email Emma Church – E.Church@lboro.ac.uk
Deadlines for NCOP Reporting
| COP 5th December | Bulk upload deadline (for inclusion in the end of year reports) |
| COP 12th December | Bulk uploads added by EMWPREP |
| COP 9th January | EMWPREP partner manual inputting deadline |
| COP 15th January | Draft copies of end of year reports sent to partners |
| COP 18th January | Feedback from EMWPREP partners on draft report/ evaluation |
| COP 22nd January | Final report/ evaluation disseminated |
| COP 25th January | Consortia to send Q8 returns sent to HEFCE |
Deadlines for Interim Reporting
The inputting deadline for 2018/19 interim reports is 5pm on Friday 1st February. Draft reports will be sent to partners by Thursday 28th February 2019.
Recently partners will have received an email asking them to confirm the specific interim reports they require. Please send your request for reports to Camellia Hayes (C.Hayes@lboro.ac.uk) no later than Thursday 11th December.
End of Year Reports
EMWPREP are in the process of finalising the last end of year reports. If you have received your end of year reports and are happy for them to feature on the EMWPREP website, then please email Camellia Hayes – C.Hayes@lboro.ac.uk
This year was the first time we used end of year infographics and we pleased that partners found them highly useful. Going forward, if there are any further additions partners would like to see on the document then please get in touch.
News
Our Links to the News
With an increase in tuition fees the governments’ focus is back on Universities and analysing their value for money. Over the past month, many news outlets have published data about which university courses boosts graduates’ wages the most and how this varies between genders. Amongst all of this, there seems to be common concern – that poor course choices could lead to poor financial outcomes.
BBC: ‘Too many students left with debts for ‘too little payback’
BBC: ‘Biggest winners and losers from degrees’
Guardian: ‘LSE graduates top average earnings table by age 29, data shows’
Independent: ‘Male economics graduates from Bristol receive highest boost to earnings, data reveals’
External Training and Conferences
December
4th December (London)
Establishing an effective mentoring scheme
7th December (Ireland)
Transitions: Lifelong Learning and Higher Education
10th December (London)
Small-scale ‘experimental’ innovation projects: Dissemination event
January
8th January (London)
Improving provision for care leavers: multi-agency working, implementing the local offer and integration into employment, further education and training
9th January (Burnley)
Changing the Story: Pushing down Barriers to Higher Education
23rd January (London)
NEON’s Access Academy Training on Evaluating Outreach Work- Session 1
23rd January (London)
Priorities for student mental health: developing the new University Mental Health Charter, facilitating the school-university transition and improving co-ordination between support providers
30th – 31st January (Birmingham)
HEA conference, STEM Conference 2019: Delivering next generation teaching in STEM
And finally…
Over the Christmas period the EMWPREP office will be closed from 5pm Friday 21st December 2018 until 9.30am Monday 7th January 2019.
For partners working during this period please send any queries to the appropriate EMWPREP contact who will deal with them on their return.
If your query is in relation to the database please use the contact form located in the help section of system as this will automatically be sent to our developer. He will deal with any issues marked urgent in our absence.
If you anticipate the closure causing any issues please let me know as soon as possible so suitable arrangements to provide support can be made.