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Key Information Set

Academic Support contact for initial enquiries - Rob Traynor

Queries regarding KIS data requirements - Gary Smith

The Key Information Set (KIS) is a Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) initiative to revise the public information requirements for universities which summarises publically available data regarding programmes of study.

Universities are required to publish a KIS for each undergraduate programme to be offered from 2013-14, within their on-line prospectus.

The KIS will form an integral part of the national quality assurance system for institutions, which will also be judged on how well and accurately they provide this information in future Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) Institutional Reviews.

KIS Information

The KIS will appear on the prospectus page as a “widget”, a graphic presenting key pieces of information linked to further information on the Unistats website. Prospective students are also able to search and compare both data for different programmes and universities on Unistats (which has provided information on programmes since 2007).

The KIS information consists of:

• Student satisfaction (from the National Student Survey - NSS) – including the quality of course, IT and library resources, feedback on assessed work, academic support, teaching and for the first time, on the student union;
• Graduate employment data (from the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education survey - DLHE) - including breakdown of destinations, salary and number in graduate level employment;
• Proportions of time spent on teaching and learning activities (from the institution) - including scheduled learning and teaching activities, guided independent study and placement/study abroad, split by year of study;
• Breakdown of assessment methods (from the institution) - including written examinations, coursework and practical examinations, split by year of study;
• Professional accreditation (from the institution and link to the Professional, Regulatory and Statutory Body - PRSB websites) – where applicable;
• Financial information (from the institution) – including tuition fees, financial support available and accommodation.

Management of the KIS

The Higher Education Statistical Agency (HESA) is responsible for the KIS and reports to HEFCE. The processes for its delivery are similar to the data returns institutions provide to HESA each summer and UCL has purchased additional functionality for the SITS student records system which should have eased production of the course information required.

The KIS Steering Group (KISSG), which reports to the Quality Management and Enhancement Committee (QMEC), oversees KIS operations at UCL and is responsible for:

• monitoring the development of the KIS by HEFCE;
• the operational steps necessary for UCL to meet the KIS requirements;
• advising QMEC on progress.

The KISSG Chair is Jason Clarke, Director of Academic Support and the secretary is Rob Traynor, Quality Assurance Officer, Academic Support.

A network of KIS Contacts has been established in each department concerned (or other relevant academic unit) in order to act as a point of contact and to liaise with KISSG officers in the preparations of the data and information required.

This webpage will be updated with new information as it is received from HEFCE and HESA.

Key dates

The key dates for the implementation of the KIS are as follows:

KIS Links

Further information is available on the HEFCE website:

HEFCE KIS webpage

Current information for prospective students and others is available on:

Unistats.