Data audit and reconciliation

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Data audit and reconciliation

• Nolan Smith
• and
• Ewa Wawrzynska

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HEFCEs data assurance strategy

• Assurance from institutions
• HEFCE Management assurance
• Audit/Reconciliation assurance

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Assurance from institutions

• Designated officer sign-off (HESES/RAS)
• Annual assurance return
• Audit Committee opinion
• All linked to the HEFCE Financial Memorandum

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Audit reconciliation assurance

• HESES/HEIFES data verification
• HESES/HEIFES data audit
• Reconciliation exercise and HEFCE web facility

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HESES09 data audits

• Why are we accelerating our audit activity next
  year?
• What will we be looking at?
• What can you be doing now?

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Data verification

• HESES/HEIFES is used to inform funding for the
  current academic year and for future years
• It is essential that the data are as accurate as
  possible
• Data verification process is designed to support
  institutions in returning accurate data
  (credibility checks before sign off)
• This is an important part of our approach to
  ensuring our funding is accurate
• Carried out for all institutions every year

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Timeline
Dec08
Sep09
Oct09
Dec09
Feb10
Mar10
May10
broadly the same for HEIFES
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HESES data audit

• Mixture of procedural and risk-based approach
• HESES audit programme available online
  www.hefce.ac.uk/finance/assurance/data/
• Also HEIFES audits

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HESES data audit - procedures

• Pre-visit phase
• Three-day visit detailed sampling
• Report within a month of the visit if fieldwork
  finished
• Follow-up work if necessary
• Funding implications, if applicable
• Appeals

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HESES audit - data

• Pre-visit phase
• rebuild of Column 1a figures to compare with
  the HESA return
• list of cohorts from which we select the
  sample
• review of all FT UG HEFCE-funded students
  reported in HESA 2008-09
• How we select the sample
• represent the modes and levels where the majority
  of student activity is reported on HESES
• the numbers of students in the sample are
  approximately in the ratio reflecting the ratio
  reported in HESES
• about 250 students for each 2008-09 and 2009-10
• a mix of cohorts from different
  departments/faculties
• a mix of cohorts in years 1, 2, 3 and 4
• where possible, select the same cohorts for the
  review of activity in both years

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HESES audit systems and processes

• Three-day visit systems and processes
• Establishment of systems for managing students
  (e.g. enrolments, programme registration, module
  choices, withdrawals etc.)
• Source of data
• Responsibility for return
• How HESES is compiled

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HESES audit - data

• Three-day visit detailed sampling
• existence tests, mode of study, non-completions,
  franchise arrangements, PT load, application of
  HESES rules for inclusion
• detailed review of student activity for two
  years 2008-09 and 2009-10 number of modules
  studied, marks (i.e. attendance of the first
  presentation of the final assessment), FUNDCOMP
  value
• module price group assignment
• Column 2 figures (HESES08 re-creation and late
  enrolments in 2009-10)
• access to student record system

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HESES audit - reporting

• Feedback meeting during the visit
• Audit report with modelling of findings
  indicative funding adjustments
• Follow-up work review of a larger sample, if
  necessary
• Funding implications, if applicable
• Appeals

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What are the derived statistics?

• Monitor funding allocations
• HESES/HEIFES re-creation
• HESES re-creation based on cost sector centre
  norms
• Inform Widening Participation (WP) and Teaching
  Enhancement and Student Success (TESS)
  allocations
• Co-Funded Employer Engagement (CFEE) re-creation
• Inform flexible study measure weighting
• RAS re-creation research funding monitoring
• Audit tests

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HEFCE web facility

• Optional but recommended
• Data quality
• Reduced likelihood of being selected for the
  reconciliation exercise, i.e. reduced likelihood
  of funding adjustments
• Early identification of discrepancies
• Verification of the derived fields
• Informed estimates for future

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HESA-HESES exercise

• HESA-HESES comparison every year HESA data is
  used to monitor funding
• HESES re-created for all HEIs
• All HEIs are tested against the selection
  criteria select institutions to explain
  differences between HESES and HESES re-creation
• Annual desk-based audit
• HESES re-creation supersedes HESES for funding
  purposes
• Similar exercise is conducted for FE Colleges
  using ILR data

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HESA-HESES response criteria

• HESA-HESES07
• 450,000 difference in contract range holdback
• 450,000 net difference in funding conditional
  upon delivery of growth
• 100,000 difference in medical and dental
  contract FTE
• 450,000 net difference in WP funding
• 450,000 net difference in LLN funding
• HESA-HESES08
• ?

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HESA-HESES no response required

• does not mean that HESA and HESES data are
  consistent
• discrepancies may impact WP and TESS funding
  allocations
• does not exempt HEI from subsequent data
  audit/retrospective funding adjustments

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HESA-HESES response required

• Submit Action and Implementation Plan
• Action Plan to remove discrepancies between
  HESA-HESES and should address all of the
  following (where relevant)
• Errors in HESES
• Errors in HESA
• Problems of fit with the HEFCE algorithms
• Implementation Plan to ensure that similar errors
  do not recur in the future

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Errors in HESES

• HESES re-creation will only be signed off once
  we are satisfied that it reasonably represents
  the outturn position for the year
• HESES re-creation will supersede HESES
• Retrospective adjustment to funding

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Errors in HESA

• Corrections to HESA data
• Administrative fee charged by HESA (20 per cent
  of annual subscription)
• Revised HESA compared to HESES to ensure
  discrepancies are fully explained
• Retrospective adjustment to funding

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Reconciliation exercise v data audit

• Reconciliation exercise
• Every year for all institutions
• Looking at all students
• Looking at general processes that generate data
• BUT
• Can only detect inconsistencies between the two
  data sources (unhelpful if both are incorrect)

• Data audit
• More focused on systems and processes
• Looking at data at source
• How data is returned to HESA (key fields used for
  funding purposes)

• BUT
• Limited sample size
• Only every few years

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Data audit reconciliation assurance summary

• HESES/HEIFES data verification
• HESES/HEIFES data audit
• Reconciliation exercise

Compliance with the HEFCE funding rules and HESA
reporting requirements essential to avoid extra
work and possible grant adjustments!
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Contact Nolan Smith, n.smith_at_hefce.ac.uk, 0117
931 7376Ewa Wawrzynska, e.wawrzynska_at_hefce.ac.uk,
0117 931 7353

• Further reading
• HEFCE 2009/22 on reconciliation
• 2008-09 statistics derived from HESA data guide
  to HEFCE web facility
• HEFCE 20/2009 circular on data audit in 2010
• www.hefce.ac.uk/finance/assurance/data under
  Audit programme

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Thank you for your attention!