Ethnicity(ETHNIC)

Navigation: Index / Data Dictionary / Student / ETHNIC

Key

Value

Name

Ethnicity

Short Name

ETHNIC

Parent Entity

Student (Student)

Type

Field

Applicable To

England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales

Coverage

All Students at providers in England where (EntryProfile.PERMADDCOUNTRY = XF, XG, XH, XI, XK, XL, GG, JE, IM or where Course.TTCID = 01) except where Engagement.INCOMINGEXCHANGE exists or (SessionStatus.STATUSCHANGEDTO = 02 for the entire reference period) or (Leaver.ENGENDDATE - Engagement.ENGSTARTDATE <= 14 days and RSNENGEND = 03, 05, 11, 12).

All Students at providers in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland where EntryProfile.PERMADDCOUNTRY = XF, XG, XH, XI, XK, XL, GG, JE, IM except where Engagement.INCOMINGEXCHANGE exists or (SessionStatus.STATUSCHANGEDTO = 02 for the entire reference period) or (Leaver.ENGENDDATE - Engagement.ENGSTARTDATE <= 14 days and RSNENGEND = 03, 05, 11, 12).

Must not be returned for students outside the stated coverage.

Description

This field records the ethnicity of the student, on the basis of their own self-assessment.

Notes

Continuing students should be asked this question every year, and the data must be updated throughout a student's Engagement where applicable.

The data is recorded on the basis of the student’s own self-assessment.

899 Other ethnic background: this code should be used when a student declares their ethnicity as something not included in the coding frame.

997 Not known: this code should be used when the student themselves does not know this information. For example, this may be the case for individuals who were adopted.

998 Prefer not to say: this code should be used when the student does not wish to declare this information.

999 Not available: this code should be used when the provider is unable to obtain the data in order to submit it to HESA. Note that this option should not be presented to students explicitly.

The coverages of the valid entries have been aligned with the census in each country and are shown in the table below.

Suggested question for providers in England, Northern Ireland, and Wales: ‘What is your ethnicity or ethnic group?’

Suggested question for providers in Scotland: ‘What is your ethnic group or background?’

For students entering through UCAS this information will be available from UCAS via the *J transaction, however the legacy codes from 2021/22 will be supplied instead and there is no direct mapping to the 2022/23 codes. Providers are expected to survey students against the new coding frames each year. The details of the coding that will be provided by UCAS can be found in the *J specification.

Providers in Northern Ireland and Scotland will not be able to obtain all of the required information from the UCAS *J file and will need to survey students for ethnicity on registration.

Code	Label	E	S	W	NI
100	Asian - Bangladeshi or Bangladeshi British	Y	Y	Y	Y
101	Asian - Chinese or Chinese British	Y	Y	Y	Y
102	Asian - Filipino				Y
103	Asian - Indian or Indian British	Y	Y	Y	Y
104	Asian - Pakistani or Pakistani British	Y	Y	Y	Y
119	Any other Asian background	Y	Y	Y	Y
120	Black - African or African British	Y	Y	Y	Y
121	Black - Caribbean or Caribbean British	Y	Y	Y	Y
139	Any other Black background	Y	Y	Y	Y
140	Mixed or multiple ethnic groups - White or White British and Asian or Asian British	Y	Y	Y	Y
141	Mixed or multiple ethnic groups - White or White British and Black African or Black African British	Y	Y	Y	Y
142	Mixed or multiple ethnic groups - White or White British and Black Caribbean or Black Caribbean British	Y	Y	Y	Y
159	Any other Mixed or Multiple ethnic background	Y	Y	Y	Y
160	White - English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish or British	Y		Y
161	White - English, Welsh, Northern Irish or British		Y
162	White - British, Irish, Northern Irish, English, Scottish or Welsh				Y
163	White - Gypsy or Irish Traveller	Y		Y
164	White - Gypsy or Traveller		Y
165	White - Irish Traveller				Y
166	White - Irish	Y	Y	Y
167	White - Polish		Y		Y
168	White - Roma	Y	Y	Y	Y
169	White - Scottish		Y
170	White - Showman / Showwoman		Y
179	Any other White background	Y	Y	Y	Y
180	Arab	Y	Y	Y	Y
899	Any other ethnic background	Y	Y	Y	Y
997	Not known	Y	Y	Y	Y
998	Prefer not to say	Y	Y	Y	Y
999	Not available	Y	Y	Y	Y

Reason Required

To monitor equal opportunities issues in the higher education sector and support higher education providers (HEPs) in meeting their obligations under the Equality Act 2010.

Field Length

Quality Rules

Quality Rules to follow

Minimum Occurrence

Maximum Occurrence

Primary Key?

False

Valid Values

Code	Coding Frame Label
100	Asian - Bangladeshi or Bangladeshi British
101	Asian - Chinese or Chinese British
102	Asian - Filipino
103	Asian - Indian or Indian British
104	Asian - Pakistani or Pakistani British
119	Any other Asian background
120	Black - African or African British
121	Black - Caribbean or Caribbean British
139	Any other Black background
140	Mixed or multiple ethnic groups - White or White British and Asian or Asian British
141	Mixed or multiple ethnic groups - White or White British and Black African or Black African British
142	Mixed or multiple ethnic groups - White or White British and Black Caribbean or Black Caribbean British
159	Any other Mixed or Multiple ethnic background
160	White - English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish or British
161	White - English, Welsh, Northern Irish or British
162	White - British, Irish, Northern Irish, English, Scottish or Welsh
163	White - Gypsy or Irish Traveller
164	White - Gypsy or Traveller
165	White - Irish Traveller
166	White - Irish
167	White - Polish
168	White - Roma
169	White - Scottish
170	White - Showman / Showwoman
179	Any other White background
180	Arab
899	Any other ethnic background
997	Not known
998	Prefer not to say
999	Not available

Revision History

https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/coding-manual-tools/revision-histories?Collection=22056