Religion(RELIGION)

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Key

Value

Name

Religion

Short Name

RELIGION

Parent Entity

Student (Student)

Type

Field

Applicable To

England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales

Coverage

Compulsory for all Students at providers in England and Wales except where (Leaver.ENGENDDATE - Engagement.ENGSTARTDATE <= 14 days and RSNENGEND = 03, 05, 11, 12).

Optional for all Students at providers in Northern Ireland and Scotland except where (Leaver.ENGENDDATE - Engagement.ENGSTARTDATE <= 14 days and RSNENGEND = 03, 05, 11, 12), or (CourseInitiative.COURSEINITID = 027 or StudentInitiative.STUINITID = 027 or 030).

Description

This field records the religious belief 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.

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

99 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.

Suggested question for providers in England and Wales: ‘What is your religion or belief?’

Suggested question for providers in Northern Ireland and Scotland: ‘What religion or religious denomination or body do you belong to?’

The coverages of the valid entries have been aligned with the census in each country and are shown in the following table. Please note that providers in Northern Ireland should display the options to students with 20 'No religion' at the bottom of the list in order to align with the methodology used in the census:

Code	Label	E	S	W	NI
20	No religion	Y	Y	Y	Y
21	Buddhist	Y	Y	Y	Y
22	Christian	Y		Y
23	Christian - Church of Scotland		Y
24	Christian - Roman Catholic		Y		Y
25	Christian - Presbyterian Church in Ireland				Y
26	Christian - Church of Ireland				Y
27	Christian - Methodist Church in Ireland				Y
28	Christian - Other denomination		Y		Y
29	Hindu	Y	Y	Y	Y
30	Jewish	Y	Y	Y	Y
31	Muslim	Y	Y	Y	Y
32	Pagan		Y
33	Sikh	Y	Y	Y	Y
80	Any other religion or belief	Y	Y	Y	Y
98	Prefer not to say	Y	Y	Y	Y
99	Not available	Y	Y	Y	Y

Reason Required

To monitor equal opportunities issues in the higher education sector and support higher education providers 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
20	No religion
21	Buddhist
22	Christian
23	Christian - Church of Scotland
24	Christian - Roman Catholic
25	Christian - Presbyterian Church in Ireland
26	Christian - Church of Ireland
27	Christian - Methodist Church in Ireland
28	Christian - Other denomination
29	Hindu
30	Jewish
31	Muslim
32	Pagan
33	Sikh
80	Any other religion or belief
98	Prefer not to say
99	Not available

Revision History

Coding Manual Version	Element Version	Notes
1.2.0	1.1	Guidance and suggested questions updated in line with the conclusions of the personal characteristics consultation.
1.3.0	1.2	Coverage updated to match legacy Student and Student Alternative return - change to exclude 2 week SLC rule for England. Further changes to reduce requirements.
1.5.0	1.3	Coverage amended to remove Upskilling students at providers in Scotland.
1.5.1	1.4	Coverage updated to match legacy Student and Student Alternative returns - Change to exclude 2 week SLC rule and where RSNENGEND = 03, 05, 11, 12.