Early Statistics on Student Support for Higher Education in England, 2009/10 (Department for Business, Innovation & Skills)
The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) has reported to the UK Statistics Authority a breach of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Published statistics on student support for higher education in England, released by the Student Loans Company on behalf of BIS, were inadvertently withdrawn. This was a result of a mis-communication about the status of a related policy release, which BIS had wanted to ensure was published separately from the release of the statistics to which it related.
The Authority notes that the statistics were unavailable for only a short period, and that statisticians in BIS acted quickly to get the statistics reinstated. The Authority also notes the steps taken by BIS to improve communication and management of the process of releasing data through the Student Loans Company. The Authority encourages all statistical producers to review any such procedures they have in place to ensure they are sufficiently robust to meet the requirements of the Code of Practice.