Data Quality

LJMU has a strong commitment to data quality and recognises the importance of high quality, timely and reliable data and information to support good decision-making at all levels.

Good data quality is based on robust systems and processes and has the following characteristics:

  • Completeness
  • Validity
  • Accuracy
  • Reliability
  • Timeliness

Ensuring good data quality is essential if we are to:

  • be fully accountable for our activities and performance to key stakeholders
  • support effective governance by ensuring staff and students have robust and timely information to make decision making evidence based and informed.
  • use performance information that is accurate, reliable and comparable over time to drive service improvement.
  • meet statutory responsibilities to provide assurance that the data is valid and complete.

It is our policy to ensure student data quality is of the highest standard. To ensure that our data is accurate, valid, and entered a timely fashion. The University is committed to ensuring excellent data quality through:

  • Governance, People and Skills – The responsibility for data quality lies with all staff, and as such the commitment to data quality is communicated from Planning and Information throughout the University as a whole. Staff with particular responsibility for data quality receive appropriate training and support on the use of the Student Information System. Staff roles and responsibilities in respect of each statutory return and the quality of data contained within them, are clearly delineated.
  • Systems and Processes – the University has a number of established systems and processes in place for the collection, recording, analysis and reporting of data. We will monitor the quality and accuracy of data held on the student information system via the web based exception reports and enrolment reports. In addition we will report on the management of the exception reporting process. We will continually assess our data quality processes and where appropriate update and improve our processes in the pursuit of excellence.
  • Data Use and Reporting – ensuring that data, in the form of statutory returns, business intelligence systems other internal management information formats, is accepted as the single source of truth, and therefore its quality is promoted to staff throughout the organisation.
Data Quality Objectives
  • To maintain and develop documentation and procedures to ensure data is checked regularly and robustly
  • To ensure that data is used effectively to manage and improve our programme offerings, student recruitment, enrolment and assessment processes
  • To ensure that data is available in a timely manner to meet external requirements and inform decision making and planning
  • To support a culture of valuing high quality data and ensuring that all members of staff are aware of their contribution to it, and trained appropriately
  • To ensure that all data is
    • accurate
    • valid
    • reliable, reflects consistent processes
    • timely, available when needed
    • complete, in terms of all data being captured
    • securely held and subject to appropriate levels of access