
In the upcoming Winter 2025 Update, we are implementing a change which will see the text references to ‘HESA’ (which stands for the Higher Education Statistics Agency, whom we work with via Jisc to facilitate our tracking data) replaced with ‘Higher Education Track’ in areas across the HEAT database.
These changes will be available on the DEMO database from Tuesday 11th November 2025, and on the LIVE database from Tuesday 9th December 2025.
The following areas on the HEAT database will be impacted by this change:
We are updating our terminology to ensure consistency across all elements of the HEAT Track and help improve member understanding. In line with the naming of the Key Stage 4 Track, the Key Stage 5 Track and the Contextualised HE Entry Track, the term ‘Higher Education Track’ clearly reflects its emphasis on student outcomes in higher education.
In the upcoming Winter 2025 Update, only the above areas will be impacted by this text change. However, in future updates we will also update other areas of the database containing reference to the HESA Track, such as field names within the Higher Education Track Report. We will make future information available in due time regarding these planned changes.
As we work on implementing this change across all areas of the database as well as our website, you will find both the term ‘HESA Track’ and ‘Higher Education Track’ being used.
Following the outline above, if you have any feedback or queries regarding this change, please contact HEAT Support.