Upcoming development: Removal of the ‘Archived’ version of the Postcode Profiler Report and associated fields

In the Summer 2024 Update, we improved the presentation of the Postcode Profiler Report. Part of this work included archiving fields that were identified as being based on historical methods of measuring deprivation.

Following this improvement, we would like to notify members about the plan to retire the ‘Archived’ version of the Postcode Profiler Report, and to remove the impacted fields from other areas of the database. This removal, along with the planned Archival of the POLAR3 related fields across the database, will take place in the Summer 2025 Update.

Why are these fields being archived?

The archive of these fields aims to improve the user experience by reducing repetition and streamlining the volume of information derived from postcode data. Additionally, these fields have been identified for removal as they were either based on historical methods of measuring deprivation, and/or an alternative to these fields has already been provided on the database.

For example, if your organisation currently uses the ‘Is the postcode in Quintile 1? – POLAR4’ field (due to be archived), this information is already available elsewhere in the ‘National Quintiles, 1 = most deprived/lowest participation – POLAR4’ field where the Quintile value = 1.

All Quintile fields for key deprivation metrics (POLAR4, TUNDRA, IMD, EST and IDACI) will remain, and Decile fields are also provided where available. This allows combinations of Quintiles or Deciles to be utilised, enabling a flexible approach that is suited to your organisation’s definitions of disadvantage. In line with the previous field updates to the Institution Profiles (previously known as the Planning Datasets) when we undertook the migration to the Institution Record, the ‘POLAR3’ and ‘POLAR4 Average Participation Rate’ fields have been identified for removal alongside the 2011 Ns-Sec values.

Which fields will be impacted?

The following fields will be removed:

• POLAR3 Average Participation Rate
• Is the postcode in Quintile 1? – POLAR3 (20% most deprived/lowest participation – POLAR3)
• Is the postcode in Quintile 1 or 2? (40% most deprived/lowest participation – POLAR3)
• Is the postcode in Quintile 1 or 2? (40% most deprived/lowest participation – IMD)
• Is the postcode in Quintile 1 or 2? (40% most deprived/lowest participation – EST)
• Is the postcode in Quintile 1 or 2? (40% most deprived/lowest participation – IDACI)
• indicators in Quintile 1 or 2 – POLAR3, IMD, EST, IDACI
• POLAR4 Average Participation Rate
• Is the postcode in Quintile 1? – POLAR4 (20% most deprived/lowest participation – POLAR4)
• Is the postcode in Quintile 1 or 2? (40% most deprived/lowest participation – POLAR4)
• Is the postcode in Quintile 1 or 2? (40% most deprived/lowest participation – IMD)
• Is the postcode in Quintile 1 or 2? (40% most deprived/lowest participation – EST)
• Is the postcode in Quintile 1 or 2? (40% most deprived/lowest participation – IDACI)
• indicators in Quintile 1 or 2 – POLAR4, IMD, EST, IDACI
• All NSSEC fields (derived from LSOA11 Code and not those collected from individuals)
• Is the postcode in Quintile 1 or 2? (40% most deprived/lowest participation – NS-SEC 4-7)

For the fields above which refer to the Indices of Deprivation (IMD, EST, IDACI), where there is a corresponding ‘Previous’ version of the same Indices of Deprivation field, these fields will also be removed.

Which areas of the database will be impacted by this change?

The update archives and removes the above fields from the Postcode Profiler Report and the underlying source file. The listed fields have also been removed from the following Reports (members only):

• Delivery Report
• HESA Report
• Infographic Report

Important information on exporting Ambassador, Student and Event Programme Application data

Finally, these fields will be removed from the Geography tab of the Ambassador and Student record (members only), and the Indicators tab of Event Programme Applications. This removal impacts the following Exports where they occur:

• All Ambassador Exports
• All Student Exports
• Event Programme Application Exports

Impact of this change

The deprecation of these fields mean that they will no longer be present onscreen, within exports and reports, and all underlying data files and tables