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- Summer 2026 Update
Information for HEAT members
This page lists the items due for release as part of the Summer 2026 Technical Update. This update will be released to the DEMO and LIVE databases on the following dates:
- The DEMO (data-demo.heat.ac.uk) release will be deployed on Tuesday 19th of May at 11 AM for membership testing.
- The LIVE (data.heat.ac.uk) release will be deployed on Tuesday 16th of June 2026 at 11 AM
If you have reported a bug to HEAT Support and it has been addressed within this update, you will be notified via your HEAT Support Helpdesk ticket.
Possible LIVE system disruptions during release
We are releasing this update to the LIVE database midweek on the morning of Tuesday 19th May and there may be disruptions to the system for up to 1-2 hours during and after deployment. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Please note: The following list of items are subject to change
Summer 2026 Update Webinar
Watch the Recording
If you missed the latest webinar where we discussed the key changes due for release to the database, you can catch up by following the Summer 2026 Update Webinar link in File Store (members only).
Webinar Questions, Comments and Answers
Thank you to everyone who attended the webinar and for all your questions about the exciting changes due in this release. We have listed the question and answers to these below for reference.
Matched Comparator Group Report Q&A
The tool may help streamline the process of creating a matched group. As you could see in the demonstration of the report, it still requires careful thinking about who is in your participant group, who you want to match with and what variables to match on. All of these factors will depend on your specific evaluation content.
Yes, significance testing would need to be done outside the tool because it would be informed by the groups’ outcomes. We can certainly provide an example of how to test for significance in differences in, e.g., higher education entry rates in our guidance.
We have debated this at length in the HEAT Research Group a number of times. There are always members who agree that this would be a good idea, but equally there are members who do not feel that they could agree to share their student data, anonymous or not. We would need all members to agree to this to implement it.
However, you can draw from any student records that are shared with your organisation, for example from your Uni Connect Partnership. This can increase your pool, if those records are available to you.
Feedback:
Maybe you could put together a proposal explaining how the anonymisation would work and how it is data compliant and ask members to vote on it?
A fuzzy match would be made for instance when you have specified that you are happy to add a tolerance to a variable. Within the Matched Comparator Group Report, these can be applied for ‘Geography’ variables such as IMD, which are expressed in deciles. If you add a tolerance you allow the system to match with some leeway on that variable, for instance, allowing a student from IMD decile 2 to match to decile 1 or decile 3. In other words that is not an exact match, it is more ‘fuzzy’.
Essentially this allows you to make your matching less stringent and increase the number of matched students you will end up with. With this type of QED there is always a trade-off between how closely matched your groups are and how many matches you get.
The matching method is case-control matching, specifically matching without replacement, prioritising exact matches.
Students need to be ‘Complete’, with a Current Record State and Permission to Track = Yes. Any records that do not meet these criteria will be excluded from displayed counts and from the matching process.
Yes, we are exploring additional matching variables and are happy to consider more options. We do however need to consider what is available to us; for example, prior attainment isn’t commonly available. We are looking into potentially making use of Institution Profile data, but it was not in scope in this first iteration.
Higher Education (HE) Track Report Q&A
We will make a new dashboard available upon LIVE release, which is needed for Student HE Track Reports generated after Tuesday 16th June 2026 (LIVE release date). You can keep using your “old” dashboard with any reports generated before the 16th June. The new dashboard is no different to the current dashboard in terms of content, design and layout. The only difference is that it is set up to allow for Student HE Track Reports generated after Tuesday 16th June to be loaded in.
Following our next release of the HE Track 2024/25 data, we will be back to our annual tracking cycle for the HE Track data.
This means that in terms of delay, the HE tracking outcomes are expected to be made available around an academic year after. To use an example, the data entry and cleaning deadline for the 2025/26 HE Entry will be the end of this year (November 2026), and the corresponding HE Track data is anticipated to be returned within the 2026/27 academic year, in 2027. Please see our Data Update for more details regarding the upcoming HE Track release for the 2024/25 cycle.
‘Old’ HE Track dataset must be deleted when new HE Track data (for a new cycle) is made available. Until the 2024/25 HE Track cycle data becomes available, you can use the ‘old’ track dataset until the next release. You have the option of running a new report if you wish to make use of the new fields or field restructure. If you do that, you will also need to download the updated HE Track dashboard, which will be available from Tuesday 16th June 2026.
Student Profiler Report Q&A
The matching process for the Student Profiler looks for institutions as follows: Institution HEAT ID if preceded by a #, Institution HEAT ID and URN if the entry is a number and does not start with #, an exact match on Institution Name, then a fuzzy match on Institution Name and Institution Alternative names. If the Institution Match is unsuccessful, the Student Profiler will look for a match on First Name and Last Name, Date of Birth, and Postcode only.
The Profile Reference is an optional reference that your organisation may have included when uploading participant data, such as a student number or another internal identifier. It isn’t used as part of the matching process itself. It’s simply carried through into the report so that, if needed, you can match the results back to your own records using a reference that is meaningful to your organisation.
The Profile Reference will only appear if your organisation originally supplied a value (such as a student number or internal ID) when uploading the participant data. It’s included in the report purely as a reference to help you link results back to your own records if needed.
Key Items
Introducing the new Matched Comparator Group Report
Why are we making this change?
To support members with the robust evaluation of their interventions by comparing participant outcomes with similar non-participants, a new Matched Comparator Group Report option is being made available to members. This new report allows members to generate a matched comparator group by selecting participants and a pool of comparators from their Student records using a range of criteria and matching them based on user-defined variables and tolerances.
For more information on the background to this new functionality, please refer to the announcement A New Tool to Support Robust Evaluation with Matched Comparator Groups.
Please note: Role permissions will be available once the Comparator Group Report have been checked and signed off on the LIVE database.
Where are we making this change?
This new report will be available in the Reports area of the database (members only) under ‘Evaluation Stage 3: Record and Monitor’ section.
This change will not impact data, import templates, exports, reports, or the API.
Roles and Permissions
The new Report will be available to users with the following default roles: Coordinator/Coordinator Lite, Lead/Lead Lite and User with reports. These roles will automatically have permission to view and generate the new Matched Comparator Group Report.
For organisations using Custom Roles, the following new permissions can be assigned as required:
- Create Matched Comparator Group Report
- View Matched Comparator Group Report
Please note: Role permissions will be available once the Comparator Group Report have been checked and signed off on the LIVE database.
New Version of the Student Profiler
Why are we making this change?
The Student Profiler Report (members only) has been reviewed and improved to update the import template, streamline the report output by merging sheets, updating the data content and making the report easier to understand.
Where are we making this change?
The Student Profiler in the Reports area of the database (members only). These changes affect both the import template used by the Student Profiler Report as well as the report itself.
This change will not impact the API, any data values or database roles.
Members using the Student Profiler will need to download and use the new import template. The input field ‘Student Number’ has been renamed to ‘Profile Reference’. The input fields ‘Institution HEAT ID’ and ‘Institution URN’ have been merged into one field labelled ‘Institution’.
The content of the report output has been streamlined by combining sheets ‘Matched (Your Group) and ‘Matched (Shared)’ into the sheet ‘My Students’. The ‘Matched Student Activities’ sheets have been renamed to ‘HEAT Student Activity’.
Additionally, and based upon member feedback, the data content of the report has been altered, including the removal of the now out-of-date ‘SED ID’ Student field. The activity information includes a total count of activity attendance and a sum of contact hours and this data is represented by Activity Type.
Finally, the arrangement of supplementary information, including individual matching results, is detailed within the ‘My Students’ and ‘HEAT Student Activity’ sheets, making it easier to understand.
Update to the Higher Education Track Report
Why are we making this change?
This change is taking place to improve usability of the Higher Education (HE) Track resources, with improved grouping/field names on the database and streamlined content in the Higher Education (HE) Track Report (members only), where fields that duplicate content or are now legacy/retired fields have been removed, reducing the overall size. This update will align our HE Track language across the database to improve consistency, and add new fields to the HE Track Report, which will support future integration into the HE Track Dashboard and improve reporting functionality.
Where are we making this change?
This update will take place in the database itself (when using Student and Ambassador records and the search functionality), and the HE Track Report output, generated from the Reports area. This language change will also align Role Permission field names with the updated reference to the HE Track.
This change will not impact any imports or exports.
This is a breaking change which affects the API. Following on from minor adjustments within the Winter 2025 Technical Update to the Higher Education Track report, the Summer 2026 Technical Update contains significant changes to the data content the HE Track report contains.
API users should note that this is a breaking change. New endpoints have been created for HE Track data:
- ‘/ambassadors/hetrack’ replaces ‘/ambassadors/hesa’
- ‘/students/hetrack’ replaces ‘/students/hesa’
Members using the HEAT API to access the HE Track data should update their processes to use the new endpoints listed above.
This update does not modify or remove any underlying data. However, this update does include significant changes to the content and structure of the HE Track Report. Report fields have been reviewed, with some fields added, renamed, or deprecated, and duplicated or legacy content removed from the report output.
These changes will also support the future integration of HE Track data into the HE Track Dashboard.
Notable Items
HEAT Delivery Report: Known Participant Counts
Why are we making this change?
This change improves the accuracy of participant reporting within the Delivery Report (members only) by ensuring that known participant counts only include Students who have been marked as having attended an Activity.
Previously, known participants were counted on the system regardless of attendance status.
Where are we making this change?
This change affects the ‘Participants Known’ column on Activity summary tables within the Delivery Report.
This change will not impact any imports, exports or the API.
This update may impact underlying data. Members who use the Delivery Report for reporting purposes should be aware that participant totals may differ from previous report outputs.
Ambassador Application Form Improvements: ‘Privacy Statement Required’ field
Why are we making this change?
We are updating the ‘Privacy Statement Required’ field within the Submission tab of the Ambassador Application Form configuration (members only). The change ensures that consent is always captured when it is required for Ambassador record creation/matching, particularly when Ambassador matching is enabled.
When Ambassador matching is active, imported applications can be used to create Ambassador records. The ‘Permission to Track’ field is mandatory for Ambassador records, so it must have a valid value at the point of import. However, the current behaviour does not always enforce this, which can lead to missing or invalid consent data.
This update ensures that the ‘Permission to Track’ field on the Ambassador Application import template is always required when the Privacy Statement is visible and Ambassador matching is enabled.
Where are we making this change?
This change will be applied to the Ambassador Application Form Submission tab. The ‘Privacy Statement required’ options will be updated as follows:
- There are no changes to the ‘Hidden’ option, however when the form has Ambassador matching enabled, the ‘Privacy Statement Required’ option ‘Hidden’ will not be available
- ‘Visible’ will become ‘Visible – Opt-in consent not required’
- ‘Visible & Required’ will become ‘Visible – Opt-in consent required’
This change will not impact any data values on the database or the API.
Members using Ambassador Application Forms will need to download and use the new import template from the ellipsis menu when using a form. This change also impacts the Ambassador Application Form export template.
Improvements to setting the ‘Privacy Statement Required’ field within the Submission tab now considers whether the application can be linked to an Ambassador record.
Where ‘Attempted Ambassador Matching’ is selected, the option to hide the Privacy Statement has been removed. This change ensures that the ‘Permission to Track’ field is not inadvertently removed as it is required on the Ambassador record. The name of the two remaining options within the ‘Privacy Statement Required’ field have been changed from ‘Visible’ to ‘Visible-Opt-in Consent not required’, and from ‘Visible & Required’ to ‘Visible-Opt-in Consent required’. Additionally, the application form field ‘Lastname’ has been corrected to ‘Last Name’.
Update to the Office for Students (OfS) Monitoring Report
Why are we making this change?
To reflect the emphasis on Strategic Outreach delivery for Uni Connect Partnerships, the Office for Students (OfS) have asked us to make some a change to the Activity Delivery sheet within the OfS Monitoring Report (members only):
- The final column will be renamed from ‘Targeted/Outreach hub activity’ to ‘Targeted/Strategic Outreach’
- This column, which uses the Activity ‘Programme Title’ field, will also have the default value changed from ‘Targeted Outreach’ to ‘Strategic Outreach’. This will mean that if the system cannot find the value of ‘Targeted Outreach’ or ‘Both’ in the Programme Title field of the Activity record, it will add the default value of ‘Strategic Outreach’ in this column of the report.
- Where the value of ‘Both’ is used in the Activity ‘Programme Title’ field alongside a value of ‘Strategic Outreach’, ‘Outreach Hub’ or ‘Targeted Outreach’, the value of ‘Both’ will be used
Where are we making this change?
These changes affect the ‘Targeted/Outreach hub activity’ column (renamed to ‘Targeted/Strategic Outreach’) in the Activity Delivery sheet of the OfS Monitoring Report.
This change will not impact any imports, exports or the API.
This update may impact underlying data. Within the Activity Delivery sheet of the OfS Monitoring Report, the ‘Targeted/Strategic Outreach’ field will assign Activity records to ‘Strategic Outreach’ delivery unless the Activity ‘Programme Title’ field includes the value of ‘Targeted Outreach’ or ‘Both’. Previously, this field was counting Activity records without an OfS defined value to ‘Targeted Outreach’.
Where an Activity ‘Programme Title’ field contains the value of ‘Both’ alongside an entered value of ‘Strategic Outreach’, ‘Outreach Hub’, or ‘Targeted Outreach’, these records will now be counted as ‘Both’.
All partnerships have been notified of this upcoming change and asked to adjust their data accordingly to ensure that the new default does not impact future reporting.
Minor Items
Removal of the Retention filter from Activity search
Why are we making this change?
The Retention option in the Activity ‘Category’ field is no longer in use. This change removes the corresponding filter from the Activity search page to align with the current data model and to avoid confusion.
Where are we making this change?
This change will affect searching within the Activity area of the database (members only), specifically the ‘Category’ filter.
There will be no impact on data, import templates, exports, reports, or the API.
Removal of Event Info functionality from Event Programmes
Why are we making this change?
The Event Info tab is an area of an Event Programme (members only) that is not in use. This change removes the elements of the legacy feature to reduce confusion and avoid maintaining unused functionality.
Where are we making this change?
This update applies to the Event Programme configuration page. The Event Info tab will be removed, along with the ‘Download Import Template’, ‘Import Event Info Data’, and ‘Export All Event Info Data’ options.
There will be no impact on data, import templates, exports, reports, or the API.
Contract Template: Addition of the ‘Export and filter’ link
Why are we making this change?
This change improves efficiency when managing Ambassador Contracts (members only). By adding the ‘Export and filter’ link, users can quickly navigate from a Contract Template to a pre-filtered view of its associated contracts. This removes the need for manual filtering and streamlines access from the Contract Template record.
Where are we making this change?
This update applies to the Ambassadors tab within the Contract Template record.
There will be no impact on data, import templates, exports, reports, or the API.
Update to Activity Summary Total Contact Hours Calculation
Why are we making this change?
This change improves the clarity of how total hours are displayed across Activities and Work Opportunities. Previously, total hours were displayed as decimal values, which could make durations harder to interpret. Total time will now be displayed using hours and minutes for a clearer and more user-friendly format.
Where are we making this change?
This update applies to the following sections:
- The Student record: Activities tab
- Ambassador record: Activities tab
- Ambassador record: Work Opportunities tab
There will be no impact on data, import templates, exports, reports, or the API.
Ambassador Application Form Import Template Field Label Updates
Why are we making this change?
This update improves consistency between the Ambassador Application Form import template and the database onscreen information.
The following field labels have been updated within the import template:
- ‘Gender’ has been updated to ‘Sex’ to align with how the field is displayed on the database
- ‘Lastname’ has been updated to ‘Last Name’ to reflect the expected field formatting
Where are we making this change?
This update applies to the Ambassador Application Form import template.
There will be no impact on data reports, or the API.
This change will affect the import template. Members using Ambassador Application Forms will need to download and use the new import template from the ellipsis menu when using a form.
Role Permissions
New Matched Comparator Group Report
This update introduces new permissions for the Matched Comparator Group Report. For organisations using Custom Roles, the following new permissions can be assigned as required:
- Create Matched Comparator Group Report
- View Matched Comparator Group Report
Please note: Role permissions will be available once the Comparator Group Report have been checked and signed off on the LIVE database.
API
The following breaking change applies to users of the HEAT API:
System Penetration Test and Session Handling
Improved Login Session Security
Why are we making this change?
This change follows recommendations from a recent penetration test and aligns with standard security best practice to restrict user access to a single active session at any one time. Restricting concurrent logins helps reduce the risk of unauthorised account access and improves overall account security.
This update ensures that:
- Users can only maintain one active logged-in session at a time.
- Logging in on a new device or browser will automatically log the user out of any existing active session
Where are we making this change?
Log in / Authentication
The login process will be updated so that:
- Logging into the database on a second device will automatically end the session on the first device
- Different browsers on the same device (for example Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge) are treated as separate devices/sessions
- Multiple tabs or windows within the same browser session will continue to function as a single session and will remain supported
There will be no impact on data, import templates, exports, reports, or the API.
Have a Question?
If you have any queries about the changes included as part of the Summer 2026 Update to the database, please get in touch and we would be happy to help.
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