The Scottish Government

ID

Name

Postal address

Postcode

Date of birth / age

Disability

Ethnic group

Gender

Religion/Faith/belief

Sexual orientation

Highest qualification held

Individual learning plan produced

Group membership

Individual attendance

Duration of attendance

Group name / ID

Group purpose

Group geographical focus

Group thematic focus

Group start/end date

Duration

Attendance

Group learning plan

Group membership

Event name / ID

Event type

Event purpose

Event start / end date(s)

Duration

Attendance

A unique reference number assigned to each individual participant.

A unique reference number acts like a membership number and minimises the risk of duplication in any system. It enables you to count the number of unique individuals that have used your service.

In a simple system, this could be automatically assigned. However, you may want to use a unique identifier that enables you to link participants into other systems (for example an SQA number or a Young Scot card number). It is not recommended to use National Insurance numbers for security issues such as preventing identity theft.

The name of the individual participant.

Recording the names of the individual in a management information system can be used to enable users of the system to easily find and update records on participants. It can also be used for various administration tasks such as sending out personalised letters by mail merge.

Recording forename(s) and surnames separately is advisable as it makes it easier for the data to be extracted for administration purposes. For example, you may want to create a mail merge letter starting "Dear Forename" and this would not be possible if name was recorded in a singe field.

If you need to be more formal, you could also record a 'title' field. The most common categories which can be used are: Mr., Miss., Ms., Mrs. and Dr.

The flat/house number and address of the individual participant.

To enable you to send information by post to participants or for other reasons you may need to know where a participant lives (e.g. child protection).

Because the length of postal addresses vary, it is advisable to create 3 fields:

• Address 1
• Address 2
• Address 3

This makes creating mail merges easier.

If you are creating an advanced IT database, software developers can create a system where only the postcode and house number needs to be entered, and the rest of the address is auto-completed.

The postcode of the individual participant.

Postcodes are necessary for sending information by post to participants, but should be stored independently of the address because they can also be used for analysis of where participants live.

Postcodes can be analysed at an aggregate level to tell you the numbers of people accessing the service from a particular area. This can be analysed at different levels: for example, a system could count the number of people recorded living in the 'EH' area (which would state the number living in Edinburgh and the Lothians) or it could count the number living in 'EH7' area (those living in the Leith area) or the number in 'EH7 5' (a specific area of Leith).

This is particularly useful in relation to CLD service provision in being able to identify the number of people from areas classified as deprived in the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation. More information about how to link postcodes to SIMD areas is available at the following link:

http://www.scottishexecutive.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/SIMD/FAQs#lookups

Postcodes are a maximum of 7 letters and numbers (or 8 with a space). It could be helpful to have a drop down menu of postcodes which cover the geographical areas where CLD activity takes place. This may be aligned to specific geographical boundaries for community planning or SIMD areas.

The date of birth or age of participant (use one or the other depending on requirements).

Recording the date of birth or age will help you understand the profile of participants based on their age range. Using either way of recording, you will be able to count the number of participants within particular age ranges.

Date of birth is the most reliable way to store this information - usually in the form of DD/MM/YY or DD/MM/YYYY - as age can be automatically calculated from this in an electronic system. This is advantageous where participants may be involved for several years, as age is automatically calculated.

Ages in number format (e.g. 18) can be recorded, but these will not be updated and may then lead to inaccurate reporting in instances where participants remain involved for several years.

If it is considered to be inappropriate to ask participants for their date of birth or age directly, you could instead ask them to select their age from a list of pre-defined categories relevant to your service or common to your organisation.

For example:

• Under 12
• 13-17
• 18-24
• 25-49
• 50 and over

A record of whether the participant has a disability.

To evaluate participation by those with a disability. Further guidance is available ⁸

The simplest way to record this information is to ask people 'Do you consider yourself to be a disabled person?' and have three possible responses:

• Yes
• No
• Prefer not to say

This will give tell you how many people use your service who consider themselves disabled. If your service has a specific focus on disabled people, you may want to consider using a more detailed categorisation, for example:

• None
• Specific learning difficulty (e.g. dyslexia)
• Blind or partially sighted
• Deaf
• Wheelchair or mobility difficulties.
• Autistic Spectrum Disorder or Asperger Syndrome.
• Mental Health Difficulties.
• Unseen Disability (e.g. diabetes, epilepsy, heart condition)
• Two or more of the above.
• Disability, special need or medical condition not listed above.

If the management information system is used to manage your service on a practical level, you may also want to consider recording if there are any special requirements which will support participation. This may also have resource implications for support and recording this data will allow for planning and accessing appropriate resources.

A record of the ethnic origin of the participant.

To evaluate participation by those from different ethnic groups.

The standard ethnicity categories that are used in the census are as follows:

White

• Scottish
• Irish
• Other British (please state)
• Other white

Asian

• Indian
• Pakistani
• Bangladeshi
• Chinese
• Other (please state)

Black

• African
• Caribbean
• Other (please state)
• Multiple ethnic background (please state)
• Other background (please state)
• I would prefer not to say

It will be useful to gather data based on the fields in the census for comparison

The gender of the individual participant.

To evaluate participation by men and women. This will provide information on whether targeted advertising of opportunities is reaching the desired audience. Women are also still the predominant carers and this data may be useful to explore these issues.

Equalities organisations have differing views on whether information should be gathered on service users who are currently or were previously transgender. Organisations may feel they want to monitor this to ensure they are complying with new equalities law such as the Public Sector Gender Duty. However, there is debate about whether this is necessary. See references ⁹

Gender is simple to record, by asking people whether they are:

• Male
• Female
• Prefer not to say

A description of the participant's current religion, religious denomination or body brought up in.

To evaluate participation by those from different faiths.

The common categories used are as follows:

• None
• Church of Scotland
• Roman Catholic
• Buddhist
• Muslim
• Hindu
• Pagan
• Jewish
• Sikh
• Other Christian (please state)
• Another religion (please state)
• Prefer not to say

It is recognised that these categories do not cover every faith or belief, however, they are the categories used in census data and provide basis for comparison.

A description of the participant's sexuality or sexual identity.

To evaluate participation by those with different sexual orientations. This will assist in understanding who is accessing CLD activities and if they are reaching any identified target groups. Monitoring sexual orientation is still a sensitive issue and although laws are now in place to protect against discrimination there are still mixed views about gathering monitoring information. The TUC have developed a guide outlining some basic principles that should be established first. ¹⁰

The standard categories are:

• Bisexual
• Gay woman / lesbian
• Gay man
• Heterosexual / straight
• Other
• Prefer not to say

A description of the highest level of qualification participants have achieved.

This will enable CLD providers to guide participants to opportunities that will be most relevant to them. It will also allow CLD managers to assess if they are reaching the correct audience for CLD activities.

This could be recorded by SCQF levels 1-12. The SCQF table of main qualifications (below) provides details of the integrated framework. Staff who complete this information must be able to describe the levels to participants as it is unlikely they will be able to describe their learning as a SCQF level. Always include a 'don't know' section. Alternatively, the options could be more descriptive of these levels (see Glasgow City Council example below) and 'translated' to SCQF levels at a central point of collation.

Doctorates

Masters

SVQ 5

Honours Degree

Graduate Diploma/Certificate*

Ordinary Degree

Graduate Diploma Certificate*

Higher National Diploma

Diploma in Higher Education

SVQ 4

Advanced Higher

Higher National Certificate

Certificate in Higher Education

Higher

SVQ 3

Intermediate 2

Credit Standard Grade

SVQ 2

Intermediate 1

General Standard Grade

SVQ 1

Access 3

Foundation Standard Grade

Access 2

Access 1

X

X

Standard Grades/ O Grades

Degree

NQ/ SVQ level 2

Not sure

NQ/ SVQ level 3

Skilled trade

IT certificate such as ECDL

Other (write in)

A record of whether the participant has developed an agreed tailored plan with learning outcomes, it identifies the learning required to achieve these outcomes, a suggested learning route to meet these outcomes and a process for reviewing progress.

To identify the number of participants who have developed a structured route for learning.

There are two main ways to record this:

1. Providing Yes/No options; or
2. Recording the date that participants agreed the plan.

Option one will tell you only the numbers of participants who have ILPs, option two will give you some indication of the length of time the participant has been engaged in achieving the goals of their ILP.

You may also want to create an additional field to enter review dates which will provide information on ongoing progress and review.

A record of any groups that the individual is a member of.

You could use this information to send out targeted mailings to members of specific groups or types of group.

At an aggregate level, you may wish to understand the number and types of groups which participants are involved with. You could analyse whether a small number of people are involved with a large number of groups, or whether there is a larger number of individuals involved in fewer groups, highlighting greater numbers of overall participants

In an electronic system, a menu of all groups could be provided and the user could select the group(s) the participant was a member of. By linking the participant record to the group record in this way, analysis is easier, as the information about the group itself can be automatically associated with the individual, without having to enter the same information for multiple participants.

If group membership is recorded simply as an 'open text' box then it will be difficult to aggregate the data.

The number and type of CLD opportunities accessed by the participant.

To record the types of activities that individual participants access.

When linked to 'event' records, this will show the use of CLD services in terms of:

• The number of participants involved in each opportunity;
• The number of different opportunities accessed by participants; and
• The range of opportunities accessed by individuals by theme.

In an electronic system, a menu of all opportunities ('events') could be provided and the user could select the opportunities the participant had accessed. Likewise, in an 'event' record (see section 4.1.4), a list of all participants could be provided and the user could select all those who participated in the opportunity.

By linking the participant record to the event record in this way, analysis is easier, as the information about the opportunity itself can be automatically associated with the individual, without having to enter the same information for multiple participants.

If attendance is only recorded manually in relation to the numbers of participants accessing each opportunity, then analysis will be more limited, providing a picture only of the number of attendances across the whole service, rather than the more complete picture of the number of individual participants and the profile of their use of CLD services.

A record of the number of hours a participant has accessed CLD opportunities.

To quantify the learning opportunities received. It will also highlight the attendance rates for participation in groups and highlight any trends in drop-offs

The number of hours should be recorded. This could be calculated automatically where 'event' records are linked to the participant records, by adding together the duration of all the opportunities that have been accessed by the individual participant.

A unique reference number assigned to each specific group supported.

To identify each specific group and prevent duplication.

In a simple system, this could be automatically assigned. Or you may want to develop your own simple numbering system (e.g. CB001). This system could allocate different codes for the 3 national CLD priorities, e.g. ' CB' for community capacity building, ' YW' for youth work and ' AL' for adult learning. This will then provide a profile of the balance across the three priorities.

The name of the group.

To easily identify each group.

If CLD provision has an established list of groups, a drop-down list should be produced. Otherwise they can be recorded as 'open text'.

A recording of the purpose of the group.

To understand what the aim of the group is.

If this information is not required at an aggregate level, then an 'open text' response is acceptable. This will allow you to analyse the purpose of each group on its own.

However, if you wish to look at the purpose of all the groups supported across your whole service, you may wish to create some standard categories such as:

• Youth issues
• Family support
• Improving health
• Improving the environment
• Community cohesion
• The arts

Only create categories which will be meaningfully different when you come to do analysis. For example, do not create separate categories for 'youth club' and 'youth drop-in' if the distinction is not clear.

It is always advisable to include an 'other' option with an open text box for people to add details of opportunities which do not fall under any of the fixed categories.

This list should be understandable to the individuals who will complete the tables. It may be helpful to produce some guidance notes that explain where particular activities should be classed.

Type of activity

X

Type of activity

X

Adult Literacy

Guidance

Adult Numeracy

Health

Arts Activities

Issue Based (Specify in Comments)

Art Classes

ICT

Community Based Adult Learning

One off National Event

Community Capacity

Other - type in

Community Organisations

Outreach Work

Community Talks

Partnership Group

Counselling

PSD

Detached Work

Physical Activity and Sport

Drop In

Support to Voluntary Groups

Drugs Work

Youth Arts

Duke of Edinburgh Award

Youth Café

ESOL

Youth Club

Family Work

Youth Consultation

Festival

Youth Council

Fun Days

Youth Forum

Youth Information

This is the geographical area in which the group operates.

To be clear on the geographical areas where groups are operating and where capacity building support is being invested.

Define geographical areas and create a list to choose from. This is likely to be linked to other organisational or local authority categorisations (e.g. local community planning areas; ward level, etc). You may also want to include options such as 'no specific geographical focus' and 'national focus'.

A record of any specific community of interest on which the group focuses.

To understand the range of themes that supported groups are working on.

Define the thematic categories that are relevant to your service, for example:

• Children and families
• Young people
• Older people
• Disabilities / special needs
• Black and minority ethnic groups
• LGBT

Dates on which the activity commences and ends.

To understand the profile of the activities provided in terms of their length.

A start and finish date should be recorded in the format DD/MM/YY or DD/MM/YYYY.

The total duration of the activity in hours.

To understand how many hours of learning have been undertaken by participants.

The total number of hours for the whole activity should be recorded in numerical format.

A record of the number of individuals who participated in the activity

To record the number of participants in each event and overall across the service.

When linked to participant records, this will show the use of CLD services in terms of:

• The number of participants involved in each opportunity;
• The number of different opportunities accessed by participants; and
• The range of opportunities accessed by type.

In an electronic system, a list of all participants could be provided and the user could select all those who participated in the opportunity (or have the opportunity to add a new participant where it is the first time they have been involved with the service).

By linking the participant record to the event record in this way, it is easy to analyse the profile of people using each group, the numbers of individuals participating as well as the number of participants.

If attendance is only recorded manually in relation to the numbers of participants accessing each opportunity, then analysis will be more limited, providing a picture only of the number of attendances across the whole service, rather than the more complete picture of the number of individual participants and the profile of their use of CLD services. Additionally, if there is no common store of participant's details, they may need to fill out a participant record at each event they attend.

A record of whether the group has developed an agreed tailored plan with learning outcomes, learning required to achieve these outcomes, a suggested learning route to meet these outcomes and a process for reviewing progress.

To identify the number of groups who have developed a structured route for learning.

There are two main ways to record this:

1. Providing Yes/No options; or
2. Recording the date that the group agreed the plan.

Option one will tell you only the number of groups who have learning plans, option two will give you some indication of the length of time groups have been engaged in achieving the goals of their plan.

A record of all the individuals that are members of a group.

You could use this information to send out targeted mailings to members of specific groups or types of group.

At an aggregate level, you may wish to understand the number and types of groups that participants are involved with. You could analyse whether a small number of people are involved with a large number of groups, or whether there is a larger number of individuals involved in fewer groups, highlighting greater numbers of overall participants

In an electronic system, a menu of all participants could be provided and the user could select those who were members of the group. By linking the participant record to the group record in this way, analysis is easier, as the information about the group itself can be automatically associated with the individual, without having to enter the same information for multiple participants.

If group membership is recorded simply as an 'open text' box then it will be difficult to aggregate the data. Additionally, it will be difficult to examine the range of other CLD activities the individual is involved in.

A unique reference number assigned to each specific event.

To identify each specific event and avoid duplication.

In a simple system, this could be automatically assigned. Or you may want to develop your own simple numbering system (e.g. CB001). This system could allocate different event codes for the 3 national CLD priorities, e.g. ' CBE' for community capacity building event, ' YWE' for youth work event and ' ALE' for adult learning event. This will then provide a profile of the balance across the three priorities.

The name of the event.

To easily identify each opportunity.

This can be recorded as 'open text'.

A classification of the type of activity or event.

To enable you to understand the number of different types of opportunities provided and the profile of participation. This will help you understand what types of opportunities are the most popular and whether there are any gaps in services.

You need to define your own categories based on the types of services you deliver.

A basic list of categories might include:

• Conference
• Consultation event
• Celebration event
• Learning festival
• Taster session
• Information event

Your service is likely to be able to define categories based on previous experience.

It is always advisable to include an 'other' option with an open text box for people to add details of opportunities which do not fall under any of the fixed categories.

This list should be understandable to the individuals who will complete the tables. It may be helpful to produce some guidance notes that explain where particular activities should be classed.

A recording of the purpose of the event.

To understand what is hoped to be achieved through the activity or event.

If this information is not required at an aggregate level, then an 'open text' response is acceptable. This will allow you to analyse the purpose of each event on its own.

However, if you wish to look at the purpose of activities across your whole service, you may wish to create some standard categories such as:

• Raising awareness of learning opportunities
• Providing issue-based information
• Celebration of learning
• Networking

The date on which the event commences and ends.

To understand the events provided in terms of their length. This information, coupled with attendance levels, may assist in assessments of appropriate duration and timing of events.

A start and finish date should be recorded in the format DD/MM/YY or DD/MM/YYYY. The same date will be recorded if the event operates only on one day.

The total duration of the main event in hours.

To understand how many hours of activity have been on offer to participants. This will assist with future planning, i.e. linking planning time to duration.

The total number of hours for the whole event should be recorded in numerical format. This may be a culmination of hours over a few days if the event operated on more than one day.

A record of which individuals participated in the event.

To record the number of participants in each event and overall across the service.

When linked to participant records, this will show the use of CLD services in terms of:

• The number of participants involved in each opportunity;
• The number of different opportunities accessed by participants; and
• The range of opportunities accessed by type.

Depending on the type of activity on offer, it may not be appropriate to gather individual details. Therefore this category may just gather the overall number of individuals.

In an electronic system, a list of all participants could be provided and the user could select all those who participated in the opportunity (or have the opportunity to add a new participant where it is the first time they have been involved with the service).

By linking the participant record to the event record in this way, it is easy to analyse the profile of people using each event, the numbers of individuals participating as well as the number of participants.

If attendance is only recorded manually in relation to the numbers of participants accessing each opportunity, then analysis will be more limited, providing a picture only of the number of attendances across the whole service, rather than the more complete picture of the number of individual participants and the profile of their use of CLD services. Additionally, if there is no common store of participant's details, they may need to fill out a participant record at each event they attend.

Funding received

Source of funding

Expenditure

Headcount of full-time CLD staff

Headcount of part-time CLD staff

Headcount of sessional CLD staff

Headcount of CLD volunteers

Hours worked

Number of full-time staff with professional CLD qualification

Number of part-time staff with professional CLD qualification

Main area of work focus

This is money allocated to run activities. This may have come from external funder or be an internal allocation.

This information will enable you to plan activities based on the amount of resource available.

At a basic level, you should record all the funding received which enables CLD activity.

You will need to clearly identify the budget allocated for each project or area of activity. For example:

Monday night youth club; Big Lottery Fund;

Woodburn adult literacy classes; Learning Connections.

A record of where funding was received from. This could be internal or external sources.

To enable you to understand which funders have contributed to your work.

The source of funding should be recorded together with the amount of funding received. This should include the name of the funder and the specific funding stream (where relevant).

A record of the money spent on CLD and supporting activity.

To understand how much has been invested, in cash terms, on delivering CLD activity. Actual expenditure should be compared against budgeted expenditure on a regular basis.

The total expenditure in cash terms should be recorded for the whole service.

Additionally, the expenditure for each individual project or area of work should be recorded, which will include a share of attributable management costs.

Funding

X

Adult Literacy and Numeracy Partnership

Communities Scot/Learning Connect

Cultural Pathfinder

Health Promotion

Heritage Lottery Fund

LRP

National Lottery

New Opportunities Fund

Other

Partnership Funding - type in

PKC Revenue Funding

Quality of Life

Scottish Arts Council

Scottish Executive

Scottish Museums Council

Sports Scotland

A record of the number of employees who work the standard total weekly hours recognised by the organisation, e.g. 35 hours, 37.5 hours, etc.

To have a clear picture of the numbers of staff and how they are deployed. This information will also affect decisions on what type of services you will be able to deliver and how you need to manage and support staff.

This will assist organisations to plan CLD activity based on the resource available. It will also allow for comparison between the planned resource level (at the beginning of the planning cycle) and the actual resource deployed (at the end of the planning cycle).

Record the total number of individual full-time staff deployed across the service. If CLD staff have specialist focus relating to the three national priorities it may be useful to categorise the staff under these categories, i.e. youth work, adult learning and community capacity building.

A record of the number of part-time staff deployed on CLD activity.

To understand the level of part-time resource available for CLD activity. This will assist organisations to plan CLD activity based on the resource available. It will also allow for comparison between the planned resource level (at the beginning of the planning cycle) and the actual resource deployed (at the end of the planning cycle).

Record the number of individual part-time staff and also the total hours this provides for the organisation. Adding together the total hours worked by all part-time staff and dividing by the standard weekly working hours in your organisation will give a picture of full-time equivalent ( FTE).

It may also be worthwhile to record the number of hours worked by these staff members. This could either be a box to record the total number of hours or a drop down menu with options that record the numbers of individuals who work certain number of hours in one week, for example:

• 0-3 hours
• 4-8 hours
• 8-12 hours
• 12+

If CLD staff have specialist focus relating to the three national priorities it may be useful to categorise the staff under these categories, i.e. youth work, adult learning and community capacity building.

A record of the number of sessional staff employed to deliver CLD activity.

Sessional staff are usually used on an 'as and when basis' and are not classed as employees. They are employed usually to help out in busy periods or during staff shortages. It should be recorded to understand the percentage of the workforce that support CLD activity on an ad hoc basis. The identification of trends in the need for such a flexible resource will assist services to plan their workforce more effectively.

Record the number of hours worked by sessional staff and the number of individuals deployed on this basis. As they are not technically employees, this should not be counted as FTEs.

If particular aspects of CLD activity, relating to the three national priorities, have greater need for sessional staff it may be useful to categorise the staff under these categories, i.e. youth work, adult learning and community capacity building.

A record of the number of individuals who perform unpaid CLD activity.

Volunteer are a resource to support CLD activity so it will be important to understand the level of resource and how it is deployed.

Volunteers also need support and training and a clear record of numbers of volunteers engaged in the variety of CLD activity will assist in planning of support, i.e. are there enough paid staff available to work with the volunteers?

The total number of volunteers and the hours they volunteer on average per week. This could be an open text box or a drop-down menu, for example:

• 0-3 hours
• 4-8 hours
• 8-12 hours
• 12+

A record of the hours worked by CLD staff.

To understand the profile of staff working in CLD activity to assist workforce planning. For example, is there a greater requirement for staff who can work in the evenings? If so, this may require a more flexible resource, such as part-time staff. Recording hours worked will identify when staff work and if it meets the demand.

A total number of hours worked by CLD staff could be recorded in an open box. It may be useful to have this recorded in relation to the three national CLD priorities.

If you want to understand the number of staff working in certain groupings of hours a drop down menu should be developed to indicate the average hours worked across CLD provision. This could log the numbers of individual staff who work, for example:

• 0-3 hours
• 4-8 hours
• 8-12 hours
• 12-16 hours
• 16-20 hours
• 20-35 hours
• Full-time (35 - if this was the full week for the organisation).

A record of the number of full time employees who have a CeVe endorsed qualification (as outlined above) or a non-Scottish qualification accepted as an alternative.

To understand the proportion of staff with a recognised professional qualification. As well as providing indication of the number of staff with professional CLD qualifications, used in conjunction with overall staffing numbers it will also provide figures on numbers who do not have any professional qualification. This may provide information to consider professional development needs for the overall staff resource.

This will also help you understand the composition of your workforce in terms of qualification level and inform decisions on workforce development and the types of candidates you need to recruit.

Record the total number of individual full-time staff deployed across the service. If CLD staff have specialist focus relating to the three national priorities it may be useful to categorise the staff under these categories, i.e. youth work, adult learning and community capacity building.

A record of the number of part time employees who have a CeVe endorsed qualification (as outlined above).

To understand the proportion of staff with a recognised professional qualification. As well as providing indication of the number of staff with professional CLD qualifications, used in conjunction with overall staffing numbers it will also provide figures on numbers who do not have any professional qualification. This may provide information to consider professional development needs for the overall staff resource.

Record the number of individual part-time staff and also the total hours this provides for the organisation. Adding together the total hours worked by all part-time staff and dividing by the standard weekly working hours in your organisation will give a picture of full-time equivalent ( FTE). It may also be worthwhile to record the number of hours worked by these staff members. This could either be a box to record the total number of hours or a drop down menu with options that record the numbers of individuals who work certain number of hours, for example:

• 0-3 hours
• 4-8 hours
• 8-12 hours
• 12+

If CLD staff have specialist focus relating to the three national priorities it may be useful to categorise the staff under these categories, i.e. youth work, adult learning and community capacity building.

A record of the area that CLD staff are deployed.

To understand the percentage of CLD staff working in each of the three priority areas.

It is sensible to link this field with other records, as discussed above, as this provides a headcount of staffing in the three national priority areas.

However, it may be useful for individual CLD providers to have further break-down based on their own organisation priorities, e.g. in the national priority relating to 'young people' a provider may want to know the level of staffing whose primary purpose is, for example,:

• Detached youth work
• Dialogue Youth
• Information provision
• School-based work