Statistical processing

Source data

The Student Register is based on annual reports from the Danish educational institutions.

Frequency of data collection

The register is based on information, that is gathered once a year.

Data collection

The majority of data is collected by system to-system reporting. However, there are a few educational institutions that report through web-based questionnaires.

Data validation

In cooperation with system suppliers, Statistics Denmark has established requirements for reporting formats, validation, and error searches. Macro error searches are conducted at the institutions before the data is submitted. These searches involve counting predefined categories at individual institutions and comparing the counts with the figures from the previous year. If there are significant and relatively improbable fluctuations, the educational institution must investigate further. When data is received at Statistics Denmark, it undergoes additional error checks. One of the main types of error checking is related to macro errors, which involves searching for volatility that some institutions have been asked to consider.

Micro-data editing is performed alongside general checks, with a greater focus on discrepancies in the records. This includes checking for disabled education codes for individual students at different institutions and verifying related information, such as whether the starting date is after the departure date. A duplication check is also conducted since there may be inconsistencies in the dates when students change institutions. Statistics Denmark cross-checks the dates to ensure that students are not enrolled in multiple education programs simultaneously. In cases where institutions fail to update all their students, they are requested to submit a new data report.

When data is loaded into The Student Register, error checks are performed at the record level to identify invalid values for all variables. Additionally, checks are conducted to identify inconsistencies between variables, such as age at the time of enrollment in relation to the education level. Time series data on entrance, enrollment, and completion of education levels are also monitored for accuracy.

Data compilation

When data is entered into The Student Register from different sources, there are instances where program overlaps occur. These overlaps are eliminated from The Student Register. In some cases, certain courses are reported in multiple parts due to students changing institutions during their education. These fragmented education components are consolidated into a single course entry in The Student Register.

Based on The Student Register, a specialized version of the register is created, where education components related to the same program are merged into a single record if the time gap between them is less than or equal to 13 months. Therefore, in this particular version of The Student Register, breaks in education courses shorter than 13 months or institutional shifts during the education process cannot be observed.

Adjustment

There are no corrections of data beyond what has already been described under data validation and data processing.