Student registration
In this section:
- What is Student Registration?
- Who needs to complete Student Registration?
- When do I need to complete Student Registration?
- How do I complete Student Registration?
- How will my data be handled?
- Updates to Information collected from Michaelmas 2022
- Having problems?
What is Student Registration?
The Student Registration Exercise is designed to be a simple process only taking a few minutes to complete. At the end there is the opportunity to collect your UIS or Raven account if you are a new student.
By completing Student Registration it ensures the information held on your student record is correct: It is not a way of registering for or applying for a course of study.
The data collected during the registration process forms the requirements of data submission to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) – the designated data body for Higher Education. HESA uses this information in its own right, for example, to publish aggregated statistics about students in Higher Education.
Who needs to complete Student Registration?
All students enrolled on an award-bearing course are required to complete Student Registration on an annual basis. Student Registration must be completed even if you have studied with us before.
When do I need to complete Student Registration?
No action needs to be taken until you receive an email inviting you to complete Student Registration, usually a few weeks before term begins. The invitation email will provide details of the closing date for registration. Note, you will not be able to complete registration after that date.
How do I complete Student Registration?
This depends on whether you are a new student or a continuing student. A new student is a student beginning the first year of their course. A continuing student is a student beginning the second or subsequent year of their course.
Click here for instruction for new students
Click here for instructions for continuing students
How will my data be handled?
All data collected and/or verified during the registration process with be used in accordance with the University of Cambridge’s data protection on how we use your personal data and data protection policy.
Updates on information collected from Michaelmas 2022
The data collected during the registration process forms the requirements of data submission to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) – the designated data body for Higher Education. HESA uses this information in its own right, for example to publish aggregated statistics about students in Higher Education.
As of Michaelmas Term 2022 the screens for Student Registration were updated to include a question regarding ‘Legal Sex’ as this is a compulsory field in the Student record data return to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) from the 2022-2023 academic year. Legal Sex is your sex as recorded on your legal documents such as birth certificate, gender recognition certificate, or passport. If you have two legal documents that record a different sex then you should use the most recent document. Information regarding changes to the Student Record data return, including that relating to Sex ID, for the 2022-23 academic year can be found at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/innovation/records/reviews/data-futures-2022-23
HESA is a designated data body (DDB) for the Office for Students - the regulator and competition authority for the Higher Education sector in England – and under sections 64(1) and 65(1) of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017, English Higher Education providers must provide the DDB with such information as the DDB specifies. As such, we are now legally obliged to attempt to collect this data from all students, but we have provided students with the opportunity to refuse this information if they do not feel comfortable supplying it. The purpose of the data collection is simply for the HESA return to enable them and the Office for Students to conduct equalities-based research into access to and participation in Higher Education.
Having problems?
If you have any questions about completing the Annual Student Registration exercise, then please read our Frequently Asked Questions, further information can also be found on our help centre: student-registry-help.admin.cam.ac.uk
For any problems not covered by the frequently asked questions, please use the Contact Form to get in touch.