Age Data Definition

Note: This page is from an older version of the Data Dictionary and may therefore contain information that is now out of date. It is included here for reference only.

1 Age of Learner and Age at Start of Aim.

Purpose

2 Learner’s age, as at 31st August for the relevant academic year, is used to ensure consistency in analysis and over time. Age at the start of each aim is also calculated; this is mainly used for WBL analysis but is calculated for all aims.

Relevant Collections

ILR (FE)
ILR (UfI)
ILR (ACL)
ILR (WBL)
ILR (ESF SR)
ILR (TtG)

Source Data

3 The following variables are used as source data for the calculation of Age of Learner and Age at Start of Aim.

Field Name	Label
L11	Date of Birth
A27	Learning Start Date

Derived Variables and Datasets

4 The definitions produces the following derived variable(s)

Field Name	Label	Datasets
L_AGE	Age of learner as at 31 August	Learner, Aims, Framework and Aims, ESF and HE Standard Files
L_AGEB	Age of learner as at 31 August banded	Learner, Aims, Framework and Aims, ESF and HE Standard Files
A_AGEST	Age of the learner as at the start date of aim	Aims, Framework and Aims Standard Files
A_AGESTB	Age of the learner as at the start date of aim banded	Aims, Framework and Aims Standard Files

Detailed definition

5 The Age of the Learner (L_AGE) is derived by calculating their age as of 31st August of the relevant academic year, using their Date of Birth (L11). So if the data set is 2004/05, then the Age of the Learner (L_AGE) would be as at 31st August 2004. It is calculated in this way to ensure consistency in analysis across the LSC and over time.

6 The Age of Learner at Start of Aim (A_AGEST) is derived by calculating the learner’s age at the Learning Start Date (A27) of the aim, using their Date of Birth (L11). A learner with multiple aims, can have multiple Age of Learner at Start of Aim (A_AGEST), assuming that they start their aims at different times.

7 Where a learner has not got a date of birth the Age of the Learner (L_AGE) and Age of Learner at Start of Aim (A_AGEST) values will be missing.

8 The Age of the Learner Banded (L_AGEB) is derived from Age of Learner (L_AGE) and put into one of the bands shown in the table below.

9 The Age of Learner at Start of Aim Banded (A_AGESTB) is derived from Age of Learner at Start of Aim (A_AGEST) and put into the same bands as Age of the Learner Banded (L_AGEB), shown in the table below.

L_AGE or A_AGEST values	L_AGEB or A_AGESTB value	label
0-15	1	Under 16
16-18	2	16-18
19-20	3	19-20
21-24	4	21-24
25-59	5	25-59
60-120	6	60 and over
Any other value, including missing values	9	Missing age

10 The values in Age of the Learner Banded (L_AGEB) and Age of Learner at Start of Aim Banded (A_AGESTB) are inclusive (i.e., 21-24 includes the values 21, 22, 23 or 24).

Sample Code

11 The following sample code is available

Calculation of learner age at 31 August using SPSS (L_AGE and L_AGEB)
Calculation of learner age at start of aim using SPSS (A_AGEST and A_AGESTB)

Creator	Analysis and MI Team
Date issued	28 September 2006
Date created	8 November 2005
Document ref.	G:\Organisational Data\DCA\A&MI\Documentation\web data dictionary\200607\DataDefinitions\nat-agedatadefinition-report-28sep2006.doc
LSC office	Learning and Skills Council Cheylesmore House Quinton Road Coventry CV1 2WT T 0845 019 4170 F 024 7682 3675 www.lsc.gov.uk/

Last Modified: 29 Sep 06