What is HEBCI, and why is it carried out?

The Higher Education Business and Community Interaction (HEBCI) Survey is an annual statutory return (from 1 August – 31 July) that all UK higher education institutions submit to HESA.

It collates financial and output data related to Knowledge Exchange activities each academic year, data that Research England uses to inform the allocation of the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF), and the Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF).

The data supplied within the return are required:

• to assist in the production of knowledge exchange activity information
• to assist in the production of management information
• to support policy development
• to provide metrics to drive the allocation of public funds
• to further develop HEPs' infrastructure in this area

Submitting a strong HEBCI return is therefore highly important, as by doing so it helps to guarantee that the University receives a good allocation of the HEIF fund.

Find out more about the coverage of the record.

Completing the survey

HESA distributes spreadsheet templates which are to be completed and returned using the data collection system. The data we enter must comply with various guidelines and definitions as set out by HESA. Once we have established that the data, we are working with meet these requirements we then identify which table, heading and subheading it falls under based on HESA’s categorisations.

There are five tables in HEBCI:

• Table 1: Research related activities
  • 1.1 Collaborative
  • 1.2 Contract
• Table 2: Business and Community Services
  • 2.1 Consultancy
  • 2.2 Facilities and Equipment
  • 2.3 Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
• Table 3: Regeneration and development programmes
• Table 4: Intellectual property (IP)
• Table 5: Social, community and cultural engagement: designated public events
  • 2a Public Lectures
  • 2b Performance arts (music, dance, drama etc.)
  • 2c Exhibitions (galleries, museums etc.)
  • 2d Museum education
  • 2e Other

There is a variety of data across the five tables, as such we need to use numerous sources across the University. The sources can be broken down into the following categories:

• annual Agresso Financial Report (tables 1,2,3,4)
• subsidiary data, eg., BDC (tables 2,3,4)
• departmental data (tables 1, 2, 4, 5)

2023/24 submission

Further information

Responsibility for completing the tables:

• REO - tables 1,2,3,4
• Academic Departments – table 5

For a more in-depth overview of the HEBCI survey return, please visit the HESA website.