OfS May 2026 rebuild instructions: match the dashboard version

Updated Sep 07, 2026

student voicefeedback

The Office for Students’ 12 May 2026 documentation update requires careful version matching. Its documentation page publishes revised definitions for the May size-and-shape dashboard, 2026 rebuild instructions, and minor corrections to technical algorithms and field-name mappings. These documents support several regulatory data products, but the May release is not a new NSS questionnaire or a decision about future TEF assessment rules.

Two documents with different scopes

The revised Description of student outcome and experience measures used in OfS regulation explicitly limits its update to the size and shape of provision dashboard published in May 2026. Its information for other dashboards remains at the October 2025 version. The current landing page retains this distinction.

The 2026 rebuild instructions have a different scope: they apply to the size-and-shape dashboard and other outcome and experience dashboards updated from May 2026. They direct users of dashboards published up to March 2026 to the 2025 instructions. A team should therefore identify its particular data release before deciding which document applies.

The wider measures inform access and participation under condition A1, student outcomes under B3, risk-based monitoring and TEF. That describes their established uses in England; it does not mean every dashboard or regulatory rule changed in May. The definitions document also warns that refinements following a technology change may produce minor data differences. The March field-name changes and May corrections should be distinguished from a wholesale redefinition of the indicators.

What version 2026-1 contains

Table 1 of the rebuild instructions ties 2026-1 to the spring 2026 size-and-shape publication. It lists approved data amendments and provider-status changes up to 23 April 2026, DDB/ILR student records from 2010/11 to 2024/25, NSS surveys from spring 2023 to spring 2025, and Graduate Outcomes coverage for 2017/18 to 2022/23 qualifiers.

The table therefore does not establish a new calculation rule for the NSS 2026 results. Nor does a 2026 version label mean every underlying dataset comes from that year. The instructions are intended for authorised staff who can access the individualised data files supplied through the OfS portal.

The revised description also identifies subcontractual-partnership size-and-shape resources by lead provider and delivery partner. It distinguishes the ordinary taught-or-registered population from the subcontracted-out view used for partnership resources. These populations should not be assumed to match a local survey or complaints dataset without checking.

This article reviews the documents’ scope, introductory explanation, version table and relevant size-and-shape sections. It does not validate every algorithm or reproduce a provider’s indicators from individualised records.

What institutions can do with the update

For a local rebuild, record the dashboard, publication date, source-file version and population before changing code. Check renamed fields against the official mapping, then reconcile outputs with the matching published release. Preserve the earlier version behind reports that have already circulated, so any changed result remains explainable.

For partnership reporting, document which students are registered, taught or subcontracted through each arrangement. A local feedback collection may cover a different period, respondent group or delivery route. These differences are a reason to qualify a comparison, rather than force two datasets to align.

For committees, separate the quantitative result from possible explanations. Benchmarking and triangulation can help structure that review. Comments, representative discussions and local surveys may suggest issues to investigate, but they do not establish the cause of a score movement.

How comment analysis fits

An NSS open-text analysis method can make themes and source evidence easier to review. It cannot recreate the official benchmark or make incompatible survey questions and cohorts comparable. Student Voice Analytics can support consistent comment classification; institutions still need quality checks, justified comparisons and documented decisions about follow-up.

FAQ

Q: Does the May update change NSS 2026 or introduce new TEF rules?

A: No such change is established by these documents. The definitions update is limited to the May size-and-shape release, while the rebuild instructions apply according to dashboard version. The 2026-1 table includes NSS 2023–25 data.

Q: Which instructions should a local rebuild use?

A: Match the dashboard and release date first. The 2026 instructions cover dashboards updated from May 2026; for dashboards published up to March 2026 they direct users to the 2025 version. The definitions document has its own narrower May scope.

Q: Can comments explain differences in rebuilt measures?

A: They can suggest concerns and explanations to investigate, if the populations and periods are appropriate. They do not replace the official calculation or establish a causal explanation on their own.

References

[Office for Students]: "Documents describing our measures and definitions" First published: 2020-05-07; last updated: 2026-05-12.

[Office for Students]: "Description of student outcome and experience measures used in OfS regulation" Published: 2026-05-12.

[Office for Students]: "Rebuilding student outcome and experience measures used in OfS regulation: 2026 rebuild instructions" Published: 2026-05-12.