> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.thedatacity.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# University spinouts

> How The Data City identifies university spinout companies using the HESA spin-out register.

Industry Engine identifies university spinout companies using the [HESA spin-out register](https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/business-community/spin-out-register).

A spinout is a company created to commercialise research or technology developed at a university or research institution. Identifying these companies can help you analyse how research moves into the economy and compare spinout activity across sectors and places.

## About the source

HESA publishes the register as open data under the [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). As the licence requires, we credit the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) as the source.

The source includes:

* the spinout's name and, for UK companies, its Companies House registration number;
* the associated higher education provider, its UK Provider Reference Number, and the provider's region and country;
* incorporation and foundation years;
* company status and website;
* whether several higher education providers were involved;
* whether the company is a social enterprise; and
* broad subject areas: Medicine, Health and Life Sciences; Physical Sciences, Engineering and Mathematics; Social Sciences; and Arts and Humanities.

## How we process the register

<Steps>
  <Step title="Download the source">
    We download HESA's published register each month.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Standardise the data">
    We format Companies House numbers as eight characters, convert yes or no fields to boolean values, standardise month values and clean website URLs.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Validate and remove duplicate records">
    We validate the data against an expected schema. We keep one record for each company and higher education provider relationship, so a spinout associated with several providers can retain each relationship.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add the company-level flag">
    We use the register to populate the `Spinout` field on company records in Industry Engine.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Find spinouts in Industry Engine

Use the **Spinouts** option in the **Growth** filters to focus your results on companies identified in the register. See [using filters](/using-industry-engine/features/using-filters#growth) for more information.

The company-level `Spinout` field is also available in company data. You can find its definition in the [data dictionary](/data-dictionary/classified-company#spinout).

<Note>
  The HESA register is the source of our company-level spinout status. The deprecated `Spinout` field attached to investment rounds is always `0` and should not be used to identify spinout companies.
</Note>

## Limitations

* This is a source-based classification, not a prediction. Coverage depends on the records HESA publishes.
* Industry Engine is built around Companies House records. A register entry that cannot be linked to a company record may not appear on the platform.
* A company can be associated with more than one higher education provider. The company-level field shows whether it is a spinout, not the number of provider relationships.
* We process the source monthly. Changes to the register appear after the next pipeline and platform update.