Gateway-specific terms are used throughout this guidance page. Definitions for these are provided below:

Data Custodian

In the context of the Gateway, and in the context of Users and Teams, a Data Custodian is the Team who will be able to answer question on a Dataset(s) (see General and Feasibility Enquiry). This does not mean that all teams who list data on the Gateway are Data Custodians. Data Custodian is a Gateway term that is used to describe “Who should the researcher be contacting about this dataset”. Data Custodians can be part of a Data Custodian Network.

Dataset & Biosamples

The Gateway does not hold patient or raw data, Instead, it lists metadata or descriptions of Datasets & BioSamples. The metadata available includes high-level descriptive fields such as its title, abstract and Data Custodian, as well as details of coverage (e.g. geographical region, population size, date range) and structural metadata (which lists the tables, columns, and data types of the Dataset). The metadata can also include supporting and additional data including imaging fields, tissue fields, and omics fields. Available Datasets & BioSamples are discoverable here.

In order to set up a Data Access Request Module form for your Team, please reach out to the HDR UK Technology Team to ensure relevant permissions and features are enabled. You can do so by raising a Support Request ticket here.

Once the permissions and features are enabled, the following people will see a ‘Data Access Requests’ menu on the Team view, with the following options:

Table 1. Team Permissions & Corresponding Capabilities

Team Permission	Menu Options & Capabilities
Team Admin	Manage Templates – view Data Access Request templates created and used by the TeamApplications – view Data Access Request applications submitted to the Team
Data Access Request Manager	Manage Templates – view, create and manage Data Access Request templates for the TeamApplications – view and manage Data Access Request applications submitted to the Team
Data Access Request Reviewer	Permissions not yet enabled, will be future feature of Data Access Module Review Service

Creating a Template

Those who have Data Access Request Manager permissions within your Team will be able to create and manage Data Access Request templates. Templates form the basis of the Data Access Request application that Gateway users complete.

To get started, head to ‘Data Access Requests’ within your Team Management area. Click on ‘Manage Templates’

Next, you have the option to create a new template or manage existing templates. If you are setting up your form for the first time, click ‘create’.

Next, you will be presented with the section headings of the Five Safes Data Access request form.

Managing questions within the Template

Within each section, there are pre-defined (prepopulated into the ‘Selected Questions’ column on the left-hand side) and optional questions that can be selected for your template.

On the right-hand side, you will see a column labelled ‘Question Bank’ which displays the optional questions you can select for your template. Simply drag and drop the question you want include into the left-hand column labelled ‘Selected Questions’.

To remove a question, simply drag the selected question back to the ‘Question Bank’ column:

Note that each question card provides a:

• Question title (in bold) e.g. Full Name
• Question guidance underneath e.g. Please insert your full name
• The type of question e.g. Text area, radio group, checkbox etc.
• Preview of any nested or follow-on options for the user to select e.g. Yes, No

As mentioned above, some questions are already prepopulated into the ‘Selected Questions’ column and also have a ‘padlock’ symbol on their card. This means the question cannot be removed from your template and the user must submit an answer to this question before being able to submit their application.

You can amend the order of questions within the section by using the dots on the question card to drag and drop.

Editing questions

Clicking the ‘pencil’ edit icon will allow you to change the guidance attached to a particular question, as well as make a question ‘required’ or ‘not required’. Making a question ‘required’ will add a padlock to the question card and the user must submit an answer to the question as part of their application. Making the question ‘not required’ leaves it optional for the user to respond.

Clicking the ‘undo’ symbol to the right of the guidance box will return the default guidance for that particular question. Clicking ‘done’ will save any changes to the particular question.

Finalising a Template

It is possible to ‘preview’ your DAR template to see how the questions will appear to a user completing the form. To do this, click ‘Preview’.

Before moving onto another section of the form, you must make sure to click ‘Save as draft’ at the bottom of the screen. If you do try to move to another section of the form without saving, you will see a prompt as follows:

Once you have completed your form customisation and are ready to make the form live to users, click ‘Make active’ at the bottom of the screen. If you do not want the template to be available to users, you can save it as a draft and return later to make it active.

NOTE: As of April 2025, each Team can only have one active template.

Managing DAR Templates

Data Custodians can create multiple DAR templates but only one template can be made ‘active’ at any time. Previously created and ‘draft’ templates can be found under ‘Manage’ templates.

Here you will be able to view all previously created templates:

Clicking on the pencil icon will allow you to edit the template and clicking ‘duplicate’ will automatically copy the contents of the selected template into a new template.