1. Graduate Outcomes
Overview
November 2017

2. What is the Graduate Outcomes survey?
The Graduate Outcomes survey will:
Capture rich, robust, and innovative data, using a future-proof and efficient methodology.
Survey graduates about their activities 15 months post-graduation.
Provide information about the graduate labour market, and the pathways that graduates take after study.
The Graduate Outcomes survey is designed to capture rich, robust and innovative data, using a future-proof and efficient methodology.
Graduates will be surveyed about their activities post-graduation, in order to provide more information about the graduate labour market, and the pathways that graduates take after study. Data on what graduates do provides a crucial source of evidence used for:
Promoting student choice
Informing media commentary
Underpinning policy making.
The following video provides further information about the Graduate Outcomes survey:

3. Data collected and key data outputs
The Graduate Outcomes dataset will consist of responses to the survey, supplemented with linked further study data from the Student record and earnings data from the Longitudinal Education Outcomes data (LEO data), as well as the coded information about occupation and industry.
These will form the following outputs. Providers will also get access to data whilst the survey is running through dashboards.

4. Graduate Outcomes specification
The history of graduate destinations data
NewDLHE model
Graduate Outcomes specification
2018 onwards
HESA has been collecting information about graduate destinations for over 20 years. This has previously been done through the Destination of leavers from higher education survey, more commonly known as the DLHE survey. However, HESA has recently fundamentally reviewed the data collected on graduates through extensive consultation with the sector. This review designed a new model to capture rich, robust, and innovative data about graduates, using future-proof and efficient methodology. In our final consultation, the sector gave a clear mandate to progress with this model and this led to the development of the Graduate outcomes survey.
Review & consultation

5. Key principles of the survey
Annual survey
15 months after graduations
Run by a central survey contractor
The data will be collected through an annual survey of all graduates from higher education, which runs 15 months after graduation. The move to the 15 months survey point was chosen to better reflect changes in the graduate labour market and allow graduates time to move into their careers or further study whilst still maintaining high response rates.
The survey will be run by a central survey contractor through a process of open centralisation which allows providers to retain a significant stake in the process.
The set up and operation of this survey will be overseen by a steering group with representatives from across the sector. More information
The survey has been designed to use linked data where sources are available to avoid asking graduates questions where we can source this information elsewhere. This will lessen the chances of survey fatigue. One example of this is data on graduate salaries which will be supplied by linked HMRC data.
Providers can view the full model for collecting graduate outcomes data which we consulted on in Spring 2017 here:
Overseen by a steering group
Utilising linked data

6. Survey questions
Graduates will be asked questions about their activities on a census week.
For example, whether they’ve gone into:
e.g. Role and place of employment
Richer data on entrepreneurs and creatives
e.g. Kind of study (+ linked data where possible).
Employment
Further study
Graduates will be asked questions about their activities on a census week. For example, whether they’ve gone into employment, further study or another activity. If they’ve gone into work questions are asked about the kind of role they’ve taken up and their place of employment. The survey will also capture better information about those starting up their own businesses or developing creative portfolios than has been available before.
If a graduate’s gone into further study some questions will be asked about the kind of study they’re undertaking, or though where possible this data will be linked from existing student data.
Another activity

7. Survey questions Graduate voice
Graduates represent what success means for them:
Inline with future plans
Meaningful and important
Use of skills.
Graduate voice questions are a new feature in the survey which allow graduates to represent their own view on what success means to them. These ask whether a graduate’s current activities are inline with their future plans; whether what they’re doing is meaningful and important to them; and whether they are using the skills developed during their studies in their current activity.
These measures provide a vital new viewpoint of what is meant by graduate success, contextualising the existing measures such as whether they’ve gone into graduate level employment or how much a graduate is earning.

8. Survey questions Opt-in question banks For example:
Subjective wellbeing
Net promoter.
Provider questions
Bespoke questions that can only appear at the end of the survey, and will be distinguished from the core question set.
We’ve also developed opt-in question banks which can be opted into by providers. These include questions about the subjective well-being of graduates and a net promoter score which asks graduates whether they would recommend a course or provider to a friend.
There is also the option for providers to ask their own questions. These can be included at the end of the survey and are covered by a providers individual collection notice, included within the survey.

9. Survey timing
The first Graduate Outcomes survey will be in place for graduates from the academic year. Graduates will be split into four cohorts, depending on when they left their provider, and there will be four surveys a year to capture the data as close to 15 months post-graduation as possible.

10. Survey timing
We will be moving from a census date (as used in DLHE and LDLHE) to a census week.
The census week will be the first week of the survey period.
Survey begins: Dec 2018
First data available: early 2020
We are moving from using a census date (as used in DLHE and LDLHE) to a census week for Graduate Outcomes. This will help avoid confusion, for example where graduates have taken a day off sick that week, and mirrors the approach taken in the Australian Graduate Outcomes Survey.
The census week will be the first week of the survey period.
Example: A student whose end date is in June 2018 (a typical pattern for  undergraduates) would fall into cohort D and therefore would be surveyed between 1 September and 30 November The survey would be asking them about their activities in the census week, which is the first week in September.
A student whose end date is in September 2017 (typical for postgraduate taught students) would fall into cohort A and therefore would be surveyed between 1 December 2018 – 28 February 2019, asking them about their activities in the census week, which is the first week in December.
The survey will begin in December 2018, with the first data available in early 2020.
Further information about survey timing is available here:

11. Survey timing
It is recommended that providers investigate when their student’s end dates manly fall. Providers may find that their students end dates are distributed across the year, or they may mainly fall into one cohort.
Providers will also need to investigate when each cohort of students (re-)enrol or (re-)register with you; this will be a crucial time for you to collect comprehensive contact details.

12. Implications for universities and colleges
The Graduate Outcomes survey will:
Reduce burden as providers no longer undertake the survey themselves.
Providers will need to:
Collect, maintain, and submit accurate contact details
Promote the survey to students and graduates.
The move to Graduate Outcomes is a shift from previous surveys such as the DLHE. This means that the requirements on providers will be different. Providers will no longer have to conduct the survey themselves, however, they will need to submit contact details to HESA for the survey contractor to use to conduct the survey. This means they will be collecting and maintaining contact details up until 15 months post-graduation. They will also need to raise awareness of the survey by promoting it to students and graduates.
HESA has provided branded materials to help with the collection of contact details and the promotion of the Graduate Outcomes survey to students and graduates:
Further details about the contact details required is published here:

13. New methodology
The change in methodology will enable the new survey to:
Operate more efficiently
Provide richer and more robust data.
This change in methodology will enable the new survey to operate more efficiently and provide richer and more robust data for providers, for policy makers, for students, for employers, and for all those with any interest in understanding the value of higher education.
Further information regarding the methodology can be found on the HESA website.

14. Data protection considerations
Contact details required for the Graduate Outcomes survey are collected and returned to HESA under public interest grounds, not on the basis of consent.
No opt-out facility required.
Contact details should be returned for all graduates.
Contact details collected for the purpose of delivering Graduate Outcomes cannot be used in any other way.
Find out more about the considerations around this here
The contact details required for the Graduate Outcomes survey are collected and returned to HESA under public interest grounds, not on the basis of consent, and for that reason providers don’t need to provide the facility for a student/graduate to opt-out. HESA will therefore expect contact details to be returned for all graduates in the population.
As these contact details have been collected on this basis the contact details can only be used to undertake tasks which:
Ensure the information provided to HESA is accurate and comprehensive (for example, ing graduates asking them to review and update their contact details).
Support the delivery of the Graduate Outcomes survey (for example, contacting graduates to raise their awareness of the survey.
Contact details collected for the purpose of delivering Graduate Outcomes cannot be used for any other purpose e.g. an institutions own provider survey.
Contact details collected for Graduate Outcomes must be used solely to promote engagement or request updates to contact details relating to Graduate Outcomes. In these communications a provider should not include any other messaging, e.g. promoting alumni or careers services.
However, providers are free to promote the Graduate Outcomes survey alongside other messaging (e.g. in alumni magazines, careers s) if they use contact details they’ve collected yourselves.
See more information regarding this here:

15. Further information
Join the HESA Jiscmail group for the latest updates:
Questions about Graduate Outcomes? Contact our Liaison team: E: T:

16. More information will be available soon…
Graduate Outcomes Conference
June 2018
In June 2018 a Graduate Outcomes conference will be held to offer you the chance to learn more and ask questions about the survey and it’s implication on HE providers and graduates. More information will be made available about this soon via the HESA website, JISCmail and Twitter.
More information will be available soon…