The Graduate Outcomes Survey

It is an opportunity for you to let us know how you have got on after finishing your course. We value your input and it is important that your voice is heard.

It only takes a few minutes to complete the survey and your responses and data will be treated with care and in strict accordance with data protection legislation.

You will be asked to complete the Graduate Outcomes survey 15 months after you graduate and will be contacted via telephone and email on behalf of the University of Oxford and HESA.

The survey can be completed online or over the telephone but we must have your current email address and telephone number to contact you so please update these with the Alumni team if they change.

For any general questions about the survey, please contact Careers, University of Oxford on [email protected].

Find out more about HESA and their role as a trusted source of Higher Education data and analysis.

Graduate Outcomes data will be collected by HESA as part of their wider data collection and analysis activities. Find out how HESA protects your data. 

HESA will share survey data with the University of Oxford who will hold your personalised data for five years upon receipt before deleting it. Anonymised data will be held permanently for the purposes of further research and trend analyses.

Details gathered as part of the survey may be used by the University to provide you with relevant updates and opportunities.

Anonymised data will be seen by appropriate staff within your department for the purposes of monitoring and course evaluation and shared with relevant professional bodies where required.

Anonymised data and resulting statistics may also be provided to University staff and external professional bodies for the purposes of further research into the graduate labour market and students’ career destination trends.

Find out more about the University’s Data Protection Policy and Data Protection Notice to Students.

Further information about the Graduates Outcomes survey for students and graduates is available on the HESA website.

I have asked the University not to send me any further correspondence. Why am I still receiving these emails, and can I unsubscribe?

The University has a legal obligation to ensure we have current contact details for all leavers, so that you can have the opportunity to take part in the survey. As such you will receive a small number of emails informing you about the survey and asking you to update your details. As this is a legal requirement, it is not possible to opt out of these emails.

However, it is not compulsory to complete the survey itself. When you are contacted by the survey organisation, you will be able to opt out and you will not be contacted again at that point.

When will I be surveyed?

You will be surveyed approximately 15 months after you complete your studies.

How will I be surveyed?

You will receive an email inviting you to complete the survey online by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) – or an organisation working on its behalf. You may also be contacted by telephone and asked to complete the survey over the phone. If you are not contactable, we may seek the information from a third party, such as a family member.

Why should I take part?

The information you provide helps to inform prospective students’ choices, develop higher education policy, and enables us to make improvements for future Oxford students.

What if I don’t want to be surveyed?

It is not compulsory to complete the survey. When you are contacted by the survey organisation, you will be able to opt out and you will not be contacted again. You can only opt-out of the Graduate Outcomes survey through the survey organisation.

What happens with the information collected as part of the survey?

Graduate Outcomes data will be collected by HESA as part of their wider data collection and analysis activities. HESA will share survey data with the University of Oxford who will hold your personalised data for five years upon receipt before deleting it. Anonymised data will be held permanently for the purposes of further research and trend analyses. Details gathered as part of the survey may be used by the University to provide you with relevant updates and opportunities. Anonymised data will be seen by appropriate staff within your department for the purposes of monitoring and course evaluation and shared with relevant professional bodies where required. Anonymised data and resulting statistics may also be provided to University staff and external professional bodies for the purposes of further research into the graduate labour market and students’ career destination trend.

Is the GOS linked to the Teaching Education Framework?

HESA anticipates that data from the survey will be put to a number of uses, including league tables, and the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). However, the primary driver for the University in taking part in the survey is gathering information about our graduates, so that we can make improvements for future Oxford students.

Who runs the Graduate Outcomes survey?

The Graduate Outcomes survey is owned by HESA, the Higher Education Statistics Agency. HESA supports the advancement of the higher education sector by collecting and publishing timely and reliable data about the sector. The administration of the Graduate Outcomes survey is undertaken by a third-party survey contractor who works in collaboration with HESA and your university/college.

Any questions about the format and content of the survey itself.

The survey is run by HESA and they may be able to provide further information. You should start by going to the Graduate Outcomes webpage.