What is the Graduate Outcomes survey?

Graduate Outcomes is a national survey to gather information on the activities and viewpoints of graduates 15 months after finishing their studies. Anyone who graduates from Edinburgh Napier after 1 August 2017 will be asked to complete the survey. Your responses to this survey are important as they help current and future students gain an insight into careers destinations and they help us to evaluate our courses. The survey is also of national significance as it allows policy makers, charities, journalists, researchers and others to understand the higher education sector and the state of the graduate labour market. 

For more information click here.

To coincide with the launch of the survey, HESA have released an animated video which provides graduates with a snapshot of what the survey is about and why they should take part.

Who runs the Graduate Outcomes Survey? 

The Graduate Outcomes survey is owned by HESA, the Higher Education Statistics Agency. HESA support 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 contractor who works in collaboration with HESA and Edinburgh Napier. 

How will I be surveyed? 

You will receive an email initially inviting you to complete the survey online. You may then be contacted by telephone and asked to complete the survey over the phone. If you are not contactable, we may seek information for a third party, such as a family member. 

What questions will I be asked? 

You will be asked about what you are currently doing at the time of the interview such as any employment, further study, starting a business etc. Based on what you are doing at the time of the interview there will be some follow up questions to find out more about what you are doing now.

How will my responses be used? 

Your responses will be used by Edinburgh Napier and by other organisations for research purposes. Before starting the survey you will be provided with detailed information about how your data will be processed, who will receive it, and what they will use it for. 

What if I don’t want to be surveyed? 

It is not compulsory to complete the survey. If you do not want to be contacted for the survey please email info@graduateoutcomes.ac.uk 

Alternatively, when you are contacted by the survey organisation, you will be able to opt out and you will not be contacted again.

How your information is used, who uses it and what is the legal basis for using it? 

The University is required under Education and Funding legislation to provide student data to HESA. For the purposes of this survey HESA requires the University to check that the information they hold about you is correct and up-to-date and they then provide that information to the company/ies carrying out this survey. The University’s legal basis for processing your data is that it is required to do so by law (GDPR Article 6(1)(c). Your survey responses are subsequently provided back to the University and we use them for the purposes of statistical analysis and research to improve courses and services and for promotional purposes e.g. the 95% graduate employability rate that you may have seen advertised. Our legal bases for doing this are that it is in the exercise of the University’s official authority and for statistical purposes (GDPR Articles 6(1)(e) and 9(2)(j). Further information about the purposes and legal bases is available below. 

What do I do if I think Edinburgh Napier does not hold up to date contact information for me? 

You can update the contact details Edinburgh Napier holds for you at any time by staying connected with the Alumni team or by updating your details online using the Alumni portal.

Where can I find further information? 

Edinburgh Napier will provide you with further information about the survey shortly before you are invited to complete it. If you have any other questions about HESA and data protection, please contact HESA’s Data Protection Officer: 

Email: data.protection@hesa.ac.uk 

Tel: +44 (0)1242 211135 

Address: HESA, 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ

Click here to access all the University’s privacy notices. 

You have a number of rights available to you with regards to what personal data of yours is held by the University and how it is processed – to find out more about your rights, how to make a request and who to contact if you have any further queries about Data Protection please see the information online.

To find out how your information is used and who uses it click here.