Graduate Outcomes Communication Toolkit | Student Employability and Academic Success

Graduate Outcomes Survey 2026/27 Academic Year

Graduate Outcomes is the biggest UK annual social survey and captures the perspectives and activities of recent graduates. The survey aims to help current and future students gain an insight into career destinations and development.

Graduates are contacted 15 months after their graduation to find out about their activities. It’s the biggest UK annual social survey and the results help us to shape experience for current students as well as contributing to league tables.

When and how is it happening?

2025/26 Graduates are being surveyed now.

Graduates are surveyed in four cohorts, based on when they completed their studies. The biggest cohort is Cohort D, as this includes most UG graduates finishing in June.

*End date of course*	*Survey invitation*
August - October 2025	December 2026
November 2025 - January 2026	March 2027
February - April 2026	June 2027
May - July 2026	September 2027

HESA/JISC email all graduates, as well as sending text and phone invitations to home graduates. 草榴社区地址 supplies the contact information we hold to help reach graduates. It is vital that students give us the most up to date, accurate contact information for this reason.

Why should graduates take part?

Graduate feedback helps us to improve courses, support future students, and strengthen career services. Knowing the work or other activities undertaken by graduates gives us a good idea of the skills and experiences gained within our courses that benefit current and future students.

League tables, Prospects and The Complete University Guide also use our Graduate Outcomes data to help students make decisions about their future.

Feedback also shapes national insights into higher education and the graduate job market - used by government, researchers, and more.

Response Rates

Year	UK Full Time	UK Part Time	Research funded	EU Domiciled	Non EU Domiciled
2020/21	60.2%	60.8%	56.6%	53.9%	13.2%
2021/22	57.9%	59.4%	53.5%	60.7%	10.5%
2022/23	53.4%	51.3%	44.9%	45.9%	8.9%
2023/24	50.3%	52.9%	42.4%	29.7%	7.2%
Target	60%	60%	65%	45%	-

Using multiple methods to reach out to graduates, through social media or existing connections, we can maximise our response rates. Greater response rates give us greater understanding of our graduates’ activities and how to support current students.

How you can help to promote the Graduate Outcomes Survey

International students are a challenge to reach; they are only contactable online.

Please consider promoting, particularly immediately prior to the Cohort A (PGT) and Cohort D (UG) windows. This could be via a LinkedIn or other social media post, liking and reposting Graduate Outcomes content or talking about the Graduate Outcomes survey in any networks, especially those that might include recent graduates.

Here is a slide you can include in lectures or share with students directly: Graduate Outcomes Slide

Please also consider discussing with current final year students so they are prepared for the survey and when they do receive the link are therefore more likely to trust its legitimacy.

Promotional Materials

The Alumni Engagement Team run email campaigns to promote survey awareness amongst recent graduates and to encourage them to keep their personal contact details up to date so they receive the survey link. You can use the material below to support this through your own networks. We cannot target individuals during their campaign windows (see above) but we can promote more widely.

Further Information

For more information about your department 's Graduate Outcome data, contact your SEAS Faculty Lead.