Graduate Outcomes Results Guide 2018/19: About

Each year the Higher Education Statistics Agency, HESA, surveys leavers from the University of Sussex who have completed undergraduate and postgraduate courses. This survey is undertaken in 4 cohorts each of which are approximately 15-18 months following the official end date of a course of study. HESA contact all leavers from the UK as well as other European and international nations.

This report focuses primarily on UK full-time undergraduate leavers and shows their main destinations. It highlights key outcomes, including employment, sectors, earnings and locations of employment.  Where appropriate, data is broken down by academic department. Additionally it breaks down outcomes for specific demographic groups, including gender and ethnicity. The report cannot show trends using historical data from the previous DLHE survey but over time as further Graduate Outcomes surveys are released time series will be added to provide greater context of the information. 

The major differences between Graduate Outcomes and DLHE are as follows:

• The survey is undertaken 15 months after graduation where DLHE was at 6 months
• The survey is conducted, and the data coded, centrally rather than by Sussex
• The survey reports on leavers’ Graduate Outcomes Activity, a new metric that takes into account all activity the graduate is undertaking, rather than their main activity only as in DLHE
• The survey’s Graduate-Level Work rates are measured for leavers whose main activity is work, as in DLHE
• Further information on how Activity and Graduate Level Work rates are calculated can be found in the Appendix. It is important to note the differences between these two metrics when quoting figures from this report

• In order to comply with GDPR requirements regarding the potential for individuals to be identified through the analysis, counts of groups less than five have been replaced by “< 5” 
• Performance Indicators as well as comparative national data will be added to the analysis once it becomes available.

To make this report more accessible to users, key facts and figures are provided in the main body of the report whilst larger datasets are also included giving the reader the data to look at in more detail if  they so wish.

The Careers and Employability Centre can also produce bespoke analysis or datasets on request. 

It is important to note that Graduate Outcomes data will be published in many different formats and come from a range of sources this may result in different figures being quoted for similar indicators. This guide attempts to present results in a format that matches HESA publication methodology where possible.

More labour market information from Prospects Luminate