Making efficient use of the available data

Automated Responses

Outcome Enquiries are intended to present a number of identical requests to the admissions tutor for any one course. A single standard response can be prepared and sent, usually via email, to all Outcome Enquiries. Students sending email Outcome Enquiries to HEIs are invited to use a title with a standard format (course code: outcome enquiry) to simplify HEIs' reply automation.

Data Protection

HESA issue a data collection notice that accompanies the FDS survey. Many HEIs insert their own collection notice and have changed their data protection registration in order to extend the value of their data, for example to support the provision of detailed destination information to prospective students.

Outcome Enquiry Cards invite HEIs to provide complete lists of graduates' occupations, employers, salaries and locations. Some HEIs conducted their 2002 FDS and 2003 DLHE survey using data collection notices that do not support the provision of this detailed information to prospective students.

Students may tend to be less attracted to HEIs that disclose incomplete graduate first destinations. A number of approaches will enable such HEIs to attract students sending Outcome Enquiries, usually prior to completing course choices on their UCAS forms.

Using Incomplete Outcome Data to Respond to Outcome Enquiries

An Outcome Enquiry response might:

  • Provide the most complete FDS information that can be made available within the HEI's data protection arrangements.

    • Ideally, the response provides a complete record of all occupations, employers, locations and salaries for the 2002 and 2003 cohorts.
    • Alternatively, to improve anonymity, the response provides separate alphabetic lists of occupations, employers and locations, and a ranked salary list, all containing duplicate information once only. All or some of these lists might be sent.
    • Alternatively, the response provides detailed professional development case studies of recent graduates.
    • Alternatively, the response provides a mean FDS salary for the 2002 cohort, a mean DLHE salary for the 2003 cohort and a target mean salary for the 2004 cohort
    • Alternatively, the response provides representative example occupations, employers and locations and salaries


  • Provide the completion rate for the course .

    • Student comments about course highlights and special features
    • Comment on scores from student perception surveys and similar data


  • Provide a description of existing or future on-programme professional development.

    • Outlining how this will improve graduates' employability
    • Prepared in collaboration with the HEI's careers service
    • Formally assessed as part of the course: see "Enhancing Employability, Recognising Diversity" at www.UniversitiesUK.ac.uk/employability


  • Provide evidence of the broad range of beneficial outcomes associated with the programme of study.

    • Describe how graduates employ qualities that they develop on the course to enhance their life quality.

  • Clearly describe the availability of outcome data

    • Where the course is new, then prospective students may be attracted by innovations that outweigh the absence of destination data
    • It is common practice to release limited FDS / DLHE data for very small graduate cohorts
    • Prospective students will be alert to the possibility that courses and HEIs may disguise a predominance of low-paid low-skilled employment destinations by offering example occupations, employers, salaries and locations, or through data protection arrangements that prevent disclosure, or through obscure statements about data protection, or by withholding information that HEIs with similar data protection arrangements are prepared to make available, or by sending marketing materials instead of addressing the student's request.


  • Be prepared in collaboration with the HEI's marketing division.

    • In addition to receiving the most complete destination information that the HEI is able to release, prospective students can be made more fully aware of the benefits of the course and studying at the institution.
    • They can be sent materials that maintain and develop their interest as they make their course choices and during the following months. This might include Open Day and taster course invitations for the prospective student and their friends and families, course and institutional information and updates, invitations to use online public access academic and study skills resources, invitations to use resources such as public access to libraries and other on-campus facilities for those living locally, and other existing offers made by the HEI.
    • Students sending Outcome Enquiries can be invited to outline their particular interests and preferences, to inform the selection of materials and invitations that they receive from the HEI


Copyright © 2004 :: Website Designed and Maintained by neovirtua