Student Surveys

The UNSW Student Survey Framework

The UNSW Student Survey Framework has been established to ensure surveys undertaken at UNSW as consistently of a high standard, do not duplicate or overlap with other surveys and limit survey fatigue. 

Internal Surveys

myExperience 

The myExperience survey replaced the Course and Teaching Evaluation and Improvement (CATEI) in S1 2017. The survey is conducted each teaching period at UNSW.

External Surveys

Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT)

The QILT is a suite of national, higher education surveys endorsed by Department of Education and Training that covers the student life cycle from commencement to employment.

Results for each institution are published on the QILT website by study area. The website provides prospective students with relevant and transparent information about Australian higher education institutions from the perspective of recent students and graduates.

The QILT survey suite consists of:

  • Student Experience Survey (SES)

  • Graduate Outcomes Survey (GOS)

  • Graduate Outcomes Survey - Longitudinal (GOS - L)

  • Employers Satisfaction Survey (ESS)

     

All are cross sectional, point-in-time surveys except the GOS/GOS-L, which is longitudinal.

The Department of Education commissioned the Social Research Centre (SRC) as the independent administrator of QILT, which involves:

  • Undertaking data collection of the QILT surveys

  • Reporting on the outcomes of each of these surveys

  • Supporting all higher education institutions (universities and private providers) in relation to QILT

  • Creating, monitoring and updating the QILT website.

For further information on internal UNSW QILT results please contact the Student Surveys team on [email protected]

Student Experience Survey

Student Experience Survey (SES) 

The in-scope population for the SES across all institutions includes commencing and final year undergraduate, and postgraduate coursework higher education students who are onshore in Australia. UNSW also surveys middle year students.

The Student Experience Questionnaire (SEQ) focuses on measurable aspects of students’ higher education course experiences linked to five quality indicators and an overall satisfaction indicator:

  1. Overall Satisfaction
  2. Teaching Quality
  3. Learner Engagement
  4. Learning Resources
  5. Skills Development; and 
  6. Student Support

Each indicator consists of a number of survey questions. 

As part of the Teaching Quality indicator; students are also asked to rate their overall satisfaction with their educational experience and with the quality of teaching they experienced:

Thinking about your course:

  1. overall how would you rate the quality of your entire educational experience this year?
  2. how would you rate the quality of the teaching you have experienced?


For information on the survey and for staff resources, visit the SES Resources page.

Graduate Outcomes Survey

Graduate Outcomes Survey (GOS)

Students complete both The Graduate Outcomes Questionnaire (GOS) and Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) at the same time as part of the same survey. The survey focuses on mainly graduate destinations such as further study or employment.

The in-scope population includes undergraduate and postgraduate higher education students:

  • who completed their qualification consistent with the cycle of graduation ceremonies (i.e. July graduates are surveyed in November and December graduates are surveyed in the following May)

  • as an international or domestic onshore student.

    Data collected for GOS is linked to four indicators:

    1. Graduates in full-time employment
    2. Graduates in overall employment
    3. Graduates in full-time study
    4. Median salary of graduates in full-time employment

    The GOS survey also captures overall satisfaction with degree studied.

    Graduate Outcomes Survey Longitudinal (GOS-L)

    Graduate Outcomes Survey – Longitudinal (GOS-L) 

    The Graduate Outcomes Survey – Longitudinal (GOS-L) supplements the Graduate Outcomes Survey by measuring the medium-term employment outcomes of higher education graduates, approximately three years after they have completed their course.

    The GOS-L presents results by level of study including undergraduate, postgraduate coursework and postgraduate research.

    The GOS-L replaced the Beyond Graduation Survey (BGS) in 2016.

    Employer Satisfaction Survey (ESS)

    Employer Satisfaction Survey (ESS)

    The Employer Satisfaction Survey (ESS) represents the largest survey of its kind, reporting the views of over 4,000 employers about the attributes of recent graduates from Australian higher education institutions including universities and non-university higher education institutions (NUHEIs). Employer views of the technical skills, generic skills and work readiness of recent graduates

     provide assurance about the quality of Australia’s higher education sector. This survey was first run in 2016, with over 3,000 employers responding.

    All employment supervisors of GOS graduates are in-scope for the ESS. Contact with employment supervisors takes place after responses are collected from the GOS.