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Graduate Outcomes Survey Review
Since 1982, Ireland has tracked graduate outcomes through an annual survey. Formerly known as “First Destinations”, it is now known as the Graduate Outcomes Survey. The Survey is distributed to graduates of higher education institutions 9 months after graduation, with the aim of identifying the proportion of graduates in employment, further study as well as those who are unemployed or in other activities. For those in employment, the survey aims to identify location, occupation and sector and of employment, as well as the salary range. For those in further study, the survey looks at the subject area, target award and mode of study of their courses. There are also questions on the relevance of the course to the graduate’s current employment and the motivations of those undertaking further study.
The Higher Education Authority (HEA) reviewed the Survey in 2024. There were quantitative and qualitative elements of the Graduate Outcomes Survey review (see below for further information). In terms of the survey instrument itself, there will be some minor updates to the 2026 survey. As such, the 2026 Graduate Outcomes Survey continues the 40-year tradition of graduate surveys in Ireland.
Graduate Outcomes Survey Review 2024
The Graduate Survey Review was based on the principles that graduate data should continue to:
- Reflect the higher education landscape, now and into the future. The higher education system continues to evolve and graduate tracking should be future proofed to meet the needs of all stakeholders.
- Be of the highest quality. Ireland should continue to lead internationally by expanding on a reliable and accurate evidence base for policy makers, HEIs, prospective students and other stakeholders.
- Be obtained as efficiently as possible. The methodology and operation of graduate surveying should be fit-for-purpose and efficient, enabling high value, well structure, timely and robust data to be collected.
- Be accessible and joined up. Those interested in graduate data should be enabled to obtain information that is freely available and easy to understand, taking account of the range of data sources within the higher education system.
- Support policy frameworks. Graduate survey data should support the higher education System Performance Framework and other national policy frameworks.
Review Findings
There were two elements to the review of the Survey:
An independent review was carried out by Crowe Consulting which contained recommendations on questionnaire design, guidance, accessibility, promotion and communications. The Crowe review also recommended that the HEA establish a Stakeholder Reference Group to devise an updated survey, and that group is now in place. The Stakeholder Reference Group includes membership from HEIs, along with employer, student, disability and guidance counsellor groups, and state agencies. Overall, the review found overall that “The HEA is delivering a robust and efficient survey of third-level graduate outcomes. The survey generates high-quality data, while also delivering a strong response rate, ensuring flexibility in the methodology for institutions to collect meaningful response rates.”
In addition, data validity assessments which were carried out by the Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO) and the HEA Statistics Unit. This latter part of the review (a) compared Graduate Outcomes Survey responses with administrative data held in the CSO’s Educational Longitudinal Database; while (b) further study responses in the Graduate Outcomes Survey were compared with the HEA Student Records System
The review reports can be accessed as follows:
1. Two data validity assessments – HEA (here) and CSO (here).
2. Consultative review and recommendations carried out by Crowe Consulting (here).Updated Questionnaire for 2026
The Stakeholder Reference Group has redesigned the Graduate Outcomes Survey questionnaire for implementation in 2026, and the following resources are now available to higher education institutions:
There are also two new video explainers:
- A video giving details of the review, and some information on the updated questionnaire for 2026
- A detailed description of the changes to the questionnaire for 2026