Australian Graduate Survey
Overview
The Australian Graduate Survey (AGS) is an annual survey that collects information on the experiences and destinations of university graduates. The survey was developed by Graduate Careers Australia (GCA) and is administered by universities to their graduates on behalf of GCA.
Planning and Performance Reporting is responsible for the coordination of data from the AGS for the University of Adelaide. The survey data informs policy formulation, strategic planning and quality improvement initiatives for the University.
The AGS includes the:
- Graduate Destination Survey (GDS), administered to all graduates;
and either the - Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ), for graduates who completed an undergraduate or postgraduate coursework program; or the
- Postgraduate Research Experience Questionnaire (PREQ), for graduates who completed a postgraduate research program.
The national results of the AGS are published by GCA and reported in the Good Universities Guide.
For information on the management of other surveys within the University, see the SELT Surveys page and the Surveys website.
Graduate Careers Australia
Graduate Careers Australia (GCA) is a peak body with representatives from employers, universities and government. GCA is a not-for-profit company that has been in existence for 40 years. Its board has senior representatives from Universities Australia, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and the National Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (NAGCAS).
GCA promotes and fosters employment and career opportunities for graduates from higher education institutions, provides high quality careers education products and services, researches first destinations and salaries of graduates and interprets trends in employment with special reference to graduate employment.
The GCA website has information about graduate careers and employment for students and graduates including an all-in-one job vacancy search, industry career profiles, Careers Service contacts, résumé and job application writing tips, interview strategies and information about further study.
A summary of research findings can also be found in summary publications, GradFiles & GradStats.
Contact details for Graduate Careers Australia can be found on their website
at http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/contact-us/.
Relevant Links
- Graduate Careers Australia
- Universities Australia
- Good Universities Guide
- National Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services
For more details, contact David Hirst on (08) 831 37570.
Graduate Destination Survey (GDS)
The aim of the GDS is to determine the activities of graduates approximately four months after they completed a program at an Australian university. In particular, the survey asks whether graduates were in employment at the time of the survey, or whether they had proceeded to further study.
The scope of the GDS is all graduates who completed an undergraduate or postgraduate program at an Australian university in the previous year (e.g. the scope of the 2012 survey is graduates who completed their program in 2011).
Current data from the GDS are available in the Data Warehouse. The University of Adelaide's results (including program level data) are available from 2004 onwards, and national benchmarking results (for all universities) are available from 2002 onwards. Commonly used GDS data from the Data Warehouse, such as the percentage of graduates in full-time employment or further full-time study, are also available in the Regular Performance Reports.
Course Experience Questionnaire
The aim of the CEQ is to determine what graduates thought of the coursework program that they had recently completed, including their attitudes towards the skills they acquired, and the quality of teaching provided, during their program.
The scope of the CEQ is all graduates who completed a postgraduate research program at an Australian university during the previous year (e.g. the scope of the 2012 survey is graduates who completed their program in 2011).
The CEQ consists of a series of statements, and graduates are asked whether they agree with each statement. The possible responses are strongly disagree, disagree, uncertain, agree, or strongly agree. The statements are divided into several scales, which are groups of statements that have a similar theme (e.g. good teaching, student support). There are three core scales that are asked by all universities, namely the Generic Skills Scale, the Good Teaching Scale, and the Overall Satisfaction Item. The remaining scales are optional, and are only asked by some universities.
Current data from the CEQ are available in the Data Warehouse. The University of Adelaide's results (including program level data) are available from 2004 onwards, and national benchmarking results (for all universities) are available from 2002 onwards. Commonly used CEQ data from the Data Warehouse, such as the percent agreement indicators for the three core scales, are also available in the Regular Data Warehouse Performance Reports.
Postgraduate Research Experience Questionnaire
The aim of the PREQ is to determine what graduates thought of the research program that they had recently completed, including their attitudes towards the skills they developed, and the quality of supervision provided, during their program.
The scope of the PREQ is all graduates who completed a postgraduate research program at an Australian university during the previous year (e.g. the scope of the 2012 survey is graduates who completed their program in 2011).
The PREQ consists of a series of statements, and graduates are asked whether they agree with each statement. The possible responses are strongly disagree, disagree, uncertain, agree, strongly agree, and that the statement does not apply. The statements are divided into several scales, which are groups of statements that have a similar theme (e.g. supervision, thesis examination). Unlike the CEQ, none of the scales in the PREQ is optional; all of the questions are asked by every institution.
The data from the PREQ are not currently available in the Data Warehouse. The results of the PREQ for the University of Adelaide are reported in the University's performance reports.
Survey Reports
AGS Program Data Report
Report Template
The AGS Program Data Report is designed to provide a consistent format for presenting the experiences and outcomes of recent graduates to current students at program level.
You can download the one-page report template 
and complete with survey data from the Regular Data Warehouse Performance Reports in the Data Warehouse (see below).
Please contact David Hirst on 831 37570 if assistance is required with this report.
How to Complete the Report Template
The report template features a number of prompts (shown in blue italics) that must be completed. The following table contains a description of what needs to be completed, and where the data can be located. The Data Source links go to the relevant Regular Performance Reports from the Data Warehouse, which are University of Adelaide staff access only (you will need to provide a valid user ID and password). It is recommended that you read the GCA Code of Practice 
before using the data.
| Template Prompt | Description | Data Source |
|---|---|---|
| Insert survey year | Enter the survey year in which the graduate responses were obtained (note that this is the year after the graduates completed their program). | |
| Insert completion year | Enter the year when the graduates completed their program (note that this is the year before the survey year) | |
| Insert program name | Enter the name of the program from which the graduate responses were obtained. | |
| Insert statement | Select 2 additional statements from the CEQ for which results are to be presented (the Overall Satisfaction Item is already included). | View the list of CEQ statements used by the University. |
| % Agreement (xx%) | Enter the percentage of graduates who either agreed or strongly agreed with the chosen statements (including the Overall Satisfaction Item). | Data can be found in the CEQ Performance Report ‘Core Scales % Agreement by Program/Plan’. You will need to drill down to the results for the statements by clicking the flags next to the scale names on the report. |
| Provide feedback on recent initiatives to improve the program… | Enter recent improvements that were made to the program as a result of student feedback. | |
| % of Available Graduates (xx%) | Enter the percentage of graduates from the program in further full-time study, and the percentage of available graduates in full-time employment. | Data can be found in the GDS Performance Report ‘% Working Full-Time and % in Further Study by Program/Plan’. |
Australian Graduate Survey Results
AGS Comparative Data
The following links contain the national benchmarking results for the AGS. These results show the indicator scores for each University (including the University of Adelaide), and the change in the scores from the previous year.
- GDS/CEQ 2011 Comparative Results, for graduates from 2010.
(staff only)
AGS University of Adelaide Careers Data
The following links contain results from the AGS for the University of Adelaide. The results were produced for the University Careers Service, and include the top employers of University of Adelaide graduates, the methods used by graduates to find work and the occupations of graduates by field of study.
- 2011 GDS Analysis Report, for graduates from 2010 (staff only)
