2023 survey information
The 2023 Student Outcomes Survey is now open.
To complete the 2023 survey, go to www.ncver.edu.au/sos/login and enter the login code provided in your survey invitation.
Thank you to all students who participated in the 2022 survey. The results are available on the NCVER Portal.
The Social Research Centre (SRC), a national social research company, is conducting the 2023 Student Outcomes Survey on NCVER's behalf. Depending on the availability of contact details, the students selected to participate in the survey will be sent a survey invitation from SRC by:
- mobile via +61 419 874 657, and/or
- email from The SOS Team via soshelpdesk@srcentre.com.au, and/or
- letter
If you would like more information about any aspect of this survey, the staff at SRC will be happy to answer your questions. Please contact them by:
Telephone: 1800 413 992 within Australia (free call) or +61 3 8354 3629 (outside Australia)
Email: soshelpdesk@srcentre.com.au
Mail:
Student Outcomes Survey
c/o SRC
Level 5, 350 Queen Street, Melbourne, Victoria, 3051
2023 Student Outcomes Survey: Frequently asked questions
What is the survey?
The Student Outcomes Survey is an annual survey that collects information on vocational education and training (VET) students’ reasons for training, their employment outcomes, satisfaction with training, and further study outcomes. The survey covers students who completed nationally recognised VET delivered by registered training organisations (RTOs) in the previous calendar year.
Since 2017, international students who completed a qualification in Australia have been surveyed as an additional component to the survey. Further information about the international component of the survey, including frequently asked questions and the privacy collection notice, is provided.
The 2023 survey opens from June and closes mid-August 2023. Students who undertook a VET qualification, program or subject in 2022 may receive an invitation to participate in the survey.
Who is doing the survey?
The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) - a not-for-profit company owned by the State, Territory and Federal ministers responsible for vocational education and training. NCVER collects information and provides research on vocational education and training in Australia to governments, the training sector, industry and the community.
Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations - the government department funding the survey. The department uses the results to assist students to make informed training decisions and to develop government policy to help employers and industry.
The Social Research Centre (SRC) - a national social research company that conducts the survey on NCVER's behalf.
Why is it conducted?
The aim of the Student Outcomes Survey is to improve the social and economic outcomes of students who undertake VET. This is achieved by providing the VET sector with information on students’ reasons for training, their employment outcomes, satisfaction with training, benefits of the training and further study outcomes.
The information is used by national and state/territory bodies, along with local training providers, to ensure vocational training is of a high quality and relevant to Australian workplaces. The survey highlights both the positive and negative outcomes from training and monitors the effectiveness of the VET system. The information collected assists in administering, planning, and evaluating the VET system.
What information is collected?
Copies of the 2023 questionnaire are available to download.
Who is included and when?
Who is included in the survey?
The survey is designed to report by the following student groups.
- Qualification completers – students who completed a training package qualification or accredited qualification.
- Qualification part-completers – students who enrolled in but only completed part of a training package qualification or accredited qualification (and are no longer undertaking that training).
- Short course completers – students who completed a training package skill set or accredited course.
- Short course part-completers – students who enrolled in but only completed part of a training package skill set or accredited course (and are no longer undertaking that training).
- Subject(s) only completers – students who completed one or more subjects not delivered as part of a nationally recognised program and who are no longer undertaking training in the VET sector.
When is the survey conducted?
The survey cycle begins in March and has three main stages: project preparation, fieldwork, and data analysis and reporting.
Project preparation (March to June)
- NCVER selects the sample of students. Contact details of selected students are then provided directly to the fieldwork contractor by NCVER, State Training Authorities or the Office of the Student Identifiers Registrar (OSIR).
Fieldwork (June to August)
- Personalised survey invitations are sent in June. Invitations are sent via email, SMS or hard-copy letter, depending on the availability of contact details. Survey invitations include a unique login code and/or link for accessing the online survey. For students under the age of 18 in May of the survey year, hard-copy letters are sent to their parents, informing them their child has been selected for the survey.
- Email and SMS reminders are sent to those students with a valid email address and/or mobile number who haven’t responded to the survey at various times. A hard-copy reminder is sent to non-responders with a mailing address approximately three weeks after the initial invitation. Some students may receive a third hard-copy letter, approximately 6 weeks from the initial invitation.
- Telephone interviews are conducted with a selection of those who haven't responded from July.
Data analysis and reporting (September to March)
- After completion of fieldwork, quality checks are conducted and data are analysed and reported.
What survey results are available?
What information is available to training providers?
Where enough responses are received to provide accurate results, eligible RTOs can receive an individual report on employment outcomes, training satisfaction, perceived benefits and relevance of training as reported by their domestic students (alongside state/territory and national results for comparison). The 2023 survey is designed, subject to response rates, to provide data for RTOs who in 2022 had:
- 100 or more qualification completers
- 100 or more short course completers
- 550 or more qualification part completers
- 250 or short course part completers
- 550 or more subject(s) only completers.
Reports for RTOs are disseminated to authorised people at each RTO in January the following year. For further information on how RTOs can access a report showing their students’ aggregated responses, see SOS RTO reports.
How can I improve the survey responses for my training provider?
To help improve the quality of data, training providers can promote the survey to current and former students. The survey promotional kit includes logos, text and promotional images you can use in newsletters or on social media.
What information on VET students' satisfaction and outcomes is available to the general public?
The aggregate results of the Student Outcomes Survey are presented in the following publications.
- VET student outcomes
- Apprentice and trainee outcomes
- International onshore VET qualification completer outcomes
All publications and products are available free of charge on NCVER's portal, see Student outcomes. Data on domestic students are usually published in December each year. Data on apprentices and trainees and international onshore VET qualification completers are published in March and April, respectively, of the following year. A suite of supporting information is also provided on the publication pages on NCVER's Portal.
For further information about the Student Outcomes Survey, contact surveys_req@ncver.edu.au.
Requests for more detailed statistical information can be made to NCVER via vet_req@ncver.edu.au.
A charge will generally be made by the NCVER for more complex requests for information. See the data access and charging policy.
Additional information is made available to various stakeholders including the Australian Government and state/territory education and training departments.
2023 Student Outcomes Survey: Privacy collection notice
About the survey
Why the Student Outcomes Survey is conducted
The purpose of the Student Outcomes Survey is to gather information to improve the social and economic outcomes of students who undertake vocational education and training (VET), help students make informed training decisions, and assist training providers and governments to improve the quality and relevance of the training.
Who funds, conducts and manages the Student Outcomes Survey
The survey is funded by the Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.
NCVER is contracted to manage the survey and analyse and publish the survey results. NCVER engages The Social Research Centre (SRC) to conduct the online survey and telephone interviews.
Survey participation
Although participating in the survey is voluntary, your contribution to improving the relevance and quality of VET is greatly valued. It is also important that the results represent all students, even if you didn’t complete your training, your training was only short, or are currently living in another country.
I don't want to participate in the 2023 survey
To opt out of the 2023 Student Outcomes Survey and not receive future communications about it, please telephone the survey helpline on 1800 413 992 (free call within Australia) or +61 3 8354 3629 (from outside Australia) or email soshelpdesk@srcentre.com.au.
The information collected
What information is collected?
Your name and contact details are provided to SRC via a secure file exchange portal by government departments responsible for training, by the Office of the Student Identifiers Registrar (OSIR) or by NCVER. Your contact details are used to invite you to participate in the survey. SRC works with a small number of external service providers to administer the Student Outcomes Survey. Companies providing printing, email and messaging services will be provided with your contact information for the sole purpose of administering the survey. All companies contracted by SRC comply with the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012.
On completion of the survey fieldwork, SRC does not give your name or contact details to NCVER, only a data set of all the information collected. Please note that NCVER can identify you from the data set collected, notwithstanding that your name or contact details will not be provided to NCVER by SRC. SRC and the companies providing printing, email and messaging services destroy records of your name and contact details at the conclusion of the survey.
Other information collected through the survey relates to your satisfaction with the training, educational qualifications, additional study and work situation.
Responses to the survey will be linked with personal and training data provided by your training provider. This may include sensitive information from your enrolment form. This allows the questionnaire to be shortened as we do not need to ask specific details about you or your training.
Where your information is held
SRC stores your personal information on secure servers located within Australia.
After the SRC provides your information to NCVER, NCVER stores the data within Australia with appropriate levels of security.
Use of your personal information
We only use your personal information for the purposes for which it was given to us:
- To produce statistics and research relating to education. This may involve combining your information with other sources of data to help policy makers and researchers gain a better understanding VET sector dynamics and performance, support critical policy and other decision making, and shed light on evolving VET sector priorities. This is known as data integration.
- To understand how the VET market operates.
- To invite you to participate in a survey.
Disclosure of your personal information and the collected data
If we disclose personal information, we do so only as permitted by the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (NVETR) Act 2011, the Privacy Act 1988, and other relevant legal requirements, such as the National VET Data Policy.
We may disclose your personal information where:
- you have agreed
- you would reasonably expect, or have been told, that we may disclose information in a particular circumstance or to a particular person or organisation
- it is required or authorised by law.
The NVETR Act authorises us to disclose information to any of the following bodies for the purposes of that body:
- the Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations
- another Commonwealth authority
- a State or Territory authority (other than a registered training organisation) that deals with, or has responsibility for, matters relating to vocational education and training
- a VET Regulator.
Further to this, the National VET Data Policy authorises us to disclose personal information for:
- administering VET, including program administration, regulation, monitoring and evaluation
- facilitating statistics and research relating to education, including surveys and data linkage
- understanding how the VET market operates, for policy, workforce planning and consumer information.
Your personal information and other collected data are disclosed for the above purposes to the following recipients and in the following manner.
- NCVER publishes the data at the aggregate level and discloses aggregate, de-identified or identified unit record data to Commonwealth and state/territory government education and training departments.
- Commonwealth and state/territory government education and training departments may publish the data at the aggregate level, and the Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations also publishes aggregate data on their MySkills website for access by students, the public and training providers.
- NCVER may provide summary reports to training providers that show aggregated responses, and training providers may publish this information on their own websites.
- De-identified unit record files may be provided to training providers and researchers requesting data for purposes related to facilitating research and statistics on education. Such requests are assessed on a case-by-case basis and are only provided under strict terms and conditions.
Protection and management of your information
The Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, NCVER, SRC, and OSIR manage personal information in accordance with the NVETR Act, the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles introduced by the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012.
Any person in the European Union (EU) who participates in this survey is considered to have opted in by their own choice. They should be aware that while NCVER fully complies with the Australian Privacy Act and Australian Privacy Principles, including the Notifiable Data Breaches Act, which have similar requirements to the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), NCVER may not at this time, comply with all GDPR requirements.
For more information on how your personal information is managed, protected, and used please refer to the relevant Privacy Policies. Full details of each are displayed on the respective websites:
The Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relation's privacy policy
Further information
Who to contact
For general queries about the survey, please contact:
- the Student Outcomes Survey Helpline on 1800 413 992 (free call within Australia) or +61 3 8354 3629 (from outside Australia) or
- via email soshelpdesk@srcentre.com.au.
This includes queries or complaints concerning your personal information, or if you wish to request access to or correction of your personal information. Correction of your personal information can only be made while the survey is being conducted and only for the purpose of administering the survey as records of your name and contact details are destroyed once the survey is concluded.
2023 Student Outcomes Survey: Prize draw terms and conditions of entry
Method and duration of entry period
Method of entry
Entry is open to all respondents of the 2023 Student Outcomes Survey. To enter, those invited to complete the 2023 Student Outcomes Survey must complete the survey online at www.ncver.edu.au/sos/login or by telephone interview. This is not restricted to any age-group and may include those under 18 years (15-17 year olds).
Duration of entry period
The total entry period for inclusion in the Prize Draw is from survey launch on 5th June 2023 to 11.59pm 13th August 2023. Ten prize draws will occur during this period, with the following schedule
- Respondents who complete their survey before 11.59pm AEST 14th June 2023 will be entered into prize draws #1 - #10 and will be eligible to win a prize in each draw.
- Respondents who complete their survey before 11.59pm AEST 21st June 2023 will be entered into prize draws #2 - #10 and will be eligible to win a prize in each draw.
- Respondents who complete their survey before 11.59pm AEST 28th June 2023 will be entered into prize draws #3 - #10 and will be eligible to win a prize in each draw.
- Respondents who complete their survey before 11.59pm AEST 5th July 2023 will be entered into prize draws #4 - #10 and will be eligible to win a prize in each draw.
- Respondents who complete their survey before 11.59pm AEST 12th July 2023 will be entered into prize draws #5 - #10 and will be eligible to win a prize in each draw.
- Respondents who complete their survey before 11.59pm AEST 19th July 2023 will be entered into prize draws #6 - #10 and will be eligible to win a prize in each draw.
- Respondents who complete their survey before 11.59pm AEST 26th July 2023 will be entered into prize draws #7 - #10 and will be eligible to win a prize in each draw.
- Respondents who complete their survey before 11.59pm AEST 2nd August 2023 will be entered into prize draws #8 - #10 and will be eligible to win a prize in each draw.
- Respondents who complete their survey before 11.59pm AEST 9th August 2023 will be entered into prize draw #9 and #10 and will be eligible to win a prize in each draw.
- Respondents who complete their survey before 11.59pm AEST 13th August 2023 will be entered into prize draw #10 and will be eligible to win a prize in the draw.
Details of prizes and prize values
Prize draws will occur weekly from the 16th June 2023. The first entry drawn in each of the ten prize draws will receive a $1,000 prepaid Visa gift card. The second and third entries drawn in each prize draw will receive a $500 Visa gift card. The final eight entries drawn in each prize draw will each receive a $250 Visa gift card. The total value of the prize pool is $40,000.
Each prize draw is comprised of the following;
Each prize draw is comprised of the following: | |
1st Prize | 1 x $1,000 Visa prepaid gift card drawn from the national pool |
2nd Prize | 2 x $500 Visa prepaid gift card drawn from the national pool |
3rd Prize | 8 x $250 Visa prepaid gift card drawn from the national pool |
Date, time and place of draw
- Prize Draw #1: 2:00 pm AEST 16th June 2023
- Prize Draw #2: 2:00 pm AEST 23rd June 2023
- Prize Draw #3: 2:00 pm AEST 30th June 2023
- Prize Draw #4: 2:00 pm AEST 7th July 2023
- Prize Draw #5: 2:00 pm AEST 14th July 2023
- Prize Draw #6: 2:00 pm AEST 21st July 2023
- Prize Draw #7: 2:00 pm AEST 28th July 2023
- Prize Draw #8: 2:00 pm AEST 4th August 2023
- Prize Draw #9: 2:00 pm AEST 11th August 2023
- Prize Draw #10: 2:00 pm AEST 18th August 2023
All draws will be conducted at Level 5, 350 Queen Street Melbourne VIC 3000. Winners will be identified through a manual draw.
Publication of winner names and unclaimed prizes
Publication of winner names
Winners will be notified by telephone or in writing via email within 2 business days of the draw. The names and state of residence of all winners will be published online at www.ncver.edu.au/sos and www.ncver.edu/sos-int . The following dates are when the winners will be published on the website:
- Prize Draw #1: by 2:00 pm AEST 20th June 2023
- Prize Draw #2: by 2:00 pm AEST 27th June 2023
- Prize Draw #3: by 2:00 pm AEST 4th July 2023
- Prize Draw #4: by 2:00 pm AEST 11th July 2023
- Prize Draw #5: by 2:00 pm AEST 18th July 2023
- Prize Draw #6: by 2:00 pm AEST 25th July 2023
- Prize Draw #7: by 2:00 pm AEST 1st August 2023
- Prize Draw #8: by 2:00 pm AEST 8th August 2023
- Prize Draw #9: by 2:00 pm AEST 15th August 2023
- Prize Draw #10: by 2:00pm AEST 22nd August 2023
Unclaimed prize draw
If any prizes are unclaimed by 1st December, 2023 an unclaimed prize draw will take place at 2.00 PM AEDT on 1st December 2023 at the above address. The winners will be notified by telephone or in writing by email. The names of all winners will be published at www.ncver.edu.au/sos and www.ncver.edu/sos-int by 2.00PM AEDT 5th December 2023.
Cancellation clause
If for any reason any aspect of this Promotion is not capable of running as planned, including by reason of computer virus, communications network failure, bugs, tampering, unauthorised intervention, fraud, technical failure or any cause beyond the control of the Promoter, the Promoter may in its sole discretion cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Promotion and invalidate any affected entries, or suspend or modify a prize, subject to State or Territory regulation.
Privacy
Contact details will only be collected and retained by “the Trader” for the purposes of the prize draw only and will not be released or used for any other purpose. Except for the announcement of the winning entries, all confidentiality will be retained and records in relation to the draw will be destroyed within State and Australian Government requirements.
Traders name and permit numbers
Traders name and address
The trader is the Social Research Centre Pty Ltd, Level 5, 350 Queen Street, Melbourne, Victoria, 3051. ABN: 91096153212.
Permit numbers
NSW Permit number: TP/0189
ACT Permit number: TP22/00692.2 (until 30 June 2023); TP 23/00964 (1 July 2023- 30 June 2024)
SA Permit number: T23/613
Who to contact if you have any queries
Any queries regarding the prize draws should be directed to:
soshelpdesk@srcentre.com.au or via phone on 1800 413 992 (free call within Australia) or +61 3 8354 3629 (from outside Australia).
2023 Student Outcomes Survey: Prize draw winners
See the Prize draw T&Cs for more information about prize details and values and the date, time, and place of the draws.
Publication of Prize Draw #1 will be by 2:00 pm AEST 20th June 2023
| Prize draw 1 | Name |
|---|---|
| First prize winner: | |
| Second prize winners: | |
| Third prize winners: |