Student Outcomes Survey: International students

The Social Research Centre (SRC), a national social research company, conducted the 2023 Student Outcomes Survey on NCVER's behalf.

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: international students: Frequently asked questions

• What is the survey?
• Why is it conducted?
• What information is collected?
• Who is included and when?
• What survey results are available?

What is the survey?

The Student Outcomes Survey is an annual survey of vocational education and training (VET) students, that collects information on reasons for undertaking training, employment and further study outcomes, and student satisfaction. 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 of the survey.

The 2023 was conducted from June to August 2023.

Who is doing the survey?

The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) – is a not-for-profit company owned by the State, Territory and Federal ministers responsible for VET. NCVER collects information and provides research on VET in Australia to governments, the training sector, industry, and the community.

The Australian Government Department of Education funds the participation of international students in the survey. The department uses the results to assist international students in making informed decisions about studying and training in Australia, and to develop government policy to help employers and industry.

The Social Research Centre (SRC) – is a national social research company that conducts the survey on NCVER's behalf.

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Why is it conducted?

The aim of the Student Outcomes Survey is to improve the social and economic outcomes of students who undertake VET in Australia. 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 high quality and relevant to 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.

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What information is collected?

A copy of the 2023 questionnaire is available to download.

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Who is included and when?

Who is included in the survey?

Students who completed nationally recognised VET delivered by RTOs in the previous calendar year. Since 2017, international students who completed a qualification in Australia have been surveyed as an additional component of the survey.

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, or SMS, depending on the availability of contact details. Survey invitations include a unique login code and/or link for accessing the online 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.
• Telephone interviews are conducted with a selection of those who haven't responded from July.

Data analysis and reporting (September to April)

• After completion of fieldwork, quality checks are conducted and data are analysed and reported.

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What survey results are available?

What information on international VET students' satisfaction and outcomes is available to the general public?

The aggregate results for international students are presented in the publication:

• International onshore VET qualification completer outcomes.

The publication and associated data products are available free of charge on NCVER's portal, see Student outcomes. Data on international onshore VET qualification completers are published in April 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.

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2023 Student Outcomes Survey: international students: Privacy collection notice

• About the survey
• Survey participation
• The information collected
• Protection and management of your information
• Further information

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) in Australia. It also helps 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 participation of international students in the Student Outcomes Survey

The Australian Government Department of Education funds the participation of international students in the survey.

The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) is contracted to manage, analyse and publish the survey results. NCVER engages The Social Research Centre (SRC) to conduct the online survey and telephone interviews.

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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 international students, even if you 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.

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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 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 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. There are some optional questions about nationality asked of international students. This information is defined under the Privacy Act 1988 as ‘sensitive information’ and is collected to improve the quality and relevance of training for students.

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, the Privacy Act, 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, and de-identified unit record data to the Australian Government Department of Education.
• The Australian Government Department of Education may publish the data at the aggregate level.
• De-identified unit record files may be provided to training providers, researchers, and Commonwealth and state/territory government education and training departments 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.

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Protection and management of your information

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 Education's privacy policy

NCVER's privacy policy

SRC’s privacy policy

OSIR's privacy policy

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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.

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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.