International graduates from universities in Scotland and Wales will be contacted by telephone as part of a new pilot designed to strengthen evidence on graduate outcomes and improve response rates from alumni living overseas.
The pilot, which will run from December 2026 as part of the graduate outcomes survey, will reintroduce telephone outreach for international graduates for the first time since the survey’s introduction in 2018.
It is intended to address long-standing challenges in collecting robust data from graduates who have left the UK and may be less likely to respond through online channels.
The graduate outcomes survey is the UK’s largest annual social survey of graduates, capturing information approximately 15 months after course completion on employment, further study and other activities. While it produces extensive data on UK-based graduates, international alumni have historically been harder to reach, creating gaps in understanding of global graduate destinations.
Under the pilot, international graduates who do not respond via standard survey methods will be contacted by telephone. HESA, which sits within Jisc, said the aim is to test whether direct outreach improves response rates and produces a more representative picture of international graduate outcomes.
It will be undertaken only by higher education providers in Scotland and Wales, where statutory funding bodies have mandated and funded participation, requiring all institutions in each nation to take part.
Providers in England and Northern Ireland will not be included after their respective statutory customers chose not to mandate participation. HESA said this decision was necessary to maintain the integrity of the dataset.
“Without a consistent nation-wide approach, results at aggregate level would be subject to bias and difficult to analyse,” the organisation said. It also cited the practical challenges of managing a voluntary opt-in system, which could further compromise comparability.
HESA added that the impact of the pilot on data quality, comparability over time, and differences between nations will need to be assessed once evidence from the exercise has been gathered. It said it would work closely with the sector to evaluate these effects and provide further guidance on what data will be published.
Depending on the results, telephone contact with international graduates could be extended to England and Northern Ireland in future, either as a mandated requirement or through an opt-in model.
This pilot responds directly to member priorities and marks an important step in strengthening the evidence on international graduate outcomes, which are critical to the future of UK higher education
Heidi Fraser-Krauss, Jisc
“Working in partnership with the sector is central to Jisc’s approach,” said Heidi Fraser-Krauss, chief executive of Jisc.
“This pilot responds directly to member priorities and marks an important step in strengthening the evidence on international graduate outcomes, which are critical to the future of UK higher education.”
The pilot comes amid increasing demand from universities, policymakers and sector bodies for more robust data on the long-term outcomes of international students, particularly their employment destinations and career progression after leaving the UK.
