Data intelligence

The most comprehensive assessment of data quality in the Graduate Outcomes survey currently available can be found in the Graduate Outcomes quality report.

In 2019/20, The Open University underreported the number of qualifications awarded due to administrative delays as a result of changes to assessment timetabling. There is a reduction of around 8,225 qualifications awarded in the 2019/20 data return in comparison to 2018/19. Most of this drop was seen among part time undergraduate students. The reduction is reflected in a lower population of survey respondents for the Graduate Outcomes survey of an estimated 7,900 responses. These qualifications were returned in the 2020/21 student data, the 2020/21 Graduate Outcomes population reflects this.

In 2019/20, an error existed in two of the opt-in research questions for the Welsh language version of the Graduate Outcomes survey (Collaborating with others in different subject and Collaborating with others outside HE research). Whilst the question text was displayed correctly, the selectable answer options displayed blank (empty) boxes. Therefore, graduates who were eligible to answer these questions and chose to complete the survey in Welsh would not have known what answer option they were selecting. This issue affects 5 graduate responses.