2022 Student Experience Survey
Methodological Report
June 2023

Report prepared for:
Australian Government Department of Education
50 Marcus Clarke St, Canberra ACT 2601

Report prepared by:Graham Challice, Lauren Spencer, Blair Johnston, Dr Ali Tirdad and Dr Anna Syme
Executive Director, Major Projects; Senior Research Consultant, Major Projects; Project Manager,
Major Projects; Data Scientist, Major Projects; Trainee Data Scientist, Major Projects.
The Social Research Centre
Level 5, 350 Queen Street
MELBOURNE VIC. 3000
Tel: (613) 9236 8500
Fax: (613) 9602 5422
Email: qilt@srcentre.com.au
www.srcentre.com.au
Version: 1.0

Contents
1.

Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 2
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5

2.

Sample preparation ..................................................................................................................... 1
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4

3.

Response by time ........................................................................................................ 39
Non-response analysis ................................................................................................ 40
Sources of response .................................................................................................... 46

Considerations for future surveys .......................................................................................... 47
8.1
8.2
8.3

iii

Final dispositions and response rates ......................................................................... 36
Factors affecting response rate in 2022 ..................................................................... 36
Achievement of response rate targets ......................................................................... 37
Strata meeting the desired level of precision............................................................... 37

Response analysis .................................................................................................................... 39
7.1
7.2
7.3

8.

Definition of the analytic unit ........................................................................................ 32
Data cleaning and preparation..................................................................................... 32
Course coding .............................................................................................................. 33
Coding and processing of open text responses .......................................................... 34
Data deliverables ......................................................................................................... 34

Final dispositions, response rates and reportable strata ..................................................... 36
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4

7.

Development ................................................................................................................ 30
Overview ...................................................................................................................... 30
Changes from 2021 ..................................................................................................... 30
Additional items............................................................................................................ 31

Data preparation ........................................................................................................................ 32
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5

6.

Institutional engagement.............................................................................................. 10
Student engagement ................................................................................................... 11
Contact protocol ........................................................................................................... 11
Data collection ............................................................................................................. 26
Student support............................................................................................................ 28
Prize draw .................................................................................................................... 29

Questionnaire ............................................................................................................................ 30
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4

5.

Target population ........................................................................................................... 1
Institutional participation ................................................................................................ 2
Sample frame................................................................................................................. 2
Sampling preparation overview ..................................................................................... 3

Survey design and procedures................................................................................................ 10
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6

4.

About this report............................................................................................................. 2
Background .................................................................................................................... 2
Objectives ...................................................................................................................... 2
Overview ........................................................................................................................ 3
Project milestones.......................................................................................................... 4

Enhanced SMS protocol .............................................................................................. 47
Expanded engagement with characteristics of interest ............................................... 47
Enhanced methods of accessing the survey ............................................................... 47

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

8.4

Review of the SES ....................................................................................................... 48

List of abbreviations and terms ......................................................................................................... 49
Appendix 1

Collection, sample and marketing guides............................................................... 50

Appendix 2

Participating institutions ........................................................................................... 51

Appendix 3

Study area concordance ........................................................................................... 52

Appendix 4

Sample size formulae ................................................................................................ 53

Appendix 5

Response rates and targets by institution .............................................................. 54

Appendix 6

Survey invitations and reminders ............................................................................ 55

Appendix 7

Briefing slides for telephone follow-up activities................................................... 56

Appendix 8

Core questionnaire .................................................................................................... 57

Appendix 9

Survey screenshots ................................................................................................... 58

Appendix 10

Small screen optimisation ........................................................................................ 59

Appendix 11

Response by institution ............................................................................................ 60

List of figures
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
Figure 9
Figure 10.

Example SES invitation email - Large screen device .................................................. 14
Example SES invitation email - Small screen device .................................................. 15
International student experimental SMS ...................................................................... 20
Example SMS content ................................................................................................. 21
Fee-for-service SMS content ....................................................................................... 21
Example social media advertisement .......................................................................... 24
Presentation of the SES online survey in desktop view .............................................. 26
Presentation of the SES online survey on a small screen device ............................... 27
Response rates by day (August and September rounds)............................................ 39
Relative contribution of selected administrative variables in predicting 2022
response (student level) .............................................................................................. 43

List of tables
Table 1
Table 2
Table 3
Table 4
Table 5
Table 6
Table 7
Table 8
Table 9
Table 10
Table 11
Table 12
Table 13
Table 14
Table 15
Table 16
Table 17
Table 18
Table 19
Table 20
Table 21
Table 22
Table 23
Table 24
Table 25
Table 26

Key project statistics ...................................................................................................... 3
Key project milestones ................................................................................................... 4
Citizen/resident indicator (E358) by final offshore status .............................................. 6
Strata count by target response rate category (±7.5 per cent precision) ...................... 7
Example of response rate targets for an institution with high student numbers
and few study areas ....................................................................................................... 8
Example of response rate targets for an institution with low student numbers
and many study areas ................................................................................................... 9Invitation and reminder schedule ................................................................................. 122022 SES email plan message theme ........................................................................ 17
Email send outcomes by round of activity (August round) .......................................... 18
Email send outcomes by round of activity (September round) .................................... 18
SMS based follow up activity outcomes ...................................................................... 22
Post field reminder calls outcome summary ................................................................ 23
Facebook campaign outcomes by gender ................................................................... 25
Student enquiries to the SES helpdesk overall ........................................................... 29
Prize draw schedule..................................................................................................... 29
SES module themes .................................................................................................... 30
Resolution of coding anomalies ................................................................................... 34
Items coded and source for coding decisions ............................................................. 34
Final survey dispositions .............................................................................................. 36
Response rate comparison by citizenship status, 2020 to 2022 ................................. 37
Strata meeting desired level of precision for undergraduates in full-time study .......... 38
List of administrative variables used in the analysis, available for both
respondents and non-respondents (student level) ...................................................... 40
Administrative variables with largest differences between responding and nonrespondent students (student level)............................................................................. 41
Comparison of weighted and unweighted indicators (student level) ........................... 44
Comparison of response rates and representativity indicators (student level) ............ 45
Sources of response .................................................................................................... 46

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre1

1.

Introduction

1.1

About this report

This methodological report describes the sample preparation, data collection, data processing andreporting aspects of the 2022 Student Experience Survey (SES, ‘the survey’), conducted on behalf of
the Australian Government Department of Education (‘the department’) by the Social ResearchCentre. This report is organised into the following sections:•

Section 1 introduces the survey background, objectives and provides a general overview.

•

Section 2 describes the target audience and sample design.

•

Section 3 documents the survey design and procedures for conducting the study.

•

Section 4 outlines the questionnaire development phase, including changes made to thequestionnaire in 2022 and an overview of the institution-specific items.

•

Section 5 describes the data preparation process.

•Section 6 documents the final dispositions and response rate.

•

Section 7 presents an analysis of response.

•

Section 8 outlines key learnings and considerations for future iterations of the SES.

1.2

Background

The SES is a component of the Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) suite of surveys,
commissioned by the department. In 2015, the SES replaced the University Experience Survey (UES),
which was a government-commissioned survey administered by Graduate Careers Australia (GCA)
from 2011 to 2014. For a more detailed history of the SES and its predecessor instruments, see the2017 SES Methodological Report.

1.3

Objectives

The broad aim of the SES is to measure the higher education experiences of commencing and later
year students including perceptions regarding the quality of teaching and overall satisfaction. The
development, collection and reporting of these measures provides a national framework for collecting
feedback on the higher education student experience.
The specific research objectives of the SES are to measure the following five key aspects of thestudent experience:
1.

Skills development.

2.

Learner engagement.

3.

Teaching quality.

4.

Student support.

5.

Learning resources.

The information collected helps higher education institutions and the government improve teaching
and learning outcomes and provides the source data for the ComparED website. The ComparED
website informs the choices of prospective students by facilitating a comparison of official study

22022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

experience and outcomes data from Australian higher education institutions, at the study area levelwithin institution.
Responses to specific modules in the survey also help the department ascertain perceptions of
freedom expression on campus and better understand the international student experience at higher
education institutions in Australia.

1.4

Overview

Undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students in their first or final year of study at aparticipating Australian higher education institution were invited to take part in the 2022 SES.
A total of 141 higher education institutions participated in the 2022 SES, including all 42 universities
and 99 non-university higher education institutions (NUHEIs). Historically, the SES was conducted
once per year in August. A secondary round, conducted in early September, was introduced in 2017 toaccommodate institutions with non-traditional academic calendars. In 2022, 110 institutions
participated in the August collection round and 31 institutions participated in the September collection
round.
Sample for the survey was mainly sourced from the Tertiary Collection of Student Information (TCSI)
data submission platform, whilst the participating higher education institutions provided informationsuch as contact details. A Collection and Sample Guide (refer to Appendix 1) was provided to
institutions to help with their administration of the survey. The 2022 SES survey instrument remainedlargely consistent with previous years.
The survey was fielded online in English only. Invitations were sent by email, with subsequent
reminders sent by email and SMS. Participating institutions could also commission additional reminder
calls after the conclusion of the main online fieldwork period (‘post field reminder calls’). Surveys
completed as a result of post field reminder calls are included as completed surveys in this report.
Table 1 provides an overview of key statistics for the participating institutions. In total, 695,654
students were approached with 631,949 identified as in-scope to participate in the SES. A total of
233,916 online surveys were completed (unique student respondents) across the August and
September collection rounds, giving a total response rate of 37.0% per cent.
The analytic unit for the SES is the course, rather than the student, so after adjusting for students
completing double degrees, a total of 247,964 surveys were completed at the course level.
Table 1

Key project statistics
University

NUHEI

Total

Participating institutions (n)

42

99

141

Total sample (n)633,206

62,448695,654

In-scope sample approached (n)575,884

56,065

631,949

Surveys completed (student level)

213,296

20,620233,916

Response rate (%)

37.0

36.8

37.0

Surveys completed (course level)

227,308

20,656247,964

Note: For the purpose of QILT projects, ‘response rate’ is defined as surveys completed (unique student level) as a proportion of
in-scope sample approached, where in-scope sample approached excludes unusable sample (e.g., no contact details), out-ofscope and opted-out. This definition of response rate differs from industry standards by treating certain non-contacts and refusals
as being ineligible for the response rate calculation. See American Association for Public Opinion Research (2016) for standard
definitions.

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

3

1.5

Project milestones

Table 2 provides a summary of the key project milestones for the 2022 SES.
Table 2

Key project milestones

Task2022 SES

Establishment
Questionnaire development

30-May-22 to 28-Jun-22

Sample preparation

8-Jun-22 to 1-Jul-22

Fieldwork
August round
Soft launch main online fieldwork

26-Jul-22

Start main online fieldwork

28-Jul-22

Main online fieldwork closes*

28-Aug-22

Post field reminder calls†

29-Aug-22

Fieldwork closes†

13-Sep-22

September round
Soft launch main online fieldwork

06-Sep-22

Start main online fieldwork

08-Sep-22

Main online fieldwork closes*

09-Oct-22

Post field reminder calls†

10-Oct-22

Fieldwork closes†

17-Oct-22

ReportingDraft data and documentation to the department

18-Nov-22

Draft National Report to the department

25-Nov-22

Final data and documentation to the department

25-Nov-22

Methodological Report to the department

12-Dec-22

Draft International Report to the department

23-Dec-22

Final National Report to the department

23-Dec-22

Data files and Tableau report to institutions

13-Jan-23

Final International Report to the department

27-Jan-23* Institutions that did not opt for post field telephone reminders.
† Institutions that opted for post field telephone reminders.

42022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

2.

Sample preparation

2.1

Target population

The in-scope population consisted of commencing and later year onshore undergraduate andpostgraduate coursework students enrolled in Australian higher education institutions. As introduced in
2020, the in-scope population also included students who intended to study onshore but were offshoreat the time of the survey’s administration due to ongoing COVID-19 related reasons.
If a student was enrolled in multiple courses concurrently, the major course was determined byprioritising postgraduate coursework over undergraduate enrolments, then selecting the course withthe highest aggregated student load (E339), at the highest course level (E310) if there was a tie, andin alphabetical order if there was still a tie.

2.1.1 Commencing students
To qualify as commencing students, sample members must have been in the first year of their course
and meet the following criteria:•

enrolled in an undergraduate or postgraduate by coursework course,•

studying onshore, or had intended to study onshore but were located offshore due to
COVID-19 restrictions, and•enrolled in and completed at least one full teaching period.

2.1.2 Later year students
Conceptually, later year students are those in the final year of their studies and studying onshore.
However, in the sampling frame there is no indicator which can be used to identify students who areabout to complete their studies. Instead, an estimate of course duration, derived from a number ofexisting sample variables, is used to identify completing students.
In principle, student progression can be estimated by calculating the ratio of ‘cumulative EFTSL(Equivalent Full-Time Student Load) completed successfully’ (E931) and ‘currently in progress’ (E339)
to the total EFTSL for the course (E350).
In practice, identifying student progression using ‘EFTSL completed successfully’ is challenging,particularly for part-time and external students, students taking a leave of absence, students
transferring from one course to another, and students whose initial enrolment may have extended
back by up to ten years. It can also be unclear what a student intends to do in future study periods,
including Semester 2 or summer term.
For the purpose of identifying the SES target population, two ratios are designed to identify later year
full-time and part-time students:•

Full-time students, in a three-year course, qualify as later year students if their cumulative
EFTSL is 83 per cent of the total EFTSL for the course.

•

Part-time students qualify as later year students if their estimated cumulative load is 92 percent of the total for the course.

Students in longer or shorter courses require correspondingly lower or higher ratios, and specificadjustments are also required to accommodate the idiosyncrasies of a small number of institutions
with less typical course structures.

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

1

Note, the above estimates are applied to university student populations only. For NUHEIs, all sample
members not identified as commencing students are considered later year students and considered inscope for the SES.

2.2

Institutional participation

The scope of the 2022 SES comprised all Australian higher education institutions, including non-HESA
institutions (as introduced in 2020).
All institutions that had previously participated in the QILT surveys, along with newly-registeredinstitutions were invited to participate in the SES via the Participation and Additional Services Form(‘PASF’, see Section 3.1.2). Invitations to complete the PASF were emailed to all primary institutional
contacts approximately two months prior to the commencement of the August round.
A total of 141 institutions participated in the 2022 SES, including 42 universities and 99 NUHEIs. Refer
to Appendix 2 for a list of participating institutions.

2.3

Sample frame

Up until 2019, the SES used a centralised approach to sampling based on Submission 1 data
extracted from the Higher Education Information Management System (HEIMS). Full population
templates were used in 2020 and 2021 to source the sample directly from institutions due to delays in
TCSI migration. Given that most institutions were reporting to TCSI by 2022, a centralised approach
was resumed, and the sample population was sourced from TCSI.
Institutions are able to enter course completion data to TCSI on a continual basis. For the purpose of
extracting the SES sample, an agreed cut-off date for all enrolment data to be entered into TCSI wascommunicated to institutions. This date was around one week prior to the distribution of institution
sample files.
Institutions that had not yet fully migrated to TCSI or had missing enrolment data in TCSI were offereda full population template to provide part, or all, of their sample. The full population template ensured
that all institutions could submit TCSI-consistent data elements for survey execution and reporting.
Commencing students with a Course of study commencement date (E534) up to and including 31 May
2022 were invited to participate in the survey. To account for a potential increase in the number ofcommencing students approached that had not yet completed at least one full teaching period, thescreening questions in Module A were modified to screen out students who had not completed at least
one teaching period at the commencement of the data collection period. Refer to Section 4.3 Changes
from 2021 for more information about these new screening questions.

2.3.1 Additional populations
Institutions were provided with the opportunity to include out-of-scope student populations such as
offshore or middle-year students as additional populations in the SES on a fee-for-service basis. In
2022, 15 institutions included additional populations (12 universities and three NUHEIs). This is aslight decrease from the 17 institutions who elected to include additional populations in the 2021 SES.
These additional populations included middle years, offshore, foundation, non-award course andenabling students. Additional populations are not included in the SES National Report and do notappear in results presented in this report.

22022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

2.4

Sampling preparation overview

Over time, the Social Research Centre has developed a streamlined sample preparation andprocessing system designed to reduce burden on institutions and maximise the efficiency of internal
workflows.
Detailed information regarding the SES sampling process was available to institutions in the Collectionand Sample Guide (see Appendix 1). The guide was provided to institutions ahead of sample
preparation and outlined:•

the timeline for sample provision•

data elements required, including essential and optional fields•

processes for inclusion of additional populations, and•steps for flagging the in-scope population.

The sampling process for the 2022 SES is summarised below.

2.4.1 Sample template distribution
For the 2022 SES, the department provided an extract of all TCSI submissions from institutions to theSocial Research Centre. The Social Research Centre then reviewed this extract to identify records
eligible to participate in the SES. Sample counts by institution were checked against historicalsubmissions to ensure all expected TCSI submissions were included in the extract.
Following this, individual sample files (‘TCSI template’) were distributed to institutions to verify andpopulate.
Some institutions were still in the process of migrating to TCSI or did not have all their course
enrolment data submitted to TCSI. To ensure all in-scope records were included, these institutions
were provided with a full population template to record enrolments not present in the TCSI extract.
Two versions of the full population template were available: one for universities; and a truncatedversion for NUHEIs excluding EFTSL-related data elements, as these were not required for nonuniversity institutions.
Institutions were asked to complete the templates as per the instructions in the Collection and Sample
Guide and return the sample to the Social Research Centre for verification.

2.4.2 Sample template submission and population frame creation
Institutions populated all essential data elements in the template for all currently enrolled students at
the institution and returned the completed template to the Social Research Centre for processing.
Essential elements in the TCSI template consisted of expected course completion date, location
information and student contact details (see Appendix 1, Table 2 for a complete list of essential andoptional variables in the 2022 TCSI template).
Essential elements in the full population template included institution and course details, demographic
details, EFTSL-related variables in the case of universities, and student contact details (see Appendix
1, Table 3 for a complete list of essential and optional variables in the 2022 full population template).
Submitted templates were then combined to create the population frame for the 2022 SES.

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

32.4.3 Sample review and selection
The Social Research Centre reviewed and verified the returned template files, applying exclusion
rules, derivations and flagging students meeting any additional population definitions to create a final
population file for each institution.
Universities were sent a summary of the STAGE calculation and the onshore/offshore flagging applied
to their sample.
All institutions were also provided with a workbook containing their final in-scope sample selections fortheir review. These actions ensured that any sampling or scope-related queries were resolved before
fieldwork commenced.

2.4.4 Institution level targets
The Social Research Centre set targets for completed surveys for each of the 45 study areas withineach institution and determined the number of selections by stratum in accordance with a sample
design agreed in consultation with the department.

2.4.5 Derivations and exclusions
2.4.5.1 Derivations
Several variables were derived and appended to the population file to assist with analysis and theidentification of the target population, including:•Age (E913) – calculated at 31 December in the year prior to the reference year.

•

Concurrent / major course indicator (E331) – flagged ‘the major course’ in which students
were enrolled for inclusion in the survey.

•

Commencing student indicator (E922), flagging students with a commencement date (E534)
in the current year.

•

Cumulative EFTSL completed successfully (E931).

•

Groups excluded from the SES sample frame (EXCLUDE) – see the next section below.

•

Extra quota group flag (EXTQUOTA) – identified additional populations for inclusion in the
SES on a fee-for-service basis, along with the extra quota group description (EXTQUOTD).

•

Commencing and final year student flag (STAGE) – undergraduate and postgraduate
coursework students who met the agreed ‘commencing’ and ‘later year’ definitions.

•

Sample frame categories (STRATA).

•

21, 45 and 73 study areas derived from E461 (AREA1, AREA451 and AREA731) and E462
(AREA2, AREA452 and AREA732).

2.4.5.2

Sample exclusions

Unless specifically identified for inclusion in the SES as an Additional Population (see Section 2.3.1),
records were flagged for exclusion if they were:4•

students in postgraduate research (E310=1, 2 or 3)•

students in non-award courses (E310=30, 41, 42 or 50)•

offshore international students (broadly E358=5, see the following section for adjustments
due to COVID-19)•

students in the middle of their course (i.e. not ‘commencing’ or ‘later year’)2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre•a minor course for students with a concurrent enrolment (E331=3), or•part of a stratum in which six or fewer students were enrolled.

Sample exclusions for NUHEIs closely matched the procedures for universities except for the inclusionof middle year students in the ‘later year’ student definition, and the size of the strata included in thesample frame.

2.4.6 Sample processing quality assurance
Upon receipt of an institution’s populated template file, the Social Research Centre undertook a rangeof validation checks. Issues identified within a populated template file were documented, feedback
was provided, and the institution was asked to submit a revised version of the file. This processcontinued for each file until all required validation checks were passed.
Quality assurance checks were undertaken in several stages, as follows:•

manual naming of the returned file to meet version control conventions,•archiving an original reference copy of each returned file version,•a basic visual inspection of the file to ensure it aligns with the required format for automatedchecks,•processing the file through an automated sample checking script (the ‘auto-checker’). The
auto-checker generated a summary report of the file structure, adherence to variable
standards, completeness of the returned sample, record scoping, unit record logic checks,
reviewing institution-provided course information against the Social Research Centre’s
master course list and•an extensive sample cleaning process on files validated by the auto-checker, before the files
were operationalised for fieldwork.

2.4.7 Sample cleaning
In addition to quality assurance and validation checks, the Social Research Centre also undertook an
extensive sample cleaning process. The main components of sample file cleaning and manipulation
were as follows:•

standardisation of sample return files – including compliance to a standard format,•

email address cleaning (e.g. correct domain formats, identification of non-personal emails,
deduping),•

phone cleaning (e.g. leading zeros, country codes),•name cleaning (e.g. correct capitalisation and salutations),•

address cleaning (e.g. standardisation of state), and•various institution-specific corrections.

2.4.8 Offshore status adjustments due to COVID-19
Historically, offshore students were excluded from the SES in-scope population. However, as
described in the 2021 SES Methodological Report, students intending to study in Australia but
eventually located offshore due to the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 remain a key demographic areaof interest in the survey. To ensure that these students were included in the in-scope population,
institutions were asked to provide students’ intended location in the “IntendedLocation” variable, andthis was used in combination with E358 (Citizen resident code) to determine their final offshore status2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

5

for the purposes of the SES. Where students intended to study onshore but were currently flagged ascode 5, residing outside of Australia, in E358, they were treated as onshore students for the purposesof the 2022 SES. Students’ onshore/offshore status was recorded in the variable OFFSHORE. As
shown in Table 3, this affected 5,443 records flagged with E358=5.
Table 3

Citizen/resident indicator (E358) by final offshore status

Citizen/resident indicator (E358)

OnshoreOffshore

1

Australian citizen

502,703

358

2

New Zealand citizen

6643

84

3

Permanent visa

17,686156

4

Temporary entry permit

1562383941

5Residing outside Australia

5,443

0

8

Permanent humanitarian visa

2304

6

2.4.9 Sample review and selection
2.4.9.1 Stratum parameters
Strata for the SES are defined on the basis of institution, study area, course level (i.e. undergraduate
or postgraduate coursework) and stage of studies (i.e. commencing, middle years or later year).
While the ComparED website reports SES results based on institution, course level and 21 study
areas to maximise the extent to which data can be reported, the SES sample design is based on 45
study areas. This design seeks to maximise representativeness within the 21 study areas reported on
the ComparED website and facilitate more nuanced analysis and more detailed reporting whererequired.
The fields of education (E461) within each of the 45 and 21 study areas are listed at Appendix 3. The
supplementary FOE code (E462) is used to assign courses undertaken by students in combined /double degrees to a second study area variable.
Students in combined / double degrees are allocated to the study area stratum with the fewest
students. For example, a student in an Arts / Law course is typically allocated to a Law rather than anArts stratum (with greater number of students). Students still answer the SES for both degrees but forthe purpose of operational strata allocation and progress reporting they count towards Law.

2.4.9.2 Setting strata targets
Target completed sample sizes are calculated at the stratum level taking into account the number ofrecords available and the goal of reporting strata-level results at a level of precision of ±7.5
percentage points at a 90 per cent level of confidence.
See Appendix 4 for details of the method used to derive the target number of completed surveys bystratum for the 2022 SES. When this information is overlaid with historical response rates it isapparent that the response rate target is aspirational for many strata.
Table 4 shows the number and proportion of strata in each target response rate band for university
and NUHEI undergraduates and postgraduates. At the ±7.5 per cent level, less than half (47.9 percent) of the university undergraduate strata have an ‘achievable’ response rate, where for the purposeof this table ‘achievable’ is regarded as a response rate of less than 50 per cent.
For university postgraduate coursework, NUHEI undergraduate and NUHEI postgraduate coursework
strata, the proportion of strata with an ‘achievable’ response rate is 27.2, 15.7 and 14.3 per cent62022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

respectively. Overall, aspirational stratum level response rates were higher for NUHEIs, relative touniversities.
Table 4

Strata count by target response rate category (±7.5 per cent precision)

Response ratecategory

University
UG
n

NUHEI
PGCW

%

n

UG
%

PGCW

n

%

n

%

100%

25

2.3

59

6.7

39

15.3

37

31.1

75% to 99%

219

20.4

293

33.2

104

40.8

44

37.0

50% to 74%

314

29.3

290

32.9

72

28.2

21

17.6

25% to 49%

325

30.3

196

22.2

33

12.9

9

7.6

Less than 25%

189

17.6

44

5.0

7

2.7

8

6.7

Total strata

1,072

100.0

882

100.0

255

100.0

119

100.0

Net 'achievable'(<50%)

514

47.9

240

27.2

40

15.7

17

14.3

2.4.9.3 Selections
As a result of the sample design, the SES is effectively a census of all commencing and later year
students at all universities and NUHEIs, with the exception of the University of Melbourne andUniversity of Western Australia, where a random sample of in-scope students was selected.
Where an institution requires a sample of greater than 90 per cent of students, a census is undertaken
in order to minimise complexity in the promotion and administration of the SES within institutions.
After sampling and verification procedures were concluded, the number of students approached forthe 2022 SES was 695,654, comprising 633,206 university students (449,413 undergraduates and183,793 postgraduate coursework students) and 62,448 NUHEI students (42,253 undergraduates and20,195 postgraduate coursework students).

2.4.10 Institution level targets
Appendix 5 shows that target response rates for the 2022 SES differed greatly by individual university,from a low of 22.7 per cent to a high of 50.1 per cent. Response rate targets were aspirational anddesigned to shift institutions towards maximum reportability and representativeness. Response rate
targets as presented to institutions were based on an expected proportion for the target variable of 50
per cent, a level of confidence of 90 per cent and a margin of error of 5 per cent (i.e. a higher level ofprecision than is required for stratum-level reporting of results).
By way of an example, Table 5 shows the required response rate by stratum for a large institution.
This institution has a large number of students but a comparatively small number of study areas. As aresult, the overall required response rate is low at 19.5 per cent but the stratum level target response
rate varies widely from 100.0 per cent to 14.1 per cent.
This institution could easily reach an overall response rate of 19.5 per cent but could fail to meettargets for each stratum unless this was closely monitored. Given that response rates above 50 per
cent are unlikely at an individual stratum level, even institutions appearing to have an ‘easy’ overall
response rate target may still fail to meet reporting thresholds for individual study areas.

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

7

Table 5

Example of response rate targets for an institution with high student numbers
and few study areas

Stratum

Corresponding Study Area

SamplenTargetnRequired
response rate(%)

43,618

6,170

14.1

584

209

35.8

1,867

327

17.5

1

Natural & Physical Sciences

3

Biological Sciences

4

Medical Science & Technology

5Computing & Information Systems

22

22

100.0

12

Architecture & Urban Environments

4,228

695

16.4

14

Agriculture & Forestry

5,860

2,218

37.8

15

Environmental Studies

928

161

17.3

21

Dentistry

49

38

77.5

29

Business Management

4,070

582

14.3

31

Management & Commerce - Other

252

207

82.1

34

Humanities incl. History & Geography

12,244

1,756

14.3

42

Art & Design

1,261

628

49.8

43

Music & Performing Arts

1,541

404

26.2

44

Communication, Media & Journalism

146

113

77.9

12,831

2,507

19.5

Total

Table 6 provides an example of an institution with challenging response rate targets. This institution
has a comparatively small number of enrolled students but has a broad course offering across several
study areas. Targets range from a low of 24.1 per cent to a high of 87.5 per cent with an overallrequired response rate of 45.9 per cent. Institutions showing this pattern of response rate targets are
typically in regional areas where a variety of courses are offered.

82022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research CentreTable 6

Example of response rate targets for an institution with low student numbers
and many study areas

Stratum

Corresponding Study Area

Sample(n)Target(n)Required
response
rate
(%)

3

Biological Sciences

78

66

85.0

4

Medical Science & Technology

500

359

71.9

16

Health Services & Support

86

58

67.5

18

Medicine

72

54

75.0

19

Nursing

850

205

24.1

23

Physiotherapy

1,152

565

49.0

26

Teacher Education - Early Childhood

158

98

62.3

27

Teacher Education - Primary & Secondary

762

230

30.2

28

Accounting

213

119

55.7

29

Business Management

133

116

87.0

30

Sales & Marketing

693

572

82.5

31

Management & Commerce - Other

209

163

77.9

34

Humanities inc History & Geography

369

154

41.8

36

Social Work

81

71

87.5

37

Psychology

52

44

84.6

38

Law

468

223

47.6

41

Sport & Recreation

125

110

87.5

44

Communication, Media & Journalism

312

216

69.0

7,427

3,406

45.9

Total

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

93. Survey design and procedures
3.1

Institutional engagement

To build institutional engagement with the SES, the Social Research Centre employed a strategy
based on the principles of stakeholder need, transparency, knowledge sharing and responsiveness.
The Social Research Centre’s institutional engagement strategy for the 2022 SES is described in thissection and included:•

Planning resources such as the QILT Key Dates Calendar and Collection and Sample Guide.

•

Communications inviting institutions to participate in the SES.

•

Webinars and newsletters.

•

An ongoing dialogue with survey managers to build rapport, including the offer of support
during field.

•

Supporting institutions to undertake response maximisation activity, such as awarenessraising emails, social media posts and lecture slides, through the Collection and Sample Guide
and Marketing Pack (see Section 3.2).

3.1.1 Planning resources
The Social Research Centre provided planning resources to support institutions in participating andpublicising the SES, allow for forward planning of institution resources and to ensure project
milestones were delivered to schedule.
The QILT Key Dates Calendar (see Section 1.5) was accessible via the QILT provider portal andcontained an overview of the 2022 SES project milestones. The calendar was kept up to date yearround with any project schedule adjustments.
A Collection and Sample Guide was made available to institutions via the QILT provider portal prior to
the 2022 SES. A notification email was sent to all institutions advising of the release. The Collectionand Sample Guide provided a stand-alone source of information to introduce the SES, provide
timelines, outline the sample process, describe participation in the study, provide resources to assist in
student engagement, outline response maximisation procedures and contact protocols, and document
general conduct of the SES. The 2022 SES Collection and Sample Guide (August round) is provided
at Appendix 1. A separate version with relevant dates was distributed to institutions participating in the
September round.

3.1.2 Invitation to participate
As noted in Section 2.2, prior to the 2022 SES, the Social Research Centre sent an email to all key
contacts at each institution. The email asked recipients to confirm their institution’s participation in therespective collection round and provide up to date contact information via the PASF. Institutions werealso asked to nominate additional fee-for-service activities. The 2022 SES included the following feefor-service activities:

10•

Additional populations (see Section 2.3.1);•

Institution-specific items in the SES questionnaire (see Section 4.4.1);•

Additional SMS (see Section 3.3.4.1); and•Post field reminder calls (see Section 3.3.4).

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

3.1.3 Webinars and newsletters
As part of the institutional engagement strategy, a series of webinars and newsletters was provided to
institutions throughout the 2022 SES collection. Newsletters were sent monthly covering information
related to key QILT survey milestones, acting as a regular point of contact with institution contacts who
subscribed.
A series of webinars was presented for institutions on a near monthly basis. Webinar topics were
designed to guide institutions through key stages of the survey administration process and to sharetechnical, methodological and analytical insights. To ensure continued engagement and relevance,
institutions were consulted to inform topics of interest for future webinars. Webinars relating directly to
the 2022 SES covered topics such as sample preparation, response maximisation, fieldwork progress
and analysis of prior year results.

3.1.4 Ongoing dialogue with institutions
An open dialogue with survey managers was maintained throughout the 2022 SES to build rapport,
offer support, discuss fieldwork performance and better understand key issues that could impact the
SES. The following engagement activities were conducted to connect with institutions:•

Institutional outreach: telephone contact was attempted with all participating universities
and selected NUHEIs during fieldwork for the 2022 SES. A follow up email was sent whencontact with an institution could not be made by telephone (e.g., following a voicemail). To
assist with response maximisation, priority was given to contacting larger institutions andinstitutions with particularly high or low response rates.

•

Respondent Engagement Survey (RES): A brief survey was sent to institution contacts
after each fieldwork period, with a total of 64 institutions participating in the 2022 SES RES.
The RES collected data to inform analysis on response rate maximisation and was anopportunity for institutions to provide more general feedback on their experience with using
the 2022 SES Marketing Pack.

In addition to these activities, the QILT research, administration and consulting teams were in regularcommunication and contact with institutions to maintain a high level of engagement.

3.2

Student engagement

In addition to the Collection and Sample Guide, a Marketing Pack was provided to institutions to assist
with student engagement activities Feedback from survey managers via the previous year’s RES andother channels was reviewed to ensure materials best met institutional needs. All marketing materials
referred students to either the QILT website, the Social Research Centre website, the SES helpdesk
email address or SES helpdesk 1800 number for the purpose of contacting the Social ResearchCentre with any queries. A SES Marketing Pack User Guide was included with the Marketing Pack toprovide information for, and examples of, the intended use of the marketing materials.
The Collection and Sample Guide for both rounds of the 2022 SES included further marketing
information and an Engagement Activity Plan. The Engagement Activity Plan proposed a marketing
campaign schedule that was aligned to the relevant SES fieldwork period and paired engagement
activities with the appropriate Marketing Pack resource. The Collection and Sample Guide and theMarketing Pack User Guide are included at Appendix 1.

3.3

Contact protocol

The 2022 SES employed an extensive protocol of contact attempts, including an email invitation, tenemail reminders and three SMS reminders. Additionally, institutions could opt-in to an extra SMS
2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

11and/or post-field reminder calls on a fee-for-service basis. In each mode of contact there was provision
to opt-out or unsubscribe from future contact, in alignment with obligations under the AustralianCommunications and Media Authority (ACMA) Spam Act. Students could also opt-out by contacting
the SES helpdesk.
Table 7 shows the date of contact activity, as well the number of emails and SMS sent. A copy of the
SES email and SMS invitation and reminders is provided at Appendix 6.
Table 7

Invitation and reminder scheduleAug-22

Sep-22Round of activity

Day of send

Email invitation (soft launch)Tue, 26 Jul

Email invitation (Main launch)

Thu, 28 Jul

Email reminder 1

Sat, 30 Jul

240,994

Sat, 10 Sep

29,239Email reminder 2Mon, 1 Aug

240,821

Mon, 12 Sep

29,245

Prize draw 1 closed

Mon, 1 Aug

N/A

Mon, 12 Sep

N/A

Email reminder 3Thu, 4 Aug

252,488

Thu, 15 Sep

27,064

Email reminder 4Mon, 8 Aug

226,735

Mon, 19 Sep

28,391

SMS 1

Mon, 8 Aug

404,074

Mon, 19 Sep

55,892

Prize draw 2 closed

Mon, 8 Aug

N/A

Mon, 19 Sep

N/A

Email reminder 5Open up email reminders to Email 3 andEmail 4 if available
Email reminder 6

Wed, 10 Aug

214,954

Wed, 21 Sep

27,403

Mon, 15 Aug

N/A

Mon, 26 Sep

N/A

Mon, 15 Aug

209,917

Mon, 26 Sep

27,154

SMS 2

Mon, 15 Aug

351,982

Mon, 26 Sep

49,342

Prize draw 3 closed

Mon, 15 Aug

N/A

Mon, 26 Sep

N/A

Email reminder 7Fri, 19 Aug

203,783

Fri, 30 Sep

27,305

Email reminder 8Mon, 22 Aug

201,133

Mon, 3 Oct

27,174

Prize draw 4 closed

Mon, 22 Aug

N/A

Mon, 3 Oct

N/A

SMS 3

Mon, 22 Aug

318,672

Mon, 3 Oct

42,241

Supplementary reminder±Thu, 25 Aug

207,365

Thu, 6 Oct

29,759SMS Fee-for-service

Thu, 25 Aug

65,393Thu, 6 Oct

14,856

Email reminder 9Sat, 27 Aug

207,269

Sat, 8 Oct

25,942

Online fieldwork closes*
Post-field reminder callscommenced†
Fieldwork closes†

Tue, 30 Aug

N/A

Tue, 11 Oct

N/A

Wed, 31 Aug

N/A

Wed, 12 Oct

N/A

Tue, 14 Dec

N/ATue, 22 Mar

N/A

Number sent
234,716

Day of sendTue, 6 Sep
Thu, 8 Sep

Number sent
26,286* For institutions which did not commission post field telephone activities (i.e. reminder calls or full CATI surveys).
† For institutions which commissioned post field telephone activities.

± A supplementary email was sent in the final week of fieldwork due to low response.

3.3.1 Email invitation and reminders
At the beginning of each round within the 2022 SES collection cycle, the Social Research Centre sent
an invitation to participate in the survey to all in-scope sample members. The invitation email advisedof their selection in the SES, summarised the survey objectives, outlined privacy provisions andcommunicated the value of participation. The invitation and reminders included a unique link that took

122022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

the students directly into their survey. All emails referred to the QILT and SES webpages for further
information about the SES, privacy provisions and prize draw terms and conditions. Further, anunsubscribe link was included in the footer of each email if sample members no longer wanted toreceive correspondence.
In the email template design, consideration was given to the display of emails on different devices andhow this could alter communication of message intent. Core message themes were communicated insubject lines and above the ‘start survey’ button, whilst content supplementary to the core theme wasplaced in the lower half of the email body. This made the ‘start survey’ button visible without thestudent having to scroll down, enhancing user experience. Figure 1 and Figure 2 (on the following
pages) illustrate the appearance of the invitation on screen for students on desktop and mobile
devices.

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

13

Figure 1

14

Example SES invitation email - Large screen device

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

Figure 2

Example SES invitation email - Small screen device

The email schedule was comprised of an invitation followed by up to ten email reminders. Sample
members who had completed the survey, those who were disqualified from participating (i.e. screenedout because they were not eligible) or who had unsubscribed, were removed from the next scheduledemail reminder.
The email send activity was designed to maintain survey completion momentum throughout the datacollection period and maximise participation. To enhance the respondent experience, all emails and
SMS included a unique survey link which enabled respondents to enter their survey directly. The
following email send and bounce outcome protocol was used for the 2022 SES:
1. Invitation email sent to both the Email 1 and Email 2 fields:
2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

15

a. If both addresses failed (i.e. hard bounce) and Email 3 was available, then Email 3
was used.
b. If Email 3 failed and Email 4 was available, then Email 4 was used.
Provided at least one of the email addresses available was valid, all students would havebeen sent an email invitation.
2. For students with a failed outcome for all available email addresses:a. The survey remained accessible throughout field by logging in or authenticating via
the SES landing page on the QILT website.
b. They would have received at least one form of contact if a mobile number wasavailable for them (i.e. they were included in SMS activity as described in Section
3.3.3).
c.

They may have been contacted if a phone number was provided for them and they
were selected for post-field reminder calls (i.e. they were included in post-fieldreminder activity as described in Section 3.3.4).
When contacted by SMS, the student could access the survey directly via the uniquelink provided within the SMS. When contacted via a post-field reminder call, students
were provided the option of receiving an email containing a unique survey link.

d. They would not have received contact about the survey if a mobile number was notavailable for them or if they were not selected for post-field reminder calls.
3. From reminder six onwards, students for whom Email 1 or Email 2 did not fail, emails weresent to Email 3 and Email 4 if available.
As a result, provided that all four addresses available were valid, sample members eligible forreminder six received an email to each valid email address for each remaining round ofactivity.
The overarching objective of the email plan was to appeal to a wide and diverse audience. As such,the theme, length and tone of each email varied. All emails featured text customised to the student
and the content differed throughout the reminder schedule, mentioning average survey duration,
confidentiality provisions and prize draw information where relevant. To minimise the risk ofcomplaints due to contact fatigue, Reminder 6 highlighted the unsubscribe mechanism. The message
intent for the SES emails is summarised in Table 8.

162022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research CentreTable 82022 SES email plan message theme

Round ofactivity

Message theme

Invitation

Awareness raising and invitation

Reminder 1

Your feedback is important, you are from a unique group of students

Reminder 2

Encourage early completion with prize incentive, appreciate if you could spare the time, needmore responses from your institution and study area

Reminder 3

Recognise student may be busy, emphasise how institutions can use findings to improve

Reminder 4

Grateful if you could spare the time to give feedback to benefit future students, have your say,prize incentive

Reminder 5

Help improve the Australian Government's understanding of COVID-19 on student experience

Reminder 6Empathetic tone, acknowledge frequency of contact, improve course offerings at institution

Reminder 7

Recognise student may be busy, reflect on your higher education experience to benefit current
and future students

Reminder 8

Final prize draw closes tonight, still need to hear from more students from your course

Supplementary
Reminder±Survey closes soon, support continuous improvement of higher education in Australia

Reminder 9Last appeal, final chance to complete, help improve the Australian Government's
understanding of the student experience± A supplementary email was sent in the final week of fieldwork due to low response.

A breakdown of email send outcomes by round of activity is provided in Table 9 and Table 10.
During the 2022 SES collection cycle, major companies including Apple introduced new email security
measures that prevented email senders from using tracking pixels to measure open rates. Thischange rendered traditional email Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), such as open rates, as
increasingly flawed metrics and made monitoring these KPIs more difficult. Due to these changes,‘clicked on link’ provides an alternative effectiveness measure. The invitation remained the mosteffective email in the schedule with the highest and second highest ‘clicked on link’ rate in September
and August respectively. As could be expected, ‘clicked on link’ rates generally trended down witheach subsequent reminder. An exception to this can be seen at Reminder 4, which recorded a higher‘clicked on link’ rate than the preceding reminder across August and September. Reminder 4emphasised the upcoming prize draw in both the subject line and message body, and was sent on thesame day as the first SMS, which may have contributed to the higher click-through observed for thisactivity. To accurately analyse ‘clicked on link’ rates in future rounds of the SES, consideration should
be made towards implementing a more sophisticated effectiveness measure.
The proportion of bounced emails (sent emails that return with a server response indicating nondelivery) across the 2022 SES collection cycle was low. This indicates that at the national level, thequality of contact details provided was good and that the Social Research Centre-instigated email
cleaning processes were effective. Additionally, opt-outs were less than one per cent at each send,suggesting the nature of the survey and the timing of sends were not a concern for students.

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

17

Table 9

Email send outcomes by round of activity (August round)

Total

Invite

R1

R2

R3

R4

R5

R6

R7

R8

Supp

R9

Total sent (n)605,572

567,481

529,483

494,857

474,272

438,150

424,425

402,046

390,165

372,566

366,765

Opened (%)

60.8

57.4

54.4

48.8

52.0

50.8

50.3

49.1

48.2

44.1

43.2

Clicked on link (%)

8.3

8.7

6.7

4.5

5.9

3.3

3.6

3.4

2.6

1.1

2.3

Opt-out from link (%)

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.5

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.6

0.4

Opened email (%)

52.2

48.3

47.2

43.8

45.6

46.7

46.2

45.2

45.2

42.4

40.5

Unopened (%)

38.8

42.5

45.5

51.0

47.8

49.1

49.5

50.7

51.6

55.6

56.5

Soft bounce (%)1

0.1

0.1

0.1

0.2

0.2

0.2

0.2

0.2

0.2

0.3

0.2

Hard bounce (%)2

0.3

<0.1

<0.1

<0.1

<0.1

<0.1

<0.1

<0.1

<0.1

<0.1

<0.1

Table 10

Email send outcomes by round of activity (September round)

Total

Invite

R1

R2

R3

R4

R5

R6

R7

R8

Supp

R9

Total sent (n)88,476

83,13378,40767,60770,70066,55464,486

61,33859,65056,96455,810Opened (%)

69.5

64.7

62.5

59.8

59.5

58.6

57.7

55.3

54.2

47.5

53.3

Clicked on link (%)

8.2

7.4

6.3

4.4

5.5

2.8

3.2

3.2

2.7

1.0

2.5

Opt-out from link (%)

0.4

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.5

0.7

0.8

0.5

0.5

0.6

0.5

Opened email (%)

60.9

56.9

55.8

54.7

53.6

55.1

53.7

51.6

51.0

45.8

50.3

29.7

35.2

37.3

40.0

40.2

41.2

42.1

44.5

45.6

52.2

46.5

Unopened (%)
1

0.1

0.1

0.2

0.2

0.2

0.2

0.2

0.2

0.2

0.2

0.2

Hard bounce (%)2

0.7

<0.1

<0.1

<0.1

0.1

<0.1

<0.1

<0.1

<0.1

<0.1

<0.1

Soft bounce (%)

1

A soft bounce occurs when an email could not be delivered because of a temporary issue, such as the recipient’s mailbox being full or inactive.

2

A hard bounce occurs when an email could not be delivered for permanent reasons, for example when the recipient’s email address does not exist or the recipient’s email server has blocked delivery.

18

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

3.3.2 International engagement strategy
The Social Research Centre is committed to an International Engagement Strategy with the goal ofincreasing international student and graduate response, thereby improving the representation of the
QILT data.
A customised email plan designed to appeal to the ‘international student’ identity has been
implemented since the 2020 SES collection. Outcomes from the 2021 implementation were reviewed,
and learnings applied to the customised email plan prior to the 2022 collection. Applicable insightsfrom the qualitative focus groups conducted with international students at the end of 2021, as
mentioned in the 2021 SES Methodological Report were also integrated to the email plan.
Reminder 5 in the email reminder schedule was customised based on past experimentation andincluded an image and text designed to appeal to international students compared to the standard
image and content used (see Appendix 6 for a copy of the email).
Furthermore, new experimentation was conducted on both the invite and SMS 1 to examine whether
text customised to international students fared better (in terms of open and click-through rates) than
the standard content.
In August, a noticeably shorter and concise email was tested with 50 per cent of international
students, whilst the remaining half saw the regular invite content. The proportion of international
students who clicked on the survey link in the email was 3.7 percentage points higher for those who
received the experimental email, whilst the completion rate for the international experiment group was
also 2.2 percentage points higher. This experiment was repeated again in September and also yielded
positive results for the shorter version of the invite. As such this text will be implemented as standard
for future SES email plans and across the other QILT surveys where appropriate.
Experimentation regarding sender name was also conducted on SMS 1. Justification for this camefrom insights raised in the qualitative focus groups mentioned above, where some participantssuggested they would recognise the ‘Australian Government’ more than the ‘Dept of Education’. Twoversions of the SMS were sent, one identifying the sender as the ‘Dept of Education’ and the other as
the ‘Australian Government’ (refer to Figure 3). Amongst international students, there was little
difference in direct survey completes via SMS (25.8 per cent for ‘Dept of Education’ vs. 26.1 per centfor ‘Australian Government). However, unexpectedly there was a clear preference for ‘Dept of
Education’ amongst domestic students when measured by direct survey completes via SMS (37.7 percent vs. 34.2 per cent). As such, ‘Dept of Education’ will be used as the sender name for all future
SMS.

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

19

Figure 3

International student experimental SMS

3.3.3 SMS reminders
SMS reminders were used during fieldwork to both compliment the email contact strategy and remedy
email deliverability and respondent receptiveness issues that have become apparent across thebroader QILT project in recent times. If an institution provided mobile numbers in their sample return, it
was considered consent to contact students via SMS.
For the first time on SES, three SMS were sent throughout each round as part of the standard QILT
survey methodology. This increased SMS usage was employed as a tool to augment response in
response to decreasing respondent receptiveness to historical contact modes such as email. Thesemessages were sent to all in-scope sample members with a valid Australian mobile number who had
yet to complete the survey. Those who had already completed the survey or unsubscribed from email
activity were excluded from the SMS sends.
The content of the SMS was aimed at driving survey completion and included a direct link to accessthe online survey, bypassing the need to provide login information. In compliance with the AustralianPrivacy Principles and the ACMA Spam Act 2003, all SMS messages identified the Social ResearchCentre as the sender, noted the study the SMS was referring to and had the functionality for recipientsto unsubscribe. Sample members who replied ‘STOP’ to the SMS were opted-out of futurecommunications, whilst all other responses were reviewed for further opt-outs and screen-outs. SMS
content for all rounds is provided in Appendix 6. A copy of the first SMS message from the Augustround is provided in Figure 4 below.

202022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

Figure 4

Example SMS content

3.3.4.1 Additional SMS
Institutions were offered the opportunity to opt-in to an additional SMS (‘F4S SMS’) on a fee-forservice basis. The SMS was sent on the Thursday in the final week of field work for each round andfeatured an abbreviated version of the institution’s name (see Figure 5 for an example of themessage).
Institutions could choose to send the message to either all survey non-responders with a valid mobile
number, or a specific sub-group of their sample that they wished to target within a set budget.
In total, 19 institutions across the two rounds opted to send an additional SMS.
Figure 5

Fee-for-service SMS content

Table 11 on the next page provides a summary of the number of SMS sent and the SMS outcomes.
The rate of survey completions directly attributable to each SMS message ranged from 2.4 per cent to
7.0 per cent. Additionally, the F4S SMS in August experienced the highest open rate across all SMS
sent (97.2 per cent). This could be due to the fact that the message featured the institution name,thereby piquing respondents’ interest and potentially legitimising the survey and QILT brand. These
results illustrate the relative receptiveness of sample members to SMS in comparison to more
traditional contact modes (like email) and provide justification for implementing a third SMS (‘SMS3’)
as a standard part of the contact protocol in the future. Continued exploration of novel ways to use
SMS as a response maximisation tool should also be considered.

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

21

Table 11

SMS based follow up activity outcomesContact activity

Aug-22n

Sep-22
%

n

%

SMS1
Sent

404,074

100.0

55,892100.0

Opened379,472

93.9

52,20993.4

Unopened

18,045

4.5

3,673

6.6

Unsubscribed

6,557

1.6

10

0.0

Completed via SMS link*

16,266

4.0

1749

3.1

Sent

351,982

100.0

49,342100.0

Opened334,19394.9

45,231

91.7

Unopened

15,119

4.3

2,983

6.0

Unsubscribed

7,752

2.2

1,128

2.3

Completed via SMS link*

12,400

3.5

1194

2.4

Sent

318,672

100.0

42,241100.0

Opened301,373

94.6

38,840

91.9

Unopened

10,616

3.3

619

1.5

Unsubscribed

6,680

2.1

896

2.1

Completed via SMS link*

22,170

7.0

2863

6.8

Sent

65,393100.0

14,856100.0

Opened63,55897.2

13,856

93.3

Unopened

261

0.4

454

3.1

SMS2

SMS3

SMS F4S

Unsubscribed

1,571

2.4

392

2.6

Completed via SMS link*

3,865

5.9

977

6.6

* Student completed survey directly via the SMS link. Due to the large scope of SMS activity, completions that could be indirectly
associated with SMS (i.e., SMS prompted student to complete via email link) are not shown and would instead be attributed toother sources of response (refer to Section 7.3).

3.3.4 Post field reminder calls
Post field reminder calls were undertaken as part of a ‘push to web’ response maximisation strategy,
designed to encourage online completions. Post-field telephone activity was a fee-for-service option to
enable institutions to ‘top-up’ response rates for reporting purposes and their own internal analysis.
Post field reminders were conducted following the close of the main online fieldwork period, with theonline survey remaining open for approximately a two-week period (see Table 2) to allow for studentsof participating institutions to respond following telephone reminder contact. Online survey
completions resulting from post field reminder calls were included in national reporting and analysis,as the mode of completion was consistent with online surveys completed as part of the main online
fieldwork period.
To qualify for the post field reminder calls, a student was required to meet the following criteria:

22•phone number available in the sample,•

not completed the survey,•

not opted-out of the 2022 SES (i.e. either via the unsubscribe link in emails, an SMS or bysubmitting an opt-out request via the SES helpdesk), and2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre•

met any custom criteria chosen by the institution (e.g. the institution may only want to top up
response in certain study areas).

The purpose of post field reminder call activity was to confirm or update the best contact email
address for students and ask students to complete the survey online. Table 12 provides a summary ofpost field reminder call outcomes.
In 2022, a total of eight institutions opted for post field reminder calls. Post field reminder call activity
was undertaken for 4.2 per cent of the total sample approached for the 2022 SES. Contact rates werebroadly similar between undergraduate and postgraduate coursework sample members. Emailaddresses were confirmed or updated at a rate of 28.4 per cent for undergraduates and 28.2 per centfor postgraduates. Of the total sample initiated (i.e., where contact was attempted), 4.5 per centcompleted the survey directly from the email sent during post field reminder call activity.
Table 12

Post field reminder calls outcome summary
UG

PGCW

Total

n

%

n

%

n

%

Total sample initiated

22,425

100.0

6,644

100.0

29,069100.0

Unusable sample

115

0.5

52

0.8

167

0.6

No contact

15,691

70.0

4,647

69.9

20,33870.0

Total contact

6,619

29.5

1,945

29.3

8,564

29.5

6,367

28.4

1,875

28.2

8,242

28.4

Other contact typeCollected student’s email

252

1.1

70

1.1

322

1.1

Completed directly*

1,042

4.6

252

3.8

1,294

4.5

Completed indirectly†

310

1.4

79

1.2

389

1.3

* Student completed the survey directly via the post field reminder email.
† Given that standard response maximisation initiatives cease at the end of the main online fieldwork period, ‘Completed indirectlyfor post field reminder calls is defined as: student completed the survey by means other than the post field reminder email after
being called from post field reminder calls (excludes calls to disconnected phone numbers).
Note: Unusable sample includes wrong numbers, disconnected numbers, not a residential number, fax lines, incoming call
restrictions and respondent unreliable.

3.3.5 Fieldwork briefing
Call centre operators selected to work on the 2022 SES post field reminder calls project attended abriefing session delivered by the Social Research Centre project management team. Briefings wereconducted prior to the commencement of in field and post field activities in each collection round.
Additional briefings were conducted throughout fieldwork as required to meet operational needs. The
briefings covered an overview of the SES and QILT, privacy and confidentiality policy, reminder callprocedures, and fieldwork timelines.
Each briefing session was followed by a run through of the reminder call script and a training module
delivered by the operations team. The training module focused on building skills for respondent liaison
and respondent engagement. It made use of interactive learning, utilising call recordings and role-playexercises to tailor response maximisation skills to the SES. The briefing slides are provided at
Appendix 7.

3.3.6 Quality control
Quality monitoring techniques were applied and included:•

Listening-in validations conducted in accordance with existing ISO 20252 procedures.

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

23

•

Monitoring (listening in) by the Social Research Centre project manager and supervisory
staff.

•

Field team de-briefing after the first shift, and thereafter, whenever there was important
information to impart to the field team in relation to engagement techniques, data quality,
consistency of administration, or project performance.

•

Maintenance of a ‘field team handout’ document addressing any sample member
engagement or data quality issues.

•

Maintenance of a Wiki with answers to common student queries.

Quality assurance and applicable standards are discussed further at Section 3.4.3.

3.3.7 Social media
A social media advertising campaign was conducted to support the broader SES response
maximisation strategy. To support the administration of the campaign, the research and administration
teams created an extensive content calendar to plan and schedule posts in advance.
Facebook and Instagram posts were shared on QILT social media accounts(https://www.facebook.com/QILT1, @qilt_src) to build a baseline social media presence. The
campaign included paid Facebook and Instagram ads purchased via Facebook Ad Manager that weretimed to coincide with key fieldwork dates. Organic (i.e., unpaid) ads were also shared across thesame platforms. Ad content was tailored with calls to action appropriate to each period of fieldwork(e.g., referencing a ‘chance to win’ during the prize draw period) and built upon themes introduced in
the email reminder plan. An example paid ad is shown at Figure 6.
Figure 6

Example social media advertisement

Paid ads were used to build awareness of the SES by reaching a larger audience than was possible
via organic posts on the QILT social media accounts. Ads were targeted to Facebook and Instagramusers aged 18 to 35 who matched a range of interests related to higher education. Example keywords
for targeting included ‘university’, ‘international students’ and ‘undergraduate study’. Delivery of the242022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centreads was determined by the lowest cost bid strategy and the campaign objective was to drive traffic to
the link included in the posts.
Facebook campaign outcomes for the 2022 SES are shown in Table 13. This table presents data for‘impressions’, that is, the number of times the ad was on screen, ‘reach’, that is, the number of people
who saw the ad at least once and ‘link clicks’, that is, the number of people who clicked on the link 1.
The audience skewed towards males who comprised most of the impressions (61.1 per cent), reach(59.7 per cent) and link clicks (62.3 per cent). Future ad campaigns should continue to ensure that
content appeals to relevant subsections of the selected audience, such as males, who were
underrepresented in the 2022 collection round (refer to Section 7.2).
Table 13

Facebook campaign outcomes by genderAudiencen

Impressions
%

n

Reach

%

n

Link clicks%

Total audience

567,426100.0

257,408

100.0

162

100.0

Female212,866

37.5

100,736

39.1

57

35.2

Male

346,634

61.1

153,632

59.7

101

62.3

7,926

1.4

3,040

1.2

<5

2.5

Unknown

Note: Results are aggregated from ads displayed on the Facebook and Instagram platforms.
*Includes data that can’t be grouped into other breakdown segments.

3.3.8 Email deliverability testing
Following from substantial improvements to the email deliverability testing process for the 2021 SES,
email deliverability processes for the 2022 SES focused on maximising student email engagement by
ensuring that all emails avoided deliverability to a spam or junk folder. Further, testing was conducted
to optimise emails for deliverability to primary inboxes (e.g. ‘primary’ tab in Gmail, ‘focused’ inbox in
Outlook).
Actions taken to optimise email deliverability included:

1•

a dedicated Internet Protocol (IP) address range used only by the Social Research Centre
for bulk email delivery. The reputation of this range was maintained year-round to keep the
IP addresses ‘warm’. The dedicated range eliminated risks associated with bulk mailing froma shared IP pool (as was used during the 2020 SES),•

during sample cleaning, email addresses were validated to reduce bounce rates, thereby
minimising the degradation of IP reputation,•

ongoing maintenance of technical services and policies to meet sender best practice,•optimisation of all images, hyperlinks and HTML code used in emails to meet deliverability
best practices,•

pre field testing of emails across a broad range of mail clients, devices and providers to
confirm and optimise compatibility, display and delivery, and•in field tracking of email deliverability using analytics tools.

https://www.facebook.com/business/help/447834205249495

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

25

3.4

Data collection

3.4.1 Online survey
The online survey could be accessed by clicking on the link in the email invitation or reminders, via the
SES landing page on the QILT website, via a redirect from the SES home page, by clicking the link in
the SMS, or a redirect from social media ads. Clicking from the email invitation, email reminder or
SMS would go directly to the beginning of the survey. From the SES landing page, students could log
in to the survey with their unique username and password. In-scope students without a username or
password could ‘authenticate’ their personal details (name, student ID, date of birth) against the
sample information and receive an email invitation with a direct survey link. Alternatively, in-scope
students without login details could access the survey by contacting the QILT Helpdesk.
Online survey presentation was informed by best practice accessibility guidelines and other relevant
resources. Standard features included:•

optimisation for small screen devices (see Appendix 10),•consistent presentation and placement of “Next” and “Previous” buttons,•

input controls and internal logic/validation checks,•

tailored error messages as appropriate,•

splitting long statement batteries over several screens to reduce the number of items that
require vertical scrolling on a desktop,•

sizing the panels for free text responses commensurate with the level of detail required in the
response,•

automatically ‘saving’ with progression to the next screen, and•the capacity to save and return to finish off at another time, resuming at the last question
viewed.

The survey look and feel was customised to be consistent with QILT branding guidelines, including theuse of the SES logo and colour scheme. This ensured consistency with communications such as
advertisements placed on social media and the QILT website. See Figure 7 and Figure 8 for examplesof the online survey look and feel on desktop and small screen device. A copy of the questionnaire isincluded at Appendix 8 with screenshots of the online survey included in Appendix 9.
Figure 7

26

Presentation of the SES online survey in desktop view2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

Figure 8

Presentation of the SES online survey on a small screen device

3.4.2 Survey testingStandard operational checks of the online survey were conducted pre-fieldwork to ensure
implementation aligned with the intended questionnaire design.
In addition to these standard checks, institutions with additional items (see Section 4.4) were sent test
links to facilitate testing and sign off on these items prior to field launch.
For the first time on SES, the survey was soft launched with a small proportion of both the university
and NUHEI population. The purpose of this ‘blended’ soft launch was to better and more quickly
identify any issues with email deliverability or incorrect domains. This approach will be embedded
within the SES survey testing process for all future collections.
Data was checked following the soft launch to ensure all survey sequencing was functioning as
intended. No issues were identified during the soft launch data checks and the main survey launch
proceeded as scheduled for each round of the SES. To further ensure the survey data quality, data
checks were repeated on the data following the main launch.

3.4.3 Quality assurance and applicable standards
All aspects of the SES were undertaken in accordance with the Privacy Act (1988) and the AustralianPrivacy Principles contained therein, the Privacy (Market and Social Research) Code 2021 theResearch Society’s Code of Professional Behaviour, and ISO 20252 standards.

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre27

All senior QILT staff are full members of the Research Society or maintain professional membershiprelevant to their role, and the Social Research Centre is also a member of the Australian Data andInsights Association (ADIA, formerly Association of Market and Social Research Organisations(AMSRO)). All sensitive or personally identifiable information such as sample and data weretransferred using the QILT Secure File Exchange (SFX).

3.4.4 Monitoring and progress reporting
Weekly fieldwork update emails were sent to institutions outlining the response rate that had beenachieved and how the individual institution compared to the overall response rate, their cohort(university or NUHEI) average, and the previous year’s results.
The department was provided with weekly updates covering survey launches, in field milestones andthe response rate of institutions overall.

3.4.5 Live online reporting module
In addition to weekly updates, the department had access to a live online reporting module which
provided an overview of response rates for each institution and a national average of universities andNUHEIs. Results were provided in real time and included a summary of sample outcomes (e.g.,completes, out-of-scopes and opt-outs) and response by institution.
Institutions were also able to monitor their progress through a subset of the reporting module. Eachinstitution was provided with their own module which allowed them to track sample outcomes andresponse rates by a selection of key demographics.
Summary tables could be downloaded in .csv format by the department and institutions. Institutions
also had the option of downloading sample outcomes at the unit record level. The reporting module
enabled institutions to monitor response, identify under-performing demographic groups and target
engagement activity based on live sample outcomes.

3.5

Student support

The Social Research Centre maintained a SES helpdesk for the duration of the 2022 SES fieldwork
period to provide students with an avenue to contact the SES team. The helpdesk featured a 1800
number and a specialised ses@srcentre.com.au inbox. Team members responded to queries within
one business day. The 1800 number was also available to offshore students (with an international
dialling code). The helpdesk was staffed seven days a week during call centre operational hours. All
calls outside these hours were routed to a voicemail service. Additionally, a general
qilt@srcentre.com.au inbox is maintained year round, managed by the QILT administration team andstaffed during business hours.
The SES helpdesk team was briefed on the SES background, procedures and questionnaire to enable
them to answer a wide range of queries. To further support the helpdesk, a database was madeavailable to the team to enable them to look up sample member information and survey links, as wellas providing a method for logging helpdesk activities and outcomes. All requests to opt-out and out-ofscope notifications received via the helpdesk were removed from the in-scope sample to cease further
contact with these students.
A summary of student enquiries to the SES helpdesk is provided at Table 14. In total, there were
1,109 helpdesk transactions during fieldwork, comprising 0.2 per cent of the overall sample
approached for the 2022 SES. The majority of contact was made via email (85.2 per cent of the total
contacts). The most popular reason for students to get in touch with the helpdesk was for assistancecompleting the survey online, followed by students requesting to be opted out of the survey. These28

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

results show that the helpdesk continues to be integral in reducing respondent burden andencouraging participation in the survey.
Table 14

Student enquiries to the SES helpdesk overall

Type of enquiry

1800 number

SES Inbox

n

n

Total

%

Total

%

n

%

164

100.0%

945

100.0%

1,109

100.0%

Survey query

86

52.4%

469

49.6%

555

50.0%

Opt out

18

11.0%

206

21.8%

224

20.2%

General query

43

26.2%

113

12.0%

156

14.1%

Out of scope

6

3.7%

103

10.9%

109

9.8%

Change of contact details

<5

2.4%

41

4.3%

45

4.1%

Other query

7

4.3%

13

1.4%

20

1.8%

3.6

Prize draw

All respondents were entered into a four-week rolling prize draw, designed to encourage early survey
completion by offering more chances to win the earlier the survey was completed (e.g. if the survey
was completed by the end of the first week the respondent would be entered into all four prize draws).
The terms and conditions of the prize draw were available on the Social Research Centre’s website
and provided in all email communications sent to sample members.
The total prize money available for the 2022 SES survey collection was divided into national and statebased prize pools, with an equitable split based on institutional representation in the sample. In
compliance with State and Territory gaming and lottery legislation, prize draw winners were notified inwriting, by phone (if necessary) and published on the QILT Facebook and Instagram pages. Winners
were published on the same day as the prize draw was conducted. All prizes were awarded as aprepaid VISA e-gift card.
Table 15

Prize draw schedule
August2022

September
2022$7,000$1,000Weekly $1,000 prize pool

$4,000$1,000Weekly $500 prize pool

$2,000-Weekly $250 prize pool

$1,000-Prize draw period opens/Fieldwork starts

28-Jul-22

8-Sep-22

Prize draw 1 close

1-Aug-22

12-Sep-22

Prize pool
Total weekly prize poolPrize draw activity

Prize draw conducted3-Aug-22

14-Sep-22

Prize draw 2 close

8-Aug-22

19-Sep-22

Prize draw conducted

10-Aug-22

21-Sep-22

Prize draw 3 close

15-Aug-22

26-Sep-22

Prize draw conducted

17-Aug-22

28-Sep-22

Prize draw 4 close

22-Aug-22

3-Oct-22

Prize draw conducted

24-Aug-22

5-Oct-222022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre29

4. Questionnaire
4.1

Development

The 2022 SES questionnaire was based on the 2021 Student Experience Questionnaire (SEQ), withstandard operational updates made to align the questionnaire with current reference periods. Due tothe planned review of the SEQ, scheduled to take place at around the same time of the 2022 SES,
minimal changes were made to the core instrument.
The most significant change to the questionnaire in 2022 was the introduction of two new screening
questions to check if commencing students had completed at least one teaching unit of their course
prior to completing the survey. See Section 4.3 for more information about these items.
In addition to the core questionnaire changes, institutions were able to add, modify or remove their
specific items for each round. They could also nominate to include stakeholder items, such as the
Workplace Relevance Scale (WRS) items. See Section 4.4 more information about these items.

4.2

Overview

Table 16 outlines the thematic areas of the main modules in the questionnaire. The design of the SES
instrument was modular, with items essential to response analysis (Quality of entire educational
experience and underlying focus area items) positioned early in the questionnaire and other core item
modules positioned before additional items (Module F). Items related to future contact details andfurther research were delivered in the final module. A copy of the generic survey instrument (i.e.
excluding any institution-specific items) is included at Appendix 8 with screen shots of the online
survey at Appendix 9.
Table 16

SES module themes

ModuleThemesModule A

Introduction and screening

Module B

Inclusion and learner engagement

Module C

Teaching and educational development

Module D

SupportModule E

Demographics

Module H

International student items

Module F

Additional items (departmental, institutional, etc.)

Module G

Course experience

4.3

Changes from 2021

The main changes to the core questionnaire were as follows:

30•

Two new screening questions were added to module A, COMMENCESCREEN1 and
COMMENCESCREEN2, which were designed to screen out commencing students that may
have not completed a full teaching period and would therefore be unable to answer the entire
survey.

•A new question, CONTACT, was added at the end of the survey in module G to collectpermission from respondents to be re-contacted by the department for future research studies.

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

4.4

Additional items

4.4.1 Institution items
A total of 21 institutions (18 universities and 3 NUHEIs) included institution specific items in the 2022
SES. Institution specific items can be the same or a variation of questions included in prior collection
rounds of the SES, or new questions entirely. Content covered by institution specific items included
questions relating to student support services, campus facilities, net promoter score, further study
intentions, employability, perceptions of institutions’ values, health and wellbeing, and reconciliation.
In addition to this, eleven institutions chose to include the Workplace Relevance Scale; seveninstitutions chose to include the at-risk item.
Currently, institution specific items do not fall under any data sharing arrangements and are therefore
only included in the respective institution data files.

4.4.1 Stakeholder items
Stakeholders including Independent Higher Education Australia (IHEA) and Navitas included items inthe 2022 SES. Content covered by the stakeholder items included reasons for choosing to study at theinstitution and use of education agents. Eligible institutions only were able to participate in these items.

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre31

5. Data preparation
5.1 Definition of the analytic unit
The analytic unit for the SES is the course, meaning that students in double degrees respondseparately in relation to each degree, and as a result may appear more than once in the final data set.
In the 2022 SES data set, a record was considered complete and valid if the student had:•completed at least one unit in the course / program, and•a minimum of one valid SEQ scale score from the five scales (i.e. ‘ENGAGE’, ‘TEACH’,‘RESOURCE’, ‘SUPPORT’ and ‘DEVELOP’), or•a minimum of one valid SEQ scale score for each course / program in a double degree if thecourse / programs were in different study areas.

Each scale covers a number of different items, for example the ‘SUPPORT’ scale includes thirteen
items such as the availability of ‘academic or learning staff or systems’. To be considered as valid, ascale requires the respondent to record at least one valid value (i.e. respondent selected at least one
answer such as ‘Very much’, excluding the ‘Not applicable’ response) for a minimum number of items,
depending on the scale, as outlined in the SES Data Dictionary.
Where double degree students have completed units in both degree components and they are in thesame study area, the first record is selected for analysis.

5.2 Data cleaning and preparation
5.2.1 Respondent (student) level
Demographic variables were first merged from the original population file for inclusion in the final
analysis file. Records with newly entered course information were assigned a final course code, andfinal course level, field of education, and study area information was derived from the Social ResearchCentre’s master course list, based on available course data for each institution. Where new course
codes were added to the master course list, accompanying information was sourced from the survey
manager for the relevant institution. The coding process is described in further detail in Section 5.3.
The in-scope status of the respondent, that is, whether they were enrolled in a course eligible for the
SES, was then re-derived based on revised course level data. This process set out to ensure that
respondents who had switched from an eligible undergraduate or postgraduate coursework course to
an ineligible course, such as a postgraduate research course, were excluded from the dataset.
All items in the body of the questionnaire were re-filtered to their respective bases to ensure there
were no errant responses, and the appropriate missing data conventions (see the 2022 SES Data
Dictionary on the QILT website for more information) were applied.
After cleaning, normalised SEQ variables, SEQ scale variables, and consolidated demographic andanalysis variables were derived as described in the 2022 SES Data Dictionary. In the case of double
degrees, SEQ scale variables were derived separately for each course in the respondent level file.

5.2.2 Course level
After data was finalised, the respondent (student) level responses were split to course level:•

32

Where a respondent was enrolled in a single degree, the respondent level record became
the course level record.

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

•

Where a respondent was enrolled in a double degree and had completed units in only one
course, the respondent level record became the course level record.

•

Where a respondent was enrolled in a double degree (including two concurrent unrelateddegrees) and had completed units in both courses, two course level records were created:othe respondent level record minus course specific items completed for the second
degree, andothe respondent level record with course specific items completed for the first degree
replaced with responses to course specific items completed for the second degree.

The variable ‘ANALYSIS’ was then created to identify the final status of a record.
There are five different final status outcomes identified based on the SEQ items completed andstudents’ course profile. Each status is defined as follows:1.

Student.
A respondent complete - the first course in a double degree or the second course in a double
degree where a complete SEQ exists only for the second course.

2.

Second course in double degree.
The second course in a double degree where the respondent has completed the SEQ for
both components of the double degree and the two components of the double degree havedifferent study areas.

3.

Same study area in both components of a double degree.
The second course in a double degree where the respondent has completed the SEQ for
both components of the double degree and both components of the double degree have thesame study area.

4.

Incomplete: has no valid scale scores.
No valid SEQ scale scores for this course component.

5.

Out-of-scope: No longer enrolled or not in first or last year of an in-scope course.
The respondent is not currently enrolled at the institution or is not in the first or last year of anundergraduate or postgraduate coursework course.

Only records with ANALYSIS=1 or 2, ‘student’ and ‘second course in double degree’, are reported.
Records in ANALYSIS=3, ‘same study area in both component of a double degree’, are excluded from
reporting to avoid double counting student responses in the same study area.
The 2022 SES Data Dictionary lists the new or modified variables for the 2022 SES.

5.3 Course coding
Revised course names entered by respondents in the survey were manually looked up against amaster course list for the relevant institution. Where a course name matched multiple course codes
the respondent was assigned to the course with the highest enrolment where no conflicts between the
different courses existed.
Where an appropriate course code for the course name or double degree recorded by the respondent
could not be found, queries were sent to the survey manager from the relevant institution. Where thesurvey manager advised that a double degree as entered by a respondent did not exist, they weretreated as two unrelated concurrent degrees, as described in Table 17. Of the responses requiring
2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

33

course coding, several broad categories of anomalous response requiring further editing wereidentified. The categories and resolutions are described in Table 17.
Table 17

Resolution of coding anomalies

Response

Resolution

The respondent reported they were undertaking
a double degree but entered the same single
course for both components of the degree.

The respondent is flagged as being enrolled in a single
degree. Where responses are recorded for two course
components, only responses for the first component are
kept.

The respondent entered a course not offered by
the institution.

The respondent is flagged as ‘Not Currently Attending’(currenrol=2) in the sample file, as they cannot be studying
the given course at the relevant institution.

The respondent recorded two degrees that are
offered as single degrees but not offered as a
double degree by the institution.

Each course recorded by the respondent is treated as aseparate single degree. Where the respondent indicatedthey had completed subjects in both degrees the respondent
appears twice in the final course level analytic file (as theywould for a double degree) but with two single degree
records.

The respondent recorded the full title of a double
degree in a field reserved for a single course.

Since it is not possible to determine which course
component of the double degree the respondent is referringto in these cases, the respondent's response to the SES isconsidered invalid.

The respondent recorded an invalid course title.

Since it is not possible to determine the course therespondent is enrolled in, the respondent's response to the
SES is considered invalid.

5.4 Coding and processing of open text responses
Spell checking and light cleaning of ‘other’ specify responses was applied to remove identifiers andexpletives. Code frames were developed in conjunction with, and approved by the department, andremained mostly unchanged in 2022. Table 18 summarises those items which were coded using an
external code frame as a source.
Table 18

Items coded and source for coding decisions
Item coded

Overseas country location

Code frame source
For students living overseas, country of residence was coded using theStandard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC, 2016, Second edition,
ABS catalogue number 1269.0).

5.5 Data deliverables
The Social Research Centre provided institutions and the department the following data deliverablesat the completion of the 2022 SES collection cycle:

34•

Institution data files and final population files in CSV and SPSS format as a standard, and in
SAS format for institutions specifically requesting this format.

•

Department national data file and national final population file in CSV, SPSS and SASformat.

•Data dictionary and data map.

•

Fieldwork and data package summary in MS Word format.
2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre•

Files in Tableau packaged workbook format at the national (department), institution,
Universities Australia and Independent Higher Education Australia level.

•

Files of verbatim responses to open-ended questions in MS Excel, at the national(department) and institution level.

•

ComparED Website Tables, National Report Tables, International Report Tables.

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

35

6. Final dispositions, response rates andreportable strata
6.1

Final dispositions and response rates

Table 19 shows the final survey dispositions at an overall level for the 2022 SES.
For the purpose of the QILT suite of surveys, ‘response rate’ is defined as completed surveys (asdescribed in Section 5.1) as a proportion of final sample, where final sample excludes unusable
sample (e.g. no contact details), out-of-scope and opted-out. This definition of response rate differsfrom industry standards by treating certain non-contacts and refusals as being ineligible for the
response rate calculation (see American Association for Public Opinion Research 2016 for standard
definitions of response rates).
The final response rate for the 2022 SES was 37.0 per cent, which was 4.1 percentage points lower
than the 41.1 per cent response rate achieved in 2021. Potential explanations for this decrease are
outlined in Section 6.2 below. Results between NUHEIs and universities were comparable (37.0 per
cent for universities versus 36.8 per cent for NUHEIs). A similar pattern was observed when reviewing
response by course level, with one percentage point difference between the undergraduate andpostgraduate by coursework response rate (36.7 per cent and 37.7 per cent respectively).
The opt-out rate in 2022 (7.2 per cent) was slightly higher than the 2021 figure (6.7 per cent). Opt-out
rates over time will continue to be closely monitored.
Final survey dispositions by institution for the 2022 SES and a summary of response rates over timeby institution are provided at Appendix 11.
Table 19

Final survey dispositions

Institution
2022 SES overall
Total
Universities
NUHEIsCourse level
Undergraduate
Postgraduate

6.2

SampleprovidedUnusablesampleOut-ofscope

Optedout

FinalsampleSurveyscompletedResponse
rate (%)

695,654633,206
62,448

940
155
785

13,568
11,3392,229

50,13745,983
4,154

631,949
575,884
56,065

233,916
213,296
20,620

37.0
37.0
36.8

491,666
203,988

826
114

7,807
5761

35,67014,467448,189
183,760

164,635
69,28136.7
37.7

Factors affecting response rate in 2022

Numerous factors are likely to have contributed to the drop in response rate observed in the 2022 SES
collection, including a decline in response amongst both international and domestic students, andcontinued lower response rates from large universities. These are discussed in more detail below.

Response by citizenship status
In 2022, the tendency of international students to respond to the SES fell by 2.4 percentage points.
Whilst still a smaller difference compared to the 6.6 percentage point decrease observed in 2021, it ispossible that, akin to the previous year, continued online study and displacement caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic may have caused a sense of disillusionment amongst international students,
leading to this continued drop in response rate. Notably however, the tendency of domestic students
to respond to the SES in 2022 also fell by 4.9 percentage points, compared to the 1.7 percentage
point decrease seen in 2021. Possible explanations for the decreased tendency of domestic students

36

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centreto respond to the SES could include respondent fatigue, with many institutions also commissioning
their own student health and wellbeing surveys in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic; and increased
scepticism about clicking on links in emails and SMS due to privacy concerns exacerbated by multiple
high-profile data breaches in Australia during the time of the survey. Table 20 provides a comparisonof response rates by citizenship status between 2020 and 2022.
Table 20

Response rate comparison by citizenship status, 2020 to 2022
2020 response
rate (%)

2021 response
rate (%)

2022 response
rate (%)

Year on year change
21-22 (pp)Domestic

44.7

43.0

38.1

-4.9

International

42.6

36.0

33.6

-2.4

Total

44.1

41.1

37.0

-4.1

Citizenship status

Individual institution performance
As seen in the 2021 SES collection, the individual performance of some universities also declined in
2022; the largest difference in response rate between the two years was 15.5 percentage points.
Additionally, six of the ten lowest performing universities in 2022 were very populous, potentiallycontributing to the decline in national response overall.
Potential explanations for this decline were raised by survey managers during the outreach calls
described in Section 3.1.4 and other forums such as sector-led discussion groups, that the QILT
research team participated in. Prominent recurrent themes cited by survey managers included lack ofresourcing; competition with internal surveys; high staff attrition rates; and lack of support and or/buy
in from senior management and other business areas (like marketing and communications teams) inpromoting the SES to staff and students. Multiple institutions also felt that the delayed release of the2021 SES National Report was a factor. This was because without national benchmarking data, theyfound it difficult to maintain interest and momentum for the QILT project amongst staff, and also could
not report any positive results to students either, in turn affecting their ability to promote the 2022
collection.

6.3

Achievement of response rate targets

A total of 28 out of 42 universities and 19 out of 99 NUHEIs achieved the response rate target thatwas established as a result of the process described in Section 2.4.10. As mentioned previously,
these were aspirational targets only and varied by institution based on the size of the target
population. This explains why the proportion of NUHEIs that achieved the response rate target wasmuch lower than for universities, which typically have much larger student populations. For someinstitutions, the overall response rate target was unachievable (for example, the Canberra Institute ofTechnology’s response rate target was 100 per cent).
For full details of institution performance against response rate targets, see Appendix 5.

6.4Strata meeting the desired level of precision

Table 21 shows the number and proportion of strata meeting the desired level of precision (+/- 7.5
percentage points at the 90 per cent level of confidence) over time, by the Quality of entire educational
experience (QOESAT) indicator, for undergraduates in full-time study. Strata are defined by institution
at the 21 study area level.
For universities, three quarters (74.2 per cent) of the eligible strata in the 2022 SES met the desired
level of precision. For NUHEIs, one quarter (25.1 per cent) of the eligible strata met the desired level2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre37

of precision. Response maximisation initiatives will continue to seek to both enhance the overall
representativeness of the achieved sample and maximise the proportion of strata meeting the desired
level of precision.
Table 21

Strata meeting desired level of precision for undergraduates in full-time study
2019

2020

2021

2022

University
Total strata (n)

608

613

627

625

Strata below minimum population (n)

<5

<5

<5

<5

Strata with no completed surveys (n)

<5

<5

<5

<5

Eligible strata for reportability (n)

607

612

626

624

Strata meeting the desired level of precision (n)

484

464

478

463

Strata meeting the desired level of precision (%)

79.7

75.8

76.4

74.2

204

221

210

221

NUHEI
Total strata (n)Strata below minimum population (n)

5

5

5

12

Strata with no completed surveys (n)

<5

<5

<5

<5

Eligible strata for reportability (n)

199

216

205

207

Strata meeting the desired level of precision (n)

82

87

69

52

41.2

40.3

33.7

25.1

Strata meeting the desired level of precision (%)

38

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

7. Response analysis
7.1

Response by time

Figure 9 illustrates the daily and cumulative response rates for the August and September rounds.
Engagement activities (i.e. email invitation and email and SMS reminders) undertaken by the QILT
team are overlayed. Note that the response rates shown in Figure 9 are raw and derived before post
field reminder calls are completed and data processing is undertaken. As a result, the raw response
rates are slightly lower than the final rate presented in Table 1.
The pattern of response across all emails in the 2022 SES cycle was broadly similar to previous
implementations. Both rounds followed a comparable trajectory, although numerous reminders in thefirst half of the schedule fared slightly better in the August round, relative to the September round,when defined by the cumulative response rate. As observed in previous SES collections, the mosteffective response across both rounds occurred when two forms of communication (i.e., an email andSMS) were sent on the same day, as evidenced by the relative performance of R4/SMS1, R6/SMS2
and R8/SMS3. The strong daily response of prize draw timed reminders (R2, R4, R6, R8) is visible inboth rounds, though diminished by Reminder 6. Response was front loaded in both rounds, withalmost half of the final response achieved by the day of the Reminder 4 and SMS1 send.
Figure 9

Response rates by day (August and September rounds)

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

39

7.2

Non-response analysis

This section assesses the extent and impact of non-response bias on estimates made from the 2022
SES. Non-response bias occurs when persons who respond to the survey are systematically different
from those who do not, leading to results that do not accurately reflect the population of interest. The
following assessment is approached from several perspectives, by:•Identifying administrative characteristics of students that are most different between
respondents and non-respondents and that are most strongly associated with the propensity
to respond to the survey;•

Determining if adjusting for non-response changes the key SES indicators; and•Supplementing response rates with measures that account for the composition of respondents
compared to the population.

Note that the focus of this section is on students and so some of the results will not exactly match
those reported elsewhere where the focus is instead on courses.

7.2.1 Characteristics most different between respondents and non-respondents
The most basic check for potential non-response bias is to identify if there are characteristics on which
respondents and non-respondents are markedly different. The characteristics that are available foreach student in the population are shown in Table 22.
Table 22

List of administrative variables used in the analysis, available for both
respondents and non-respondents (student level)

Characteristic# categories

Categories

Age group

10

Aged 19 or less, Aged 20-24, …, Aged 50-54, Aged 55+, Not
statedBirthplace

4

Australia, Other English-speaking countries, Non-Englishspeaking countries, Unable to establish

Citizenship indicator

2

Domestic, Overseas

Course level

2

Undergraduate, Postgraduate (Coursework)

Disability indicator2

No disability, Disability

Gender3

Male, Female, Indeterminate/Intersex/Unspecified

Institution

44-

Provider type2

University (Table A-B), NUHEI (Private)

Indigenous indicator2

Non-indigenous, Indigenous

Institute type3

Group of 8, Other university, NUHEIInstitution size

5

1-6,500 records, 6,501-13,500 records, 13,501-19,500
records, 19,501-27,500 records, 27,501+ records

NESB indicator

2

English speaking background, Non-English speaking
backgroundStage of studies

3

Commencing, Middle years, Completing

Study area

21-

Type of attendance code3

Full-time, Part-time, No information

For a collection as large as the Student Experience Survey, notions of “statistical significance” aremeaningless since even the most trivial of differences will be judged as significant by most commonlyused statistical methods.

402022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

Instead, this analysis will be limited to categories whose representation among respondents and nonrespondents is most different, as shown in Table 23. This table compares the relative frequencies ofeach demographic sub-group for the population as a whole, as well as for respondents and nonrespondents and includes the difference in proportions between the latter two groups. A negative
difference means the student sub-group was under-represented among respondents, compared to
non-respondents, whereas a positive difference means the sub-group was over-represented. For asurvey where the respondents perfectly mirror the population, all the differences would be zero. The
largest differences occur for age group (persons aged 20-24 years are under-represented among
respondents), for gender (males are under-represented) and stage of students (completing students
are under-represented).
Not shown here, the largest difference across study area was just over 6 percentage points (forBusiness and management) and the largest difference across institutions was less than 3 percentage
points.
Given that the maximum differences across all sub-groups was just under 11 percentage points, onlya small impact on overall survey outcomes could be expected due to non-response bias. The impactof this observation will be quantified later in this section.
Table 23

Administrative variables with largest differences between responding and nonrespondent students (student level)
Population

Respondents

Non-respondents

(%)

(%)

(%)

Aged 19 or less

24.47

26.6

23.41

3.2

Aged 20-24

41.1

33.77

44.74

-10.98Aged 25-29

14.26

13.55

14.6

-1.05

Aged 30-34

7.02

8.06

6.5

1.56

Aged 35-39

4.81

6.09

4.17

1.92

Aged 40-44

3.3

4.39

2.76

1.63

Aged 45-49

2.33

3.28

1.86

1.42

Aged 50-54

1.44

2.16

1.09

1.08

Aged 55+

1.26

2.09

0.86

1.23

Male

41.4

34.27

44.93

-10.66

Female

58.35

65.43

54.84

10.58

Indeterminate/Intersex/Unspecified

0.25

0.3

0.22

0.08

Commencing

47.51

52.04

45.27

6.77

Middle years

2.45

2.49

2.43

0.06

Completing

49.69

45.14

51.95

-6.81

Administrative variable

DifferenceAge group

GenderStage of studies

Note: The unit of analysis for this table is students and so the figures may not exactly match course-level results
reported elsewhere.

7.2.2 Characteristics most associated with student response propensity
While helpful as a first check, the above comparisons of respondents and non-respondents only
enable characteristics to be considered one at a time. In reality, the relationship between
characteristics and propensity to respond is complex and requires a more nuanced approach. To
provide greater insight to the joint effect that characteristics may have on student participation in the2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

41

survey, a statistical model was employed to predict whether or not a student would respond to thesurvey, conditional on their characteristics (see Table 22). The particular model used here, a binary
logistic regression, quantifies the contribution of each category of each characteristic to predicting a
student’s participation in the survey – some sub-groups (such as being aged 55+ years) might beassociated with an increase in survey participation whereas others (such as part-time attendance)might be associated with a decrease in survey participation.
As well as quantifying the impact on non-response of a student being in a particular sub-group (suchas being aged 55+ years), the model can also quantify the overall impact that a characteristic has on
response propensity (that is, the average overall impact of age on response propensity). It does thisby selectively adding or removing characteristics from the model, noting whether the ability to predict
student participation is notably improved or worsened. If excluding a characteristic entirely from themodel reduces our ability 2 to predict student participation, the characteristic is judged to be relatively
more important as a predictor of response. On the other hand, if excluding a characteristic from themodel makes little difference in the predictions, it is judged to be relatively less important.
Through this process, it is possible to quantify 3 the average contribution that each characteristic
makes in predicting survey response, as shown in Figure 10. The values in this figure represent eachcharacteristic’s relative contribution to the model’s overall predictive ability, and thus sum to 100
percent. If one characteristic on its own could be used to predict response to the survey, it would havea relative contribution of 100%. If a characteristic had no impact on the model’s predictions, it would
have a relative contribution of 0%. In this figure, the characteristics made a range of contributions topredicting response, with age group being most important (contributing roughly 31%) and Indigenous
status the least (less than 1%). Characteristics appearing in Table 22 but not in the figure (namely,
Higher Education Provider type, Institute type and Institution size) were dropped during the modelling
process either because they were too correlated 4 with other characteristics or they made no
noticeable contribution to model predictions.
This use of regression modelling to quantify non-response is very valuable since it provides moreinsight than was evident from the simple comparisons of respondents and non-respondents in Table
23. In particular, the model identified Institution as a strong predictor of response propensity, second
only to age group. By contrast, differences between respondents and non-respondents for thischaracteristic were too small to be listed in Table 23. The same applies to Study area, albeit to alesser extent.

2

For instance, by comparing the model’s predictions of whether or not a student participated in the survey with
their actual observed participation. The measure used here to assess a model’s predictive ability is McFadden’s
pseudo-R2. It varies from 0 (for predictions that are unrelated to the observations) to 1 (for predictions that
perfectly match the observations).
3
Azen, R., & Traxel, N. (2009). Using dominance analysis to determine predictor importance in logistic
regression. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, 34(3), 319-347. doi:10.3102/1076998609332754
4This refers to the issue of multicollinearity where two characteristics are so strongly related that including them
together in a model causes it to fail entirely or to yield unreliable results.

422022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

Figure 10

Relative contribution of selected administrative variables in predicting 2022
response (student level)
Age grouping

31.2

Higher Education Provider

23.6

Gender

16.5

Study area 1 (E461)

14.2

Stage of studies

6.0Type of attendance code

4.3

Disability indicator

1.2

Birthplace

0.9

Citizenship indicator

0.7

NESB indicator

0.7

System variable: Course level categories

0.6

Indigenous indicator

0.1
0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Relative contribution to pseudo-R2 (%)

7.2.3 Adjusting for non-response
Although the composition of respondents versus non-respondents in Table 23 revealed only small
imbalances in representation, it is useful to assess whether adjusting for non-response would change
the key survey indicators in any meaningful way. A common technique to adjust for differences
between survey respondents and the population of interest is the calculation of “weights”. These arevalues derived for respondents to denote how much each should “count” towards survey results.
Persons that are under-represented among respondents compared to non-respondents (males, forinstance) are assigned a higher weight so that their contribution to the survey results correctly reflects
their representation in the population. In a similar way, persons that are over-represented among
respondents (females, for example) receive a lower weight. By scientifically balancing the extent towhich respondents contribute to survey results, some more and some less, we can ensure that theresults of the survey represent the student population as closely as possible. This is a very common
approach to deriving estimates from a subset of the population and is used the world over by official
statistics agencies such as the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Table 23 and Figure 10 together identify the characteristics that were most different between
respondents and non-respondents as well as the characteristics that were most associated withresponse to the survey. On the basis of these results, a weight was calculated 5 for each responding
student to account for imbalances in the following characteristics:•

Age group;•

Institution;•

Gender;•Study area; and5

Deville J-C, Sarndal C-E, Sautory O (1993) Generalized raking procedures in survey sampling. Journal of theAmerican Statistical Association 88 (423), 1013-1020.

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

43•Stage of studies.

If the exercise that generated Table 23 Administrative variables with largest differences between
responding and non-respondent students (student level) was repeated, but instead summing weights
rather than just counting students, the distribution of respondents would now exactly match the
population distribution on these characteristics. Weights rather than counts would then be used in all
subsequent derivations of survey results. Doing so reduces the extent of bias that may occur in the
results due to any compositional differences between respondents and non-respondents.
Table 24 compares overall results for seven key indicators derived for the 2022 survey, using both
simple counting of respondents along with summing of their weights 6. Also included is the percentage
point difference between the two methods, where a negative difference shows that the adjusted(weighted) calculation yielded a higher value for the indicator than the unadjusted calculation, and apositive value shows that the unadjusted calculated yielded a higher value than the adjusted
calculation.
Table 24Comparison of weighted and unweighted indicators (student level)
Counting
students(%)

Summingweights(%)

Difference

Skills development – positive rating

80.72

80.62

0.10

Learner engagement – positive rating

59.72

60.19

-0.47

Teaching quality – positive rating

80.72

80.02

0.70

Student support – positive rating

73.89

73.16

0.73

Learning resources – positive rating

83.54

83.10

0.43

Quality of entire educational experience – positive rating

76.11

75.32

0.79

Indicator

Note: The unit of analysis for this table is students and so the figures may not exactly match course-level results reported
elsewhere.

Differences between the two methods are very small, all less than 1 percentage point, signifying that
adjusting for non-response across the identified student characteristics made essentially no difference
in indicators derived for the survey. Although not shown here, if the comparison was repeated for arange of sub-groups (Study area, Institution, and Stage of studies), the largest differences between
unadjusted and adjusted indicators are all less than 3.5 percentage points with most differences being
less than 1 percentage point.

7.2.4 Supplementing response rates with representativity indicators
The final perspective on non-response and bias concerns the relationship between response rates
and the representativeness of respondents. The response rate is a common quality indicator for
surveys and is calculated as the ratio of respondents to total persons. This indicator varies between 0
and 1, where higher is usually seen as better. It is a very crude measure, however, since it ignores thecomposition of respondents compared to the population. It is easy to envisage two different scenarios– one survey with a low response rate but the responding sample is strongly representative of the
population, and another survey with a higher response rate but the respondents are very unlike thepopulation. Using response rate as the measure of survey quality would lead to the false conclusionthat the second survey was “better”, even though the first survey would give the most accurate results.

6
The first column is the number of persons that gave a positive rating as a percentage of all persons, whereas
the second is the sum of the weights for persons that gave a positive rating as a percentage of the sum of theweights for all persons.

442022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research CentreBecause the response rate is insufficient as an indicator to measure the potential bias arising from
non-response 7, a number of other indicators of respondent representativeness have therefore beendeveloped. Many of these make use of response propensities, the probability that each person in the
population will respond to the survey. This ties in with the section above, where a regression model
was used to predict the response probability for each person on the basis of their characteristics. The
simplest version of a family of so-called R-indicators is derived from the standard deviation of themodelled response propensities:
𝑅𝑅𝜌𝜌 = 1 − 2𝑆𝑆𝜌𝜌 = 1 − 2�(𝑁𝑁 − 1)−1 �(𝜌𝜌𝑖𝑖 − 𝜌𝜌̅𝑈𝑈 )2
𝑈𝑈

Here U is the complete set of respondents and non-respondents, N is the size of this set, 𝜌𝜌𝑖𝑖 is themodelled propensity for person i, 𝜌𝜌̅𝑈𝑈 is the average propensity across all persons (respondents andnon-respondents), and 𝑆𝑆𝜌𝜌 is the standard deviation of the response propensities. 𝑅𝑅𝜌𝜌 varies between 0

and 1, where 1 indicates the most representative response and 0 the least. The way to understand theextremes of this range is as follows:••

If it is completely random whether or not someone responds to the survey, there will be no
systematic differences between respondents and non-respondents. In such a case, themodelled response propensities will be all the same, their standard deviation will be 0 and so
𝑅𝑅𝜌𝜌 will be 1. This corresponds to a strongly representative sample.
On the other hand, if there is a systematic pattern of non-response, respondents will be
predictably different from non-respondents. In such a case, the modelled response
propensities will group together near either 0 (for non-respondents) or 1 (for respondents),
leading to a large value for the standard deviation so that 𝑅𝑅𝜌𝜌 will be 0. This corresponds to astrongly unrepresentative sample.

The same as there is no threshold for what separates a “good” response rate from a “bad” one, there
are no absolute standards for R-indicators. Their primary usefulness here is to judge if changes in
response rates have impacted the representativeness of the responding sample. The following table(Table 25) compares response rates and R-indicators for the 2020 SES, 2021 SES and 2022 SES.
Using only response rate as a measure of quality, one might conclude that 2020 and 2021 were“better” than 2022 (44.1% and 41.1% versus 37.0%, respectively). When looking at the R-indicators,
however, it is apparent that the representativeness in 2022 was better than in 2020 and 2021, and stillmuch more representative of the population than a 37 per cent response rate might suggest on its
own.
Table 25Comparison of response rates and representativity indicators (student level)

Year

Response
rate %

R-indicator

2020

44.1

0.785

2021

41.1

0.786

2022

37.0

0.796

While some slight imbalances for several characteristics (notably age group, gender, institution, stageof studies, and study area) were identified when exploring the extent and impact of any biases that
may have occurred in the 2022 SES due to differences between survey respondents and the7

Shlomo, N., C. Skinner and B. Schouten (2012). Estimation of an indicator of the representativeness of survey
response. Journal of Statistical Planning and Inference 142, 201-211.
2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

45

underlying population of students, adjusting for non-response had only a minimal impact on thesurvey’s key indicators.

7.3

Sources of response

Table 26 summarises the breakdown of online survey completion methods and includes sources of
response by gender, stage of studies, citizenship indicator or age due to the variation in method ofaccessing the survey within these groups. Only minimal differences were observed when reviewing
source of response by institution type or course level; as such, these groups are not displayed in thetable.
Table 26

Sources of response
Gender
Total(%)

Stage of studies

Citizenship indicator

Age

Female
(%)

Male
(%)

Commencing
(%)

Later
year (%)

Domestic(%)

International
(%)

Under
30 (%)

Over
30
(%)

37.0

41.4

30.8

40.0

34.3

38.1

33.6

34.4

48.6

Authentication

0.6

0.6

0.7

0.7

0.5

0.6

0.6

0.7

0.4

Type in

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.1

0.0

0.0

Survey link(email)

88.2

88.8

86.9

87.8

88.6

87.4

90.9

87.5

90.4

Survey link
(SMS)

8.4

8.2

8.7

8.6

8.2

9.5

4.6

8.9

6.9

LMS

1.9

1.7

2.3

2.1

1.7

1.7

2.6

1.9

1.8

Post-fieldreminder calls

0.6

0.3

1.0

0.5

0.6

0.5

0.7

0.7

0.2

SMS fee-forservice

0.3

0.3

0.4

0.3

0.4

0.3

0.5

0.4

0.3

Final
response
rate

Survey completion via a link from an email communication was most popular for all subgroups.
However, males were less likely to respond via a link in an email communication than females (86.9
per cent versus 88.8 per cent). Completing via the direct link in SMS was the next most popularmethod of response amongst all subgroups. It is interesting to note that males were more likely tocomplete via the SMS link than females. Students aged under 30 were also more likely to complete
via the SMS link compared to those aged over 30. Additionally, completing via a link displayed on a
student’s LMS page was another popular response mechanism for males (2.3 per cent vs 1.7 per centfor females) and international students (3.5 per cent vs 2.3 per cent for domestic students). As statedin the 2021 SES Methodological Report, this highlights the continued need to preference othercommunication methods, including SMS and LMS links, over extensive email contact for thesesubgroups.
It should be noted that only completed surveys directly attributable to the post field reminder calls and
SMS are recorded as such in Table 26. It is possible that, for example, reminder call activity may
prompt a student to click on the direct survey link in an email they had previously received. In thiscontext, the analysis presented at Table 26 should only be considered indicative. It should also be
noted that the opportunity to complete via each method was not necessarily equal between
subgroups.

46

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

8. Considerations for future surveys
8.1

Enhanced SMS protocol

A sophisticated SMS contact protocol provides the opportunity to drive response at an overall level.
While SMS has become an integral part of the SES contact protocol, there may still be opportunities tomaximise response through novel refinements to the SMS protocol. Potential opportunities include:•

Experimenting with the day of send for SMS communications. For example, exploring
whether an SMS sent earlier in the contact protocol has a beneficial effect on overall
response,•

Analysing historical SMS response data to identify groups most likely to respond via SMS
and considering customisations to further leverage SMS in the contact protocol for thesegroups, and•As an alternative to the current opt-out mechanism, that is, replying ‘STOP’ to the SMS,
recipients could be directed by hyperlink to a landing page. This page would contain
information about the SES in order to avert opt-outs and encourage completions.

With the general prevalence of scam messages, a small number of students have queried thelegitimacy of survey links used in the SES SMS. To address these concerns and improve user
experience, the following updates will be considered for future SMS sends:•

Revise the survey link format presented in SMS to include recognisable branding (i.e., ‘SES’)
as a way of building respondent trust, and•Displaying the sender name as ‘QILT’ or ‘SES’ rather than the current mobile telephone
number to enhance brand recognition.

8.2

Expanded engagement with characteristics of interest

The non-response analysis (refer to Section 7.2) shows that age and gender are characteristics which
had notable differences between respondents and non-respondents at the overall level. In particular,
respondents aged under 30 and male students were identified as underrepresented groups.
Additionally, age, study area and higher education provider were identified as the three most importantcharacteristics in predicting survey response.
Tailoring of engagement materials to students with specific characteristics has been a component of
the SES response maximisation strategy in recent years. Further development of these materials
should focus on appealing to the characteristics mentioned above.

8.3

Enhanced methods of accessing the survey

As the response rate continues to decline and reaching the target audience via traditional emailcommunications becomes increasingly challenging, alternative methods of accessing the survey
should be explored ahead of the 2023 SES. Improving the current method of authenticating via the
QILT website to reduce the number of steps involved in order to access the survey, as well as theinformation required to verify one’s details, could help provide an alternative method of accessing thesurvey. The use of a generic QR code on marketing materials, particularly those used around campus,
would also provide an alternative method, and with an improved authentication process, may lead toan increased in response.

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre47

As seen in Section 7.3 Sources of response, under-represented sub-groups such as males and those
aged under 30, are more likely to complete the survey via authentication, LMS and SMS, so
leveraging these methods for completing the survey will serve as an important alternative to email
links, and have the potential to improve representation of the data as well as the overall response rate.

8.4

Review of the SES

It is expected that the review of the SES being conducted by the Australian Council for Educational
Research (ACER) will have finished and a number of changes will be made to the questionnaireahead of the 2023 SES collection. These changes may alter existing focus areas and/or add new key
measures to be incorporated into national reporting. The Social Research Centre will work with thedepartment and sector stakeholders to document and communicate the changes, and update
associated reporting products.

48

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

List of abbreviations and terms
ABS

Australian Bureau of Statistics

CATI

Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing

DEEWR

Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations

EFTSL

Equivalent Full-Time Student Load

GCA

Graduate Careers Australia

GOS

Graduate Outcomes Survey

GOS-L

Graduate Outcomes Survey - Longitudinal

HESA

Higher Education Support Act

HEIMSHigher Education Information Management System

ISO

International Standards Organisation

LMS

Learning Management System

NUHEI

Non-University Higher Education Institution

QILT

Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching

SES

Student Experience Survey

SEQ

Student Experience Questionnaire

UEQ

University Experience Questionnaire

UES

University Experience Survey

WRS

Workplace Relevance Scale

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

49

Appendix 1

50

Collection, sample andmarketing guides

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research CentreStudent Experience Survey (SES)
Collection and Sample Guide
2022 SES August Collection

Document prepared by:
QILT, Major Projects
The Social Research Centre
Level 5, 350 Queen Street
MELBOURNE VIC 3000
Tel: (613) 9236 8500
Fax: (613) 9602 5422
Email: qilt@srcentre.com.au

www.srcentre.com.au

Version: V1.0, 23 May 2022

ii

Contents
Summary points to note ....................................................................................................................... 2
Checklist………………………………………………………………………………………………………….4
1.

Introduction and overview ......................................................................................................... 52.

1.1
Background and objectives.............................................................................................5
1.2
Summary timeline ...........................................................................................................5
1.3
Privacy provisions ...........................................................................................................6
1.4
Institutional support .........................................................................................................7
Target audience and sample provision .................................................................................... 83.

2.1
An overview of the sample preparation process for the 2022 SES ................................8
2.2
In-scope audience and reference period ........................................................................8
2.3
The TCSI template ..........................................................................................................9
2.4
The full population template..........................................................................................12
2.5
Reviewing STAGE estimate .........................................................................................14
Data collection ........................................................................................................................... 16

4.

3.1
The standard SES instrument.......................................................................................16
3.2
Adding additional questions ..........................................................................................16
3.3
Adding additional populations .......................................................................................17
Response maximisation ........................................................................................................... 18

5.

4.1
Basic principles .............................................................................................................18
4.2
Institutional engagement...............................................................................................19
4.3
Engagement activity plan..............................................................................................20
4.4
Social media campaign.................................................................................................21
4.5
Institutional web presence ............................................................................................21
4.6
Standard QILT response maximisation activities .........................................................22
4.7
Fee-for-service response maximisation activities .........................................................24
Fieldwork monitoring ................................................................................................................ 26

6.

5.1
Liaison ...........................................................................................................................26
5.2
Real-time reporting .......................................................................................................26
Deliverables ............................................................................................................................... 27

6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
Appendix A

Benchmarking data file .................................................................................................27
Institutional data file ......................................................................................................27
Tableau packaged workbooks ......................................................................................27
Verbatim responses ......................................................................................................28
Sampling methodology where applicable ............................................................... 29

Appendix B

Variables in the sample population templates ....................................................... 30

Appendix C

EFTSL and related variables..................................................................................... 37

Appendix D

The algorithm for calculating STAGE ...................................................................... 39

Appendix E

Australian Government Department of Education Study Areas by Field of
Education.................................................................................................................... 43

Summary points to note
Key release changes follow:
VersionDate published

Comment

1.0

23 MayOriginal version released

Please note:•

Complete the Participation and Additional Services (PASF) form that will be sent separately
to you the week commencing 23 May. The first step is to confirm your institution’s
participation and nominate key contacts using the PASF – this is your centralised place toconfirm participation and nominate additional services.

•

Guidance has been prepared to clarify the definition of and expectations for the in-scopeaudience (refer ‘Section 2 Target audience and sample provision’).

•

There are some changes in the sample preparation process for the 2022 SES. See‘Section 2.1 An overview of the sample preparation process for the 2022 SES’ fordetails.

•

Guidance has been prepared to assist with populating the sample file (refer ‘Section 2.3 The
TCSI template’ and ‘2.4 The full population template’).

•

Keeping to timelines for provision of sample means the project can go to field on time –otherwise one institution’s delay impacts all others. There are a couple of points in time
where late delivery can have significant downstream impacts on the delivery of the project:oFull templates and TCSI templates will be distributed on Wednesday 8 June via SFX.

o

We request that institutions return their sample file to the Social Research Centre by
no later than Friday 24 June to allow for sample processing, testing and quality
assurance checks. We are grateful if you can return the sample earlier than 24 June,
which would allow more time for us to work with you to resolve any issues in yoursample.

oData collection must be ready to commence when Authentication opens on Tuesday
26 July for the August round and Tuesday 6 September for the September round. The
limited flexibility around launch proceedings means that data quality risks being
compromised if timelines are compressed, or that other institutions are impacted by adelayed start date potentially impacting response maximisation activity and the overall
response rate. Please familiarise yourself with Table 1.

•

If your institution chooses to provide telephone numbers for students, it is considered thatyour institution consents to students receiving SMS during fieldwork. These generallycommence from the second week of fieldwork.

•

Institutions are expected to send their own hardcopy letter or email to arrive in the week
before the survey officially opens. This institution led contact adds a sense of legitimacy sowhen students receive an email or SMS they will not think it is spam. Contact with students
should be advised to the Social Research Centre (refer ‘Section 4 Response maximisation’).

2•

We ask that qilt@srcentre.com.au is included in the send list for any communications. This
enables us to effectively track supporting activities’ impact on response maximisation andensure the content messaging is consistent with the broader QILT study.

•

Please proactively manage your institution’s social media so students are aware of theimportance of the SES (Refer to ‘Section 4.3 Engagement activity plan).

•Please update us with any changes to your personnel or the availability of staff, especiallyduring the sample preparation and fieldwork periods.

Checklist
Please note and ensure the following are completed:•

Confirm participation and nominate additional fee-for-service activities.

•

Minimise respondent burden by considering other potentially conflicting surveys of thestudent population.

•

Use the comments sheet in the sample to provide context where appropriate to what you
have provided (for example, if you can only provide one email address because yourinstitution has introduced a new IT system, please include this).

•

Ensure all contact details and course details are correct for the sample member, that is, theemail, phone number and other details align with correct name. A simple way to check is
manually review a selection of records at the top, in the middle and at the bottom of yoursample.
oPlease note that errors in sample information provided, such as wrong names or email
addresses, that are detected during field, may incur a charge to rectify.

•

Submit your final sample by the due date.

•

Advise the Social Research Centre of any possible contextual issues that should beconsidered as part of survey deployment.

•

Liaise with your IT team to ensure whitelisting is in place.

•

Send pre-survey awareness raising correspondence to students.

•

Prepare social media, website, newsletters and LMS, etc.

•

Commence engagement activities (such as posters and in lecture slides).

4

1.

Introduction and overview

1.1

Background and objectives

The focus of the Student Experience Survey (SES) is on understanding the student experiencethrough measuring the levels of engagement and satisfaction of current higher education
undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students in Australia. The survey has been designed toprovide reliable, valid and generalisable information on the student experience to the AustralianGovernment and to higher education providers.
More detailed information on the SES can be found here: https://www.qilt.edu.au/surveys/studentexperience-survey-(ses).
The specific research objectives of the SES are to measure five key aspects of the student
experience:
1. Skills development
2. Learner engagement
3. Teaching quality
4. Student support
5. Learning resources
The SES is a survey of all commencing and completing onshore undergraduate and postgraduate
coursework students enrolled in Australian higher education institutions and is administered under the
Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) survey suite, commissioned by the AustralianGovernment Department of Education (‘the department’). The Social Research Centre is working withhigher education providers and key stakeholders to administer the SES.
From 2022 onwards, the survey population for the SES will be sourced from the Tertiary Collection ofStudent Information (TCSI) provided by the department. Non-TCSI reporting institutions andinstitutions not yet transitioned to TCSI reporting will be asked to provide their sample to the Social
Research Centre via a full population template.
For most institutions, the SES is conducted during an August collection. There is also a smaller
September collection for institutions operating a trimester calendar – refer ‘Section 2.2 In-scopeaudience and reference period’.

1.2

Summary timeline

The schedule for the 2022 SES collection is shown at Table 1. These timings may be required tochange subject to stakeholder changes, methodological learnings and operational requirements.

Table 1 2022 SES summary timeline

Key milestones

ResponsibleDate(2022 unless otherwise
stated)Collection and Sample Guide distributed to institutions

SRC

Monday 23 May

Marketing Pack distributed to institutions

SRC

Monday 23 May

PASF distributed to institutions

SRC

Monday 23 May

Institutions to confirm participation in the SES and nominate
key contacts

Institutions

Monday 30 May

Additional populations nominated by institutions

Institutions

Monday 6 June

Sample population files and full templates distributed to
institutions

SRC

Wednesday 8 June

All completed templates to be returned by institutions (earlier
returns much appreciated)

Institutions

Friday 24 June

Additional questions nominated by institutions

Institutions

Monday 27 June

Sample absolutely finalised by institutions (no additional
samples to be added after this date)Institutions

Friday 1 July

Additional questions (MS Word) approved by institutions

Institutions

Friday 8 July

Proposed variations to engagement activity plan to the Social
Research Centre

Institutions

Monday 11 July

Additional questions scripted and online survey test linkprovided to institutions for testing

SRC

Friday 15 July

Additional questions survey test link approved

Institutions

Friday 22 July

Authentication survey entry opens

SRC

Tuesday 26 July

Soft launch – Online fieldwork

SRC

Tuesday 26 July

Main launch – Online fieldwork

SRC

Thursday 28 July

Telephone follow up & SMS nominated by institutions

Institutions

Monday 8 August

Main close – Online fieldwork period ends

SRC

Sunday 28 August

Online fieldwork - Coding queries sent to institutions

SRC

Friday 9 September

Post fieldwork - Coding queries sent to institutions

SRC

Wednesday 14 September

Online fieldwork - Coding queries to be returned

Institutions

Friday 16 September

Post fieldwork - Coding queries to be returned

Institutions

Wednesday 21 September

Course coding checks

Commented [LS1]: @Paddy Tobias have we confirmed weare not doing course coding checks this year?

Final institutional reports and data outputs
Institutional files

SRC

Friday 13 January 2023

UA reports

SRC

TBC

IHEA reports

SRC

TBC

National Reports

SRC

TBC

1.3

Privacy provisions

All aspects of this research will be undertaken in accordance with the Privacy Act (1988) and theAustralian Privacy Principles contained therein, the Privacy (Market and Social Research) Code 2014,
the Australian Market and Social Research Society’s Code of Professional Practice, ISO 20252
standards and the ethical guidelines laid out in the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of6

Research1. The Social Research Centre will also enter into a Deed of Confidentiality with institutions
as required. Please contact qilt@srcentre.com.au if you require a copy of the deed.

1.4

Institutional support

General enquiries and all queries relating to sampling and sample files, file formats, any questions or
feedback on the instrument, should be directed to the Social Research Centre’s QILT team. The teamcan be contacted on (03) 9236 8500 or by emailing qilt@srcentre.com.au. We will endeavour to getback to you by the next working day – even if only to acknowledge receipt of your communication.
Please note that the ‘qilt@srcentre.com.au’ email is for institutions only. We make available a separate‘ses@srcentre.com.au’ email for students.

1 National Health and Medical Research Council and Universities Australia, 2007, https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/guidelines-

publications/r41

2.

Target audience and sample provision

2.1

An overview of the sample preparation process forthe 2022 SES•

There is no change in the survey scope. See ‘Section 2.2 In-scope audience and reference
period’.

•For the majority of institutions, the 2022 SES sample will be sourced from TCSI. Full
population templates will primarily be used by institutions that are not (or not yet) reporting to
TCSI. If your institution has issues with the accuracy of your data in TCSI and would like to
use the full population template instead of the extract, please contact the SRC as soon as
possible to arrange.

••

Full population template will be available to institutions on Friday 27 May.
The full population template for universities includes four TCSI EFTSL variables that theSocial Research Centre will use to calculate STAGE for survey scoping and reporting.
Institutions are advised to refer to information on the TCSI website (links below) and Appendix
C of this guide for further information on these variables if required.
ooooThe full population template for NUHEIs does not contain the EFTSL related variables, andSTAGE will be derived from CompletingFlag and E534 Course of study commencement date.
However, if a NUHEI would prefer to use the template with EFTSL related variables, pleasecontact the Social Research Centre ASAP to arrange.

•

All completed full population templates and TCSI templates are required to be returned to theSocial Research Centre by Friday 24 June.

•

The Social Research Centre will process the templates, calculate STAGE from the full
templates and cross-check against CompletingFlag.

2.2

Commented [LS4R3]: Do we want to release these early orat the same time as the pop files?
Commented [CK5R3]: I think we can make them available
early to institutions that we know don’t have data or sufficient
data in TCSI yet, e.g. UTAS, UTS and that bunch of NUHEIs

E339 Equivalent full-time student load
E350 Course of study load
E560 Credit used value
E931 Aggregated EFTSL••

Commented [PT3]: to confirm dateCommented [PT6]: as above - to confirm
Commented [LS7R6]: Updated
Commented [CK8]: Do we still want to do this? Perhaps weonly need to do it for the full templates as the other institutions
will be checking STAGE in their sample return files, right?

Once sample processing has been finalised, SRC will distribute the sample selections andtargets to all institutions in the week beginning Monday 11 July. Institutions are asked toreview the final STAGE estimation for records provided by full population templates, andcontact the Social Research Centre as soon as possible if they spot any issues in the final
STAGE estimation. See ‘Section 2.5 Reviewing STAGE estimate ’.

Commented [LS9R8]: Don’t we need to send sample
selections and study area targets to all institutions?
Commented [PT10R8]: Probably still need to send to
everyone as the targets will still be relevant to TCSI template
submitters
Commented [PT11R8]: @Ali Tirdad we could include a flagin the unit record data to indicate if the record was submitted
via TCSI template or via full template, and add a comment
here for universities to focus on STAGE calcs for full template
submissions?

In-scope audience and reference period

Students are in-scope for the 2022 SES if they are:•enrolled in an undergraduate or a postgraduate by coursework course,•international students studying onshore or had intended to study onshore but are currently
located offshore studying online due to COVID-19 related reasons,•enrolled in and have completed at least one full teaching period of the course (e.g.
completed one semester or one trimester or one teaching block) at the commencement ofCommented [AT12R8]: @Paddy Tobias sounds good tome. How's `TCSIFlag` sound like for the name of this variable?
Similar to CompletingFlag format.
Commented [PT13R8]: We have a variable in GOS (and I
think SES) called ORIGIN to indicate the source @Ali Tirdad
Commented [AT14R8]: Yes, you're right. we do.
Commented [PT15R8]: great, just added a bit that
institutions should review STAGE for records submitted by full
template8the field work period (this date is 26 July 2022 for the August collection and 6 September
2022 for the September collection), and•either in the first or final year of their course of study in the case of university students. All
students, including middle year students, are in-scope for NUHEIs.

Students attending offshore campuses of Australian higher education providers and students who
were residing overseas for the term / semester and undertaking an external program of study at theinstitution via distance education or online are not in-scope for the SES. However, international
students who had intended to study onshore in 2022 but are currently offshore and undertaking theirstudies online due to COVID-19 related reasons are in-scope for the 2022 SES. Students who areattending offshore campuses of Australian higher education providers and had not intended to study
onshore in 2022 are to remain out-of-scope of the SES. However, they can be included in the survey
as an additional population on a fee for service basis (see ‘Section 3.3 Adding additional populations’for further information).
A very small number of universities participating in the SES have sufficiently large strata that a full
census of first and final year students is not necessary to achieve the required number of completes
for student data to be reportable at the desired level of precision. A census is still preferred in this
scenario, as it simplifies response maximisation activities and avoids excluding students who, while
not necessarily required for reporting of SES strata, may be included in a sub-population of interest to
the institution in their internal analysis.
Where an institution prefers not to undertake a census of in-scope students, a random sample is taken
for sufficiently large strata. Details of the stratification and sampling approach are provided inAppendix A.

2.3

The TCSI template

Up until 2019, the SES used a centralised approach to sampling based on Submission 1 data
extracted from the Higher Education Information Management System (HEIMS). Full population
templates were used in 2020 and 2021 to source the sample directly from institutions because ofdelays in TCSI migration. Now that most institutions are reporting to TCSI, the 2022 sample population
will resume a centralised approach and be sourced from TCSI. Institutions are asked to submit
their in- scope records to TCSI no later than 5:00 P.M. AEST 31 May 2022 for them to be
included in the survey. The department will generate the extract on 1 June. Institutions not yetreporting to TCSI are asked to provide their sample data to the Social Research Centre using the full
population template, as described in ‘Section 2.4 The full population template’.
Commencing students with a Course of study commencement date (E534) up to and including 31 May
2022 who are in-scope will be invited to participate in the survey. The screening questions in Module A
will be modified to screen out students who have not completed at least one teaching period at thecommencement of field work.

2.3.1

An overview of the sample preparation processThis section provides an overview of the sample preparation process for institutes that reportenrolment data to TCSI and have their full sample in TCSI by the deadline.
Step 1: Social Research Centre receives an extract from the department
The department extracts data from TCSI and sends it to the Social Research Centre. Institutions’survey population are largely based on this extract.

Step 2: Social Research Centre prepares TCSI templates for each institution to check andappend contact details
The Social Research Centre flags the students who are eligible to participate in the survey andassigns them to study areas according to the definition set out in Appendix E of this document. The
Social Research Centre then sends a TCSI template to each institution to populate. This is done fortwo reasons:i.

We need institutions to confirm the in-scope students to be surveyed.

ii.

We need institutions to provide a small amount of additional data that are not available in
TCSI but are essential for survey execution and/ or reporting. Table 2 provides a summary
list of the variables in the TCSI template. Appendix B contains information on thevariables required for sample preparation and reporting including links to the TCSI Data
Element Dictionary where applicable.

Table 2 Data elements included in the 2022 SES TCSI sample template
Variable

Variable Label

E306

Provider code

F4

Populated

E306C

Higher Education Provider name

A75

Populated

E313

Student identification code

A10

Populated

E584

A10

Populated

A10

Populated

E307

Unique Student Identifier
Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number(CHESSN)
Course code

A10

Populated

E308

Course name

A72

Populated

E310

Course of study type

F2

Populated

E350

Course of study load

F3

Populated

E455

Combined course of study indicator

F5

Populated

E461

Field of education code

F6

Populated

E462

Field of education supplementary code

F6

Populated

E314

Date of birth

A10

Populated

E315

Gender code

A1

Populated

E316

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander code

F1

Populated

E327

Basis for admission code

F2

Populated

E329

Mode of attendance code

F1

Populated

E346

Country of birth code

F4

Populated

E347

Year of arrival in Australia

A4

Populated

E348

Language spoken at home code

F4

Populated

E358

Citizen resident code

F1

Populated

E490

Student Status code

F3

Populated

E573

Highest educational attainment parent 1

F2

Populated

E574

Highest educational attainment parent 2

F2

Populated

E615

Disability code

F2

Populated

E330

Type of attendance code

F1

Populated

E534

Course of study commencement date
Equivalent Full-Time Student Load (enrolments up to TCSI
extract)

A10

Populated
Populated –universities only

E488

E339

FormatF11.9

Comment

10

Commented [CK16]: @Ali Tirdad Can I delete thiscomment? Task done?
Commented [AT17R16]: Yes we updated the APP B

Variable

Variable Label

E931

Aggregated EFTSL since commencement (up to and including
first half of 2022)

F11.9

E560

Total EFTSL from other sources (e.g. RPL, credit transfer)

F5.3

STAGE

Stage of studies as calculated by SRC

F1Populated universities only
Populated universities only
Populated

EXCLUDE

F1

Populated

F1

Essential

F1

Populated

F1

Essential

FACULTY

Groups that are out of scope for the current SES
Flag students who are expected to complete their course by 31
July 2023
Current enrolment status
Flag whether the student was enrolled as an onshore or offshore
student, regardless of actual location.
Faculty or Organisational Unit

A100

Optional*

CAMPUS

Campus where studies based

A100

Optional*

E403

Student given name - first

A100

Populated

E402

Student surname

A100

Populated

E320

Residential address postcode

F4

Populated

E469

Residential address suburb

A100

Populated

E470

Residential address state

A100

Populated

E658

Residential address country code

F4

Populated

EMAIL1Student email address

A100

Essential

EMAIL2Student email address 2

A100

Essential

PHONE1Student phone number

A20

Essential

PHONE2Student phone number 2

A20

Optional

PHONE3Student phone number 3

A20

Optional

PHONE4Student phone number 4

A20

Optional

CompletingFlag
ENRLSTATIntendedLocation

FormatComment* Optional overall but essential if your institution would like to analyse data by Faculty and Campus.
Please take care to ensure that the email addresses provided at EMAIL1 & EMAIL2 will still be activeat the time of fieldwork commencing. As email is our primary approach method, sending emails toinactive email addresses means that students will not be able to complete the survey Sending toinactive domains can also hurt the reputation of the SRC’s IP addresses.
Step 3: Institutions return the completed TCSI template to the Social Research Centrei.

Once institutions have updated the TCSI template, please upload it to the QILT Secure File
Exchange (SFX) where all survey managers should have an account. Please do not email
the file to the Social Research Centre or to the department.

ii.

After the TCSI templates are returned, the Social Research Centre will be in touch withinstitutions as required to discuss and resolve issues in the file. All institutions are expected
to have finalised their completed sample file by Friday 24 June. Although this the final due
date, earlier returns would allow more time for the Social Research Centre to work withinstitutions to resolve issues should that be required. Please note that if sample preparation
involves an excessive number of iterations as part of resolving the same or similar issues,
the Social Research Centre may need to discuss a fee-for-service arrangement.

Step 4: Additional Stepsiii.

If your institution needs to submit additional records not in the TCSI extract (either additional
population or in-scope records), you will need to also submit a full population data template,please read ‘Section 2.4 The full population template’ below. If not, you may proceed to‘Section 2.5 Reviewing STAGE estimate’.

2.4

The full population template

Now that most institutions are reporting to TCSI, the full population template provided by the Social
Research Centre will primarily be used by institutions who are not (or not yet) reporting to TCSI. The
templates contain all the data elements required for survey scoping and reporting.
If your institution has issues with the data in TCSI and would like to use the full population template
instead of the TCSI extract, please contact the SRC as soon as possible to arrange.
Table 3 provides an overview of the data elements in the template that will be required for each
student. Information about the data elements can be found in Appendix B.

Commented [CK18]: @Ali Tirdad Table 3 is checked andOK?

Information about the EFTSL related data elements used for the STAGE calculation are in Appendix
C. This is mainly applicable to universities.

Commented [AT19R18]: yes all goodCompleted templates are due to be returned to the Social Research Centre by Friday 24 June.
Table 3 Data elements required in the 2022 SES full population template
Variable
E306
E306C
E313
E584

Format
F4
A75
A10
A10

Comment
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential

A10

Essential

A10
A72
F2
F3
F5
F6

Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential

E307
E308
E310
E350
E455
E461

Variable Label
Provider code
Higher Education Provider name
Student identification code
Unique Student Identifier
Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number(CHESSN)
Course code
Course nameCourse of study type
Course of study load
Combined course of study indicator
Field of education code

E462

Field of education supplementary code

F6

Essential

E314
E315
E316
E327
E329
E346
E347
E348
E358
E490
E573
E574
E615
E330
E534
ENRLSTAT

Date of birth
Gender code
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander code
Basis for admission code
Mode of attendance code
Country of birth code
Year of arrival in Australia
Language spoken at home code
Citizen resident code
Student Status code
Highest educational attainment parent 1
Highest educational attainment parent 2
Disability code
Type of attendance code
Course of study commencement dateCurrent enrolment status
Flag whether the student was enrolled as an onshore or
offshore student, regardless of actual location.

A10
A1
F1
F2
F1
F4
A4
F4
F1
F3
F2
F2
F2
F1
A10
F1

Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential

F1

Essential

F11.9

Essential –universities
only

E488

IntendedLocation
E339

CurrentEFTSL - Equivalent Full-Time Student Load(enrolments up to TCSI extract)

12

E931

CurrentEFTSL + HistoricalEFTSL + E560 - Aggregated
EFTSL since commencement (up to and including first half of
2022)

F11.9

E560

Total EFTSL from other sources (e.g. RPL, credit transfer)

F5.3

CompletingFlag
FACULTY
CAMPUS
E403
E402
E320
E469
E470
E658
EMAIL1EMAIL2
PHONE1
PHONE2
PHONE3
PHONE4

Flag students who are expected to complete their course by
31 July 2023
Faculty or Organisational Unit
Campus where studies based
Student given name - firstStudent surname
Residential address postcode
Residential address suburb
Residential address state
Residential address country code
Student email address
Student email address 2
Student phone number
Student phone number 2
Student phone number 3
Student phone number 4

Essential –universities
only
Essential –universities
only

F1

Essential

A100
A100
A100
A100
F4
A100
A100
F4
A100
A100
A20
A20
A20
A20

Optional*
Optional*
Essential
Essential
Optional
Optional
Optional
Optional
Essential
Essential
Essential
Optional
Optional
Optional* Optional overall but essential if your institution would like to analyse data by Faculty and Campus.

2.4.1

Things to note when using the full population template• Do not include new mid-year intakes in the full population template. These students are out-ofscope because they will not have completed at least one teaching period at the commencementof the survey. Please contact the Social Research Centre at qilt@srcentre.com.au if you are
unsure about the in-scope population for the SES.
• Some students may withdraw from their original course in Semester 1 and transfer to anothercourse in Semester 2. Please do not provide the students’ Semester 2 course information in thetemplate. Students will confirm the course of enrolment in the survey course screener questions
in Module A.
• If students are concurrently enrolled in two different course codes, please include both
enrolments as separate records.
• We want to avoid contacting students who are no longer enrolled at your institution. Ourpreference is for these students to be excluded from the template. However, if it is easier for you
to include these students in the template, those that should not be contacted for the survey
should be flagged in ENRLSTAT as appropriate.
• If your institution is considering post-field telephone activity and would like the Social ResearchCentre to target potential respondents by Faculty or Campus, these variables must be included in
the sample file. If they are to be included, both Faculty and Campus must be provided in thesample file as a text value. Please note that there will be a cost involved if an institution does notprovide Faculty and Campus information during sample preparation but would like the Social
Research Centre to append this information to the output or population file (or to historical data
files) after the survey data have been processed.
• Please ensure the enrolment information (E313, E584, E488, E307, E308, E310, E350, E455,
E461, E462, E314, E315, E316, E327, E329, E346, E347, E348, E358, E490, E573, E574, E615,
E330, E534, E339, E931, E560, E403, E402, E320, E469, E470, E658) that you provide in theCommented [AT20]: @Paddy Tobias included all E
variables in the pop template. This is not course information
anymore. Change `course information` to `information` maybe?
Commented [PT21R20]: have updated to "enrolment
information". cheerspopulation template aligns with the information that your institution is (or will be) submitting to
TCSI.

2.4.2

Commented [PT22]: should we add a point on
CurrentEFTSL going to E339, and HistoricalEFTSL going toE931, and how to calculate E931 (institutions wouldnt calculate
this normally when submitting to the dept)?
Commented [CK23R22]: I don’t think we need to. There isa sep section on EFTSL below and we have covered the info in
Appendix C

Populating the EFTSL related variables in the full population template foruniversities (this is not required for NUHEIs)

Commented [PT24R22]: ok coolWhy is this essential?
We use the provided Equivalent Full-Time Student Load (EFTSL) information associated withstudents’ previously completed and currently enrolled units to calculate STAGE (i.e. classifying
students as Commencing, Completing or Middle years) for scoping and reporting.
•For universities, only Commencing and Completing students are in-scope for the SES.

•For NUHEIs, Middle years students are also in-scope for the SES.

EFTSL is defined in the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA) [s169-27] as an equivalent fulltime student load. It is a measure of the study load, for a year, of a student undertaking a course of
study on a full-time basis, where the student undertakes a standard program of studies.
Information about the EFTSL variables used in the STAGE calculation can be found in Appendix C.

Stage of Studies overview
The STAGE variable in the SES population data denotes the stage of studies (i.e. Commencing,Completing or Middle years) for survey eligibility and reporting of survey results.

Commencing student (STAGE = 1)
As defined in TCSI – a student is a commencing student if they have enrolled in the course for the firsttime at the higher education provider or an antecedent higher education provider between 1 January
and 31 December of the collection year. See Glossary term | TCSI Support

Completing / Final year students (STAGE = 2)
There is no indicator in TCSI that can be used to identify a completing or final year student. For the
purposes of the 2022 SES, a completing or final year student is expected to complete their current
course of study by 31 July 2023.

Middle year students (STAGE = 3)
Any student who is not a commencing or completing/final year student is defined as a middle year
student.
Full details of the STAGE calculation algorithm can be found in Appendix D.
Note: Institutions are not required to calculate STAGE.

2.5

Reviewing STAGE estimate

The STAGE calculation is an estimate of a student’s stage of study in their course. Although it is only
an approximation (as shown in Appendix D), STAGE is an important scoping variable for universities
and a reporting variable for all institutions.

14

The Social Research Centre will provide institutions opportunities to review the STAGE estimation
before the survey commences. It is important that universities review the STAGE estimates and alert
the Social Research Centre of any issues with the data as soon as possible.
For institutions using the TCSI extract data, the Social Research Centre will calculate STAGE andinclude it in your institution’s TCSI template. Commencing students will have STAGE = 1, Completing
students will have STAGE = 2, and Middle year students will have STAGE = 3. Institutions are asked
to use the CompletingFlag variable to indicate whether the student is expected to complete theirstudies by 31 July 2023 (i.e., Completing students) or not – it should be populated for all records.
STAGE (calculated by the Social Research Centre) is included in the TCSI population templates sothat institutions may review how it aligns with the institution-provided CompletingFlag.
For universities using the full population template, you will need to provide EFTSL data in the template
for the Social Research Centre to calculate STAGE for your students. You are also asked to use theCompletingFlag variable to denote Completing students. This will allow the Social Research Centre tocheck our STAGE calculation and follow up with the institution if there are large differences.
For NUHEIs using the full population template, you are not required to provide EFTSL data. The
Social Research Centre will calculate STAGE for your students based on E534 Course of study
commencement date for Commencing students and the CompletingFlag for Middle year andCompleting students.
All institutions will be able to review their final STAGE data at the unit record level in the sample
selections and targets file.

Commented [CK25]: @Paddy Tobias How do we wantinstitutions to use the CompletingFlag variable in this context.
Flag all mid and final yr students or just where STAGE isincorrect?
Commented [PT26R25]: I think do it for everyone record,
0/1Commented [PT27R25]: have added a point
Commented [CK28]: @Paddy Tobias Do we say that we will
get back to institutions during sample prep if our calculated
STAGE do not correspond to the data in CompletingFlag?
Commented [PT29R28]: If there is a proportionally a big
difference, then yeah we should. Fundamentally we'll be using
CompletingFlag to check against our calculation of STAGE=2,
so it will be a part of our sample returns checking process toget back to the inst if there's a bug difference to ascertain why
Commented [PT30R28]: Not sure if we want to make itpublic, but in some cases we may opt to take theirCompletingFlag=1 to derive STAGE=2 as it could be morereliable than the eftsl data theyve provided - this is what we didin the past for a few insts
Commented [PT31R28]: (in the past, pretty sure we didnt
make it public, instead kept it as a card up our sleeve)
Commented [CK32R28]: OK, I will just leave it at that. If
you feel that we should say more here, pls feel free to add.
Commented [PT33R28]: I think this is fine3.

Data collection

3.1

The standard SES instrument

The core SES focuses on five components of the student experience:•

Skills development•

Learner engagement•

Quality teaching•Student support•

Learning resources.

These components have been operationalised into closed items with the exception of two open-ended
questions that invite students to report on the best aspects of their higher education experience and the
aspects of their higher education experience that need improvement. The SES instrument also includes aninternational student module designed to measure the experience of international students in Australia,
including their reasons for studying here, as well as their satisfaction with various aspects of life in Australia,
as well as a set of items related to students’ perceptions of freedom of expression on campus.
The instrument also collects data relating to each course element if the student is enrolled in a combined or
double degree.

3.2

Adding additional questions

Institutions can include non-standard, institution-specific questions towards the end of the instrument on afee-for-service arrangement. All questions need to be reviewed for wording and conceptual overlap withexisting items. The fee is calculated on an individual basis depending on the questions and requirements of
the institution – arrangements are outlined in the ‘Additional Questions’ fact sheet on the QILT website (log into the Provider Portal, and click on Resources). Costs presume that institutions will draft the questions andwe will work with you to operationalise the wording and response frames for an online survey. The additionalquestions will be documented in a MS Word document for your approval prior to programming into the online
survey format. Costs allow for two iterations of revisions to finalise. An administrative fee will apply to include
the questions in subsequent years to recognise the ongoing maintenance and checking required.
Refer to Table 1 for the final date to nominate additional questions and to approve the wording, response
options and structure. Remember to use your PASF to register for additional questions. If you need this form
sent to you again please contact the Social Research Centre at qilt@srcentre.com.au.

3.2.1

COVID-19 items

In 2020, the Social Research Centre, in consultation with the sector, developed a set of COVID-19 items
designed to help institutions measure the impact of the pandemic on the student experience. If you areinterested in including some of the COVID-19 items (or a variation of them) in the 2022 SES, please get intouch with us at qilt@srcentre.com.au Please note, inclusion of the COVID-19 items is on a fee-for-service
basis.

3.2.2

Survey testing

The Social Research Centre will program additional questions in the online survey format and provide
institutions a survey link for testing. We require testing and sign off on additional questions from relevant
institutions – if we are unable to contact you or do not hear back from you by the due date, we will presume
the questions are approved as provided.

Refer to Table 1 for dates from which the programmed additional questions will be available to test and whensign-off on the online survey test link is required.

3.3

Adding additional populations

Institutions can include out-of-scope populations or any sub-group of students who fall outside of the inscope population for the SES. Further information and fees are presented in the ‘Additional Populations’ fact
sheet in the general resources section of the QILT website.

4.

Response maximisation

4.1

Basic principles

The core QILT methodology has been designed to ensure a robust approach to data collection and to
maximise the response for institutions and the overall project. A centralised and consistent methodology isimportant for ensuring the integrity of results and standard response maximisation activities include in fieldreminder emails and SMS. These are not customisable features of the approach lest the researchmethodology become inconsistent.
Institution led awareness raising and engagement activities such as use of marketing materials, media
campaigns and incentives heavily support the core response maximisation activities. Supporting materials forthe range of student engagement initiatives outlined in this section are available to survey managers throughthe Marketing Pack.
Some basic guidelines apply:•••

Awareness raising and engagement:oInstitutions should send a pre-survey awareness raising letter or email. This correspondence
should say upfront how sample member details are provided, the importance of thisgovernment commissioned work and introduce the Social Research Centre.

oInstitutions should not send actual survey links in any correspondence.

o

Any direct correspondence with sample members during the online fieldwork period should
be discussed with the Social Research Centre and the materials provided.

Prize draws:oInstitutions are welcome to consider their own incentives; however, they need to advise theSocial Research Centre of any planned activities to ensure they are completely independentand do not interfere with the standard methodology or prize draw terms and conditions.
Institutions are responsible for meeting all relevant gaming and lottery legislation.

oNo monetary or financial prizes are permitted, however, tangible prizes can generally be
expected to be in-scope, for example, institutional branded hoodies, dinner vouchers, etc.
There has been some discussion in the past regarding laptops. We suggest consideration be
given to whether sample members can already be expected to have technology and devicesof their choice and if this is a worthwhile investment.

oRefer ‘4.6.4 Incentivisation’ for more detail on the core prize draw process.

Social media:oProactively use your institution’s social media to raise awareness of the importance of the
SES and let students know they’ll be receiving a survey invitation from the Social ResearchCentre.

oSocial media is prevalent and provides a readily available means to communicate to large
groups of people. This means negative comments from a small minority of sample members
can gain significant momentum, but it also provides an opportunity for institutions toproactively engage with sample members during the:−pre-survey phase as part of raising awareness, explaining the purpose and why the
research is so important.

18

−in field phase as part of thanking those who have already participated, discussing email
and telephone reminders, how the data is used and that all contact has the opportunity
for sample members to opt-out.

−

end of survey phase to thank everyone for helping to make a difference and how they
can access the reports and data on the QILT website.

4.2

Institutional engagement

4.2.1

Guide to marketing the SES

This section is focussed on the effective and appropriate usage of SES branded marketing materials. The
objective is to raise awareness of the SES and facilitate survey participation.
Based on our experiences with survey administration we aim to use a set of established strategies that are
proven to support solid response rates from students including emails and an appropriate incentive program.
These strategies perform best when supported by institution-based promotion as well as an innovative social
media campaign. Refer ‘4.3 Engagement activity plan’, which outlines key dates and materials to use
throughout the fieldwork period.
There are four distinct periods that dictate the use of assets and promotional activities:•

Pre-survey awareness institution-branded letter, posted Tuesday 12 July at the earliest•

Pre-survey awareness campaign, Monday 18 – Friday 22 July•SES now open messaging, Tuesday 26 July at the earliest•

Last chance to complete the SES, Monday 22 AugustEngagement materials will be distributed to institutions and will include:•

Social media tiles: Artwork and copy for social media posts are available to be shared on
institutional pages. There are ten social media tiles with varying images and text, along with fivecaptions that can be used at different time points throughout fieldwork. Please refer to theMarketing Pack User Guide for further information on suggested timeframes and captions.

•

Posters: There are four posters provided that are suitable for printing in A3 and A4 formats. The
posters have the same text but different images and come in two different formats. Please choose
the file type that best suits your situation.

•

Web tiles: Multiple sizes of web tiles (MREC, Leaderboard, Skyscraper) featuring SES branding
and messaging.

•

LMS tiles: Three tiles that can be embedded on your LMS home page with a link to
http://www.ses.edu.au/. Lecture slides: Six lecture slides have been provided for use in lectures
and tutorials. Some explanatory text for lecturers has been included in the user guide. A set of cobranded slides has also been provided so institutions can include their branding or tailor
messaging.

•

Pull up banners: Three pull up banners with varying images have been provided in high resolution
format. The banners are suitable for professional printing and are recommended for display aroundcampus.

4.2.2

Pre-field awareness institution-branded letter or email

It is expected that institutions send an early awareness raising letter or email to assure students of thelegitimacy of the survey. Most institutions should have the facilities to conduct this in-house and it isrecommended that institutions begin to organise this early. Signatories such as the Vice Chancellor or facultyheads can be expected to have the biggest impact. This particular engagement activity can be institutionbranded (i.e., institutional logo with QILT logos). Institutions are asked to notify the Social Research Centreof the content and date of delivery of the letter or email. We will also provide a template in the Marketing
Pack.

4.3

Engagement activity plan

The Social Research Centre has created a best-practice engagement activity plan based on theeffectiveness of structured and well-timed engagement during several trial QILT projects and iterations of
QILT surveys. Institutions will be asked to adhere to the activity plan below. Variations to the activities
outlined in the SES Engagement Activity Plan are only permitted upon agreement with the Social ResearchCentre. Refer to ‘Section 1.2 Summary timeline’ for the final date to propose variations to the engagement
activity plan.
Table 2 Standard 2022 SES Engagement Activity Plan
The Social Research Centre

How institutions can help

In the lead-up to the launch: 11 July– Awareness Campaign•

Send awareness letter/email from your institution to all in-scope
selections with the aim of it landing during the week of 11 July. Primary
approach letters and emails are effective in terms of legitimacy and canbe carried out in-house (Refer to ‘SES to students letter_Awareness’ &‘SES to students email_Awareness’ in the Marketing Pack and the‘Institutional hardcopy mail out fact sheet’ on the provider portal).

In the lead-up to the launch: 18 – 22 July – Awareness Campaign•

Create a web presence for SES (or update a previous SES informationpage) on institutional website under ‘current surveys’ or similar.

•

Send an email to staff alerting to SES participation and encourage useof in-class slides (Refer to ‘SES to staff email_Awareness’ email andthe ‘Lecture Slides’ folder in the Marketing Pack)•

Send an email from the Vice Chancellor to students advising of theSES (Refer to ‘SES to students email_Awareness’);•Use your institution’s social media platforms to promote the survey (e.g.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). Refer to Marketing Pack User Guide forsocial media tiles, suggested timings and captions or
www.facebook.com/QILT1/);•

Upload webtiles to your website for the duration of the fieldwork period(Refer to the user guide on how to use webtiles);•Place a general announcement on your institution’s LMS for theduration of the fieldwork period (refer to the Marketing Pack User Guide
on how to use LMS tiles);•Advertise the SES in newsletters (or similar) (Refer to Posters,
Webtiles, or Lecture Slides);•Ensure whitelisting strategies are in place.

Online survey launch: Week commencing 25 July – Open Campaign
Thursday 28 July
Email invitation will be sent to allstudents sampled for inclusion in
the SES•Use your institution’s social media platforms to promote the survey (e.g.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), raising awareness, explaining the
purpose and why the research is so important.

Saturday 30 July
The Social Research Centre
Reminder email #1
Week commencing Monday 1 August – Open Campaign
Monday 1 August•

Post a reminder on your institution’s website.

20

The Social Research Centre
Reminder email #2
Thursday 4 August
The Social Research Centre
Reminder email #3••

Use your institution’s social media platforms to promote the survey (e.g.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), raising awareness, explaining the
purpose and why the research is so important (see SES Marketing
Pack User Guide for suggested caption and social media tiles).

•

Check to see if your institution has any prize winners on the QILT
Facebook page and share this if so (Refer towww.facebook.com/QILT1/).

Week commencing Monday 8 August – Open Campaign

Monday 8 August
The Social Research Centre
Reminder email #4•

Use your institution’s social media platforms to promote the survey (e.g.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), thanking those who have alreadyparticipated, discussing email and telephone reminders, how the data isused and that all contact has the opportunity for sample members to
opt-out.

Friday 12 August
The Social Research Centre
Reminder email #5•

Check to see if your institution has any prize winners on the QILT
Facebook page and share this if so (Refer towww.facebook.com/QILT1/);•

Send out a mid-field email from the Vice Chancellor / Faculty head.
Remember to remove any completes and opt outs using the downloadfrom the reporting module (Refer to ‘SES to students
email_mid_survey).

•

Week commencing Monday 15 August – Open Campaign

Monday 15 August
The Social Research Centre
Reminder email #6
Friday 19 August
The Social Research Centre
Reminder email #7•

Use your institution’s social media platforms to promote the survey (e.g.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). Check to see if your institution has any
prize winners on the QILT Facebook page and share this if so (Refer towww.facebook.com/QILT1/);•

Send out a mid-field email from the Vice Chancellor / Faculty head.
Remember to remove any completes and opt outs using the downloadfrom the reporting module (Refer to ‘SES to students
email_mid_survey’).

Week commencing Monday 22 August – Closing Campaign

Monday 22 August
The Social Research Centre
Reminder email #8
Thursday 25 August
The Social Research Centre
Reminder email #9

4.4

•

•

Use your institution’s social media platforms to promote the survey (e.g.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), absolute last chance to participate,
thank everyone for helping to make a difference and how they canaccess the reports and data on the QILT and ComparED websites.

•

Check to see if your institution has any prize winners on the QILT
Facebook page and share this if so. Refer towww.facebook.com/QILT1/);•

Post a reminder on your website.

Social media campaign

A modest social media campaign will be conducted through the QILT Facebook and Instagram accounts andwill be managed by the Social Research Centre. Survey managers are encouraged to share QILT posts, if
possible.

4.5

Institutional web presence

The Social Research Centre recommends creating or updating a web presence for the SES to assure
students of the legitimacy of the survey, as well as provide a reference point for students to access general
information about the SES. Please use the logo provided in the Marketing Pack. For general information
please include a link to www.qilt.edu.au/surveys/ses on your website.

4.6Standard QILT response maximisation activities

4.6.1

Email invitations and reminders

Authentication is a process where sample members can log into a generic link to allow entry into the survey
by using a first name, student ID and date of birth to validate themselves as a legitimate sample member. A
unique survey link is generated and sent to their email of choice. Authentication opens at the same time as
the soft launch, that is, two days before the main fieldwork period.
All institutions will follow the same fieldwork period for the 2022 SES; as such, the reminder schedule will be
uniform across all institutions. Prior to each communication the Social Research Centre will remove students
who have completed the survey or opted out of further follow up from email communications.
The reminder schedule is based on sound operational experience, and has been used across various trial
surveys, as well as the SES with success. Given that centralisation of data collection for the SES is designed
to provide more robust, consistent and comparable data, the methodology cannot be altered without
impacting on comparability. Requests to modify the email schedule cannot be accommodated unless there
are especially unique circumstances and will involve an approval process with the department. The SES
sample collects up to four email addresses. All email addresses that are provided will be used from the
beginning of fieldwork – our analysis has shown that almost half of completed surveys were opened initiallyfrom a non-institutional email address. The email schedule and prize draw dates are outlined in Table 3. Incompliance with the Australian Privacy Principles and the SPAM Act, all emails and SMS have thefunctionality for recipients to unsubscribe.
Table 3 2022 SES Response Maximisation Activities
Activity

Date

Soft launch fieldwork starts / email invite sent

Tuesday 26 July

Main launch fieldwork starts / email invite sent

Thursday 28 July

Email reminder 1 preparation and sending

Saturday 30 July

Email reminder 2 preparation and sending

Monday 1 August

PRIZE DRAW 1 CLOSE
PRIZE DRAW 1 CONDUCTED

Monday 1 August (11:59pm)
Wednesday 3 August

Email reminder 3 preparation and sending

Thursday 4 August

Email reminder 4 preparation and sending + SMS 1

Monday 8 August

PRIZE DRAW 2 CLOSE
PRIZE DRAW 2 CONDUCTED

Monday 8 August (11:59pm)
Wednesday 10 August

Email reminder 5 preparation and sending

Friday 12 August

Email reminder 6 preparation and sending + SMS 2

Monday 15 August

PRIZE DRAW 3 CLOSE
PRIZE DRAW 3 CONDUCTED

Monday 15 August (11:59pm)
Wednesday 17 August

Email reminder 7 preparation and sending

Friday 19 August

Email reminder 8 preparation and sending + F4S SMS

Monday 22 August

PRIZE DRAW 4 CLOSE
PRIZE DRAW 4 CONDUCTED

Commented [PT34]: dates need to be updated

Monday 22 August (11:59pm)
Wednesday 24 August

Email reminder 9 preparation and sending

Thursday 25 August

Online collection closes

Sunday 28 August22

4.6.2Whitelisting and spam mitigation

All conduct related to email contact and follow up with students will be carried out by the Social ResearchCentre using an internal email platform. To ensure that all email correspondence has the best possible
chance of being received by students, institutions should follow the whitelisting processes as outlined below:•‘Whitelist’ emails from the following domain: srcentre.com.au•

It can also help to whitelist the actual email address: ses@srcentre.com.au•

Whitelist server name that email originates from. Hostname ending in ‘emdbms.com’

Other useful information:•

The return-path is ‘research.srcentre.com.au’•

IP address ranges that the SES emails will be sent from:•o103.69.164.0/22 ando118.127.20.128/25

For Office 365 administrators, please direct the emails to “Focused” Inbox tab instead of “Other”:
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Configure-Focused-Inbox-for-everyone-in-your-organization613a845c-4b71-41de-b331-acdcf5b6625d?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US

Examples of relevant mail headers•

Return-Path: ca0a847.a83403.16000191.1@research.srcentre.com.au•

Received: from mail164-229.au164.emdbms.com (103.69.164.229) by …

•…. (envelope-from <ca0a847.a83403.16000191.1@research.srcentre.com.au>•

From: "The QILT team" ses@srcentre.com.au

Email subject headings (indicative text below)2:•

Authentication: Student Experience Survey – Your details have been verified•

Invitation: Student Experience Survey – Share your experiences to help current and future students•

Reminder 1: Student Experience Survey – Your feedback is important•Reminder 2: Student Experience Survey – Prize draw closes tonight•

Reminder 3: Student Experience Survey – Help improve your institution•

Reminder 4: Student Experience Survey – You could win $1,000 for your feedback•

Reminder 5: Student Experience Survey – Your insights can benefit future students•

Reminder 6: Student Experience Survey – We know you’ve received several emails!

•

Reminder 7: Australian Government wants to hear from you in the Student Experience Survey•

Reminder 8: Student Experience Survey – Final prize draw closes tonight•

Reminder 9: Student Experience Survey – Final chance to complete

In the past twelve months we have noticed an anecdotal increase in the number of institutions using
automatic link scanning software. The use of this software can result in a 100% click rate which inturn can put stress on our servers during launch. It would be greatly appreciated if you could check

2 The Social Research Centre may vary subject headings depending on needs arising during fieldwork.

with your institution’s IT team to see if such link scanning software is in place, and whether it can be
voided for emails coming from srcentre.com.au domains.

4.6.3

SMS

The Social Research Centre uses SMS during fieldwork to augment email contact and target
underperforming areas as required. If your institution chooses to provide mobile numbers, it is consideredthat your institution consents to the students receiving SMS. We expect to send between one and three
SMS’ across the online fieldwork period. The SMS would include a short link to the online survey. In
compliance with the Australian Privacy Principles and the SPAM Act, all SMS’ identify us as from the Social
Research Centre, what study the SMS is referring to and have the functionality for recipients to unsubscribe.

4.6.4

Incentivisation

All completing students will be entered into a national rolling prize draw in the SES. The national prize pool
will total $32,000 across the August and September rounds. Each weekly prize pool will be made up of$1,000, $500 and $250 prepaid VISA gift cards. The prize pool is designed to encourage early completion,
as early completers are entered into all remaining prize draws from the date of their survey submission.
All conduct related to the prize draw including permits, drawing of prizes, contacting winners, and advertisingof winners will be carried out by the Social Research Centre. The terms and conditions of the prize pool will
be available at www.srcentre.com.au/sestcs (this will be updated prior to SES fieldwork). The link to theterms and conditions will be inserted into email activity sent to students and can be included on a webpage
presence. The key prize draw dates are included at ‘Table 3 2022 SES Response Maximisation Activities’. If
you refer to the prize draw in any institutional marketing activities a link to the terms and conditions must be
included.
Any additional incentivisation offered by institutions could affect the national incentive lotteries permits as
secured by the Social Research Centre. If you would like to offer any type of incentive in addition to thenational incentive offered by the Social Research Centre please get in contact prior to data collection so we
can discuss options and work together to ensure we stay within the terms and conditions of the secured
permits.

4.7

Fee-for-service response maximisation activities

The SES offers optional non-response follow up via telephone and SMS. The fee-for-service SMS will be inaddition to the two SMS’ sent as part of the standard response maximisation activities and will be sent in thelast week of fieldwork. Telephone non-response follow up takes place after the main online fieldwork period
has closed.

4.7.1

Additional SMS

Institutions can nominate for an additional SMS to be sent in the last week of fieldwork. The additional SMS
will be sent on the day of the final prize draw and will be tailored to include the name of your institution.
Institutions can elect to send the message to all non-responders or provide a fixed budget to cap the numberof messages to be sent. Where there is a fixed budget in place, the Social Research Centre will discuss any
priority cohorts to be targeted prior to the send.

4.7.2

Telephone non-response follow up

The SES offers optional post online fieldwork telephone non-response follow up using the Social ResearchCentre’s in-house call centre. Telephone follow up will take place after online collection has closed.
The Social Research Centre is offering two types of telephone follow up; full CATI surveys or a telephone
reminder call:24•The reminder call is designed to drive students to go online to complete the survey, maintaining
methodological consistency and these responses will be included in aggregations published on the
QILT website.

•

The full CATI survey is completed over the phone at the time of call. These responses will not bereported nationally or appear on the QILT website; however, are included as a part of institutional
files and institutional reports.

The Social Research Centre can provide a quote for telephone reminders or full telephone surveys onrequest. We are only able to accommodate definite bookings, as there are specific sample preparation andscripting processes that start prior to online fieldwork to enable the survey for telephone interviewing. Due tothe set-up required, if telephone follow up is booked and then cancelled there will be a cancellation fee tocover these costs.
Refer to Table 1 for the final date to nominate post-online fieldwork telephone activity. Remember to use
your PASF to register for telephone based activity. If you need this form sent to you again please contact theSocial Research Centre at qilt@srcentre.com.au.

5.

Fieldwork monitoring

5.1

LiaisonThroughout the SES, the Social Research Centre team will aim for a transparent and collaborative process.
Communications will be delivered on a one-on-one basis, as part of weekly institutional fieldwork updates
and via the QILT newsletter and webinar series, depending upon individual needs.

5.2

Real-time reporting

The Social Research Centre is able to offer participating institutions real-time status reporting for the SES,
meaning that, once fieldwork commences, institutions can monitor the progress of data collection, andreadily engage in a discussion with the Social Research Centre project management team regarding
targeted non-response follow up activities, as appropriate.
The standard reporting link for the online survey features:•

A summary of progress, in table format, by key variables such as study area, student year, genderand qualification.

•

The capacity to download a csv file of survey progress for each student and analyse by course
code, Field of Education, study area and gender, providing the flexibility to create tables or charts
in Excel.

•

The capacity to monitor completion status (completes, partial completes, disqualified).

To improve the security of the QILT reporting module, from the 2022 SES onwards, we will be creating
individual user accounts, rather than a centralised institution account that has been used previously. Further
detail about accessing the new module will be provided via email in the coming weeks. The reporting module
can be accessed at https://portal.srcentre.com.au/repmod/home for registered users only.

26

6.

Deliverables

The following deliverables will be provided to institutions at the end of data processing for the 2022 SES
collection.

6.1

Benchmarking data file

6.1.1

Universities Australia

These are time series national data files, with data going back to 2018 and are distributed to institutions
according to the data sharing agreement between universities that has been coordinated by Universities
Australia (UA). These files contain respondent level data from all universities that signed up to the data
sharing agreement. The files do not contain data from NUHEIs and universities that are not UA
members, and therefore will not sum to the data published in the SES National Report. The files also
do not include institution specific fee-for-service items. Only ‘members’ of Universities Australia receive
a copy of the UA data file. To receive benchmarking data files, an institutional representative is required toapply for the file by completing the Department’s standard data request form which is available from the QILT
website. Data releases are compliant with the privacy requirements of the Higher Education Support Act
2003 (HESA). Release dates of the UA data files and the UA Tableau workbook are set at the discretion of
the department.

6.1.2

Commented [CK35]: @Ali Tirdad Is this right or have weshortened the time series. Please edit if req.
Commented [AT36R35]: Yes, we decided last round that
we only include 5 years of data in time series. So data goesback to four year (2018)

Independent Higher Education Australia

Members of Independent Higher Education Australia (IHEA) data sharing agreement receive a Tableau
workbook containing their own data and de-identified data of all other IHEA member institutions that signed
up to the agreement. Like the UA files, the release date of the IHEA Tableau packaged workbooks is set atthe discretion of the department.

6.2

Institutional data file

Each institution receives two versions of the institution-specific file at the conclusion of fieldwork – one whichaccommodates data warehousing systems by appending new variables at the end of the file and anotherwhich places any new variables within their conceptual group. This file contains records and data items thatare not available to all institutions as part of the National SES data file. Additional information available in theinstitutional data files can include:•

partially completed surveys•

non-SEQ data items (included at the request of the institution)•

non-SEQ student populations (included at the request of the institution); and•SEQ surveys completed via CATI.

An institution’s file will contain collected data for the last five years of SES collections that they haveparticipated in.

6.3

Tableau packaged workbooks

The Social Research Centre also provides Tableau packaged workbooks to enable institutions to interrogate
the data more easily. The Tableau packaged workbook incorporates the report and underlying data in one
package and allows institutions to easily ‘copy’ and ‘export’ charts and tables for local reporting. Institutions
need a copy of the Tableau Reader to view the packaged workbook. The Tableau Reader can be
downloaded free of charge from the Tableau website (http://www.tableau.com/products/reader).

Commented [CK37]: @Ali Tirdad Is this right or shortened
time series?
Commented [AT38R37]: Shorten to last five years including
the current year.

The Tableau packaged workbooks containing institutional data are released at the same time as theinstitution specific data files. Additional population and CATI completed survey data can be viewed from theTableau packaged workbooks by selecting the appropriate filters. Institution specific data items are notincluded in Tableau packaged workbooks.

6.4

Verbatim responses

Verbatim responses for the current survey are provided as a separate file in csv and SPSS formats. Thesefiles do not contain time series data but contain the key survey and demographic data for the files to be used
stand-alone without the need to link back to the data file. SESIDs have also been included in these files tolink cases between the data and verbatim files and facilitate easier use of the SEQuery text analyser tools.
The text analyser thematically groups the institution’s ‘Best aspects’ and ‘Needs improvement’ open-ended
items and is available on the QILT provider portal. (www.qilt.edu.au/login).

28

Appendix A
applicable

Sampling methodology whereA very small number of universities participating in the SES have sufficiently large strata that a census ofcommencing and final year students is not necessary to achieve the required number of completes forstudent data to be reportable at the desired level of precision. This Appendix provides an overview of thesampling process where it is applicable.
It should be noted that even if an institution has sufficiently large enough strata, a census is still preferredas it simplifies response maximisation activities and avoids excluding students who, while notnecessarily required for reporting of SES strata, may be included in a sub-population of interest to
the institution in their internal analysis.

Sample frame
The sample frame is created using the population data from TCSI for individual institutions. A stratified
sampling approach with strata defined based on institution, course level, study area and stage is used. The
45 study areas used in 2016 will remain as the basis for sampling and fieldwork monitoring.
Where individual strata are large enough that a census is not required and the institution prefers not toundertake a census of in-scope students, the number of students to be sampled in each stratum will becalculated to achieve the target error band (±7.5 per cent at a 90 per cent level of confidence), with theprevious collection’s response rates forming the basis of these calculations.
A sample of students will be taken after we receive verified data from the institution to minimise resamplingissues. The sample selection will be checked against population parameters to ensure that appropriate
proportions of gender, qualification, mode of attendance, broad field of education and citizenshipcharacteristics are present in the sample.

Sample strata and students in combined/double degrees
The sampling strata are built on the 45 Study Areas. The strata appear in the population file as a numericconcatenation of your institution code (E306), the Stage at which the student was enrolled (commencing,
final year and middle years; 01-03), the Study Area code (01-45) and the course level (undergraduate or
postgraduate coursework, 01-02). For example, the code ‘2236012902’ refers to Curtin University ofTechnology (2236) where undergraduate level students (01) were enrolled in the Business Management
study area (29) in their final year (02).
For quota management purposes, students in combined / double degrees were allocated to the Study Area
with the fewest students. For example, a student in an Arts / Law course was typically allocated to a Law
rather than an Arts stratum. They will still answer the SES for both degrees but at the quota management
stage of proceedings, they only count towards Law. The rationale is that it will be easier to achieve a 35%
response rate if the pool of potential respondents is higher. As there are fewer students in Law than Arts
courses, it makes more sense to increase the pool of potential respondents in Law. Response rate reporting
during fieldwork occurs at the student level. The syntax used to assign students in combined courses to theirrespective strata can be provided on request.

Study area
The sample frame is based on 45 study areas which collapse to the 21 Study Areas used on the QILT
website. The Fields of Education (E461) within each of the 45 Study Areas are listed in Appendix E.
The supplementary field of education code (E462) is used to assign courses undertaken by students incombined/double degrees to the second Study Area variable.

Appendix B
templates

Variables in the sample population

This section contains a brief description of the data required from both universities and NUHEIs for each
student for the 2022 SES.
Links to the TCSI support website have been provided for variables that are identical to the data elements
required for TCSI reporting.
The data format and specific codes available for each variable can be found in the Data Map in the full
population and TCSI templates.

Institution details
E306 – Higher Education Provider CodeHigher Education Provider code as issued by the department or by the Social Research Centre for the
purpose of QILT. See Provider code | TCSI Support

E306C – Higher Education Provider Name
Higher Education Provider name for the purpose of QILT reporting.

Student Identifiers
E313 – Student ID
A code which uniquely identifies the student within the higher education provider and remains constant fromyear to year. See Student identification code | TCSI Support

E584 – Unique Student Identifier (USI)
A code assigned by the Department which uniquely identifies an individual. See Unique Student Identifier |TCSI Support
If the student does not have a USI or it is unknown, please leave this field blank.

E488 – Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number (CHESSN)
A code, allocated by the Department, which uniquely identifies the student and remains constant from year toyear. See Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number (CHESSN) | TCSI Support
If the student does not have a CHESSN or it is unknown, populate file with ‘ZZZZZZZZ’.

Course details
E307 – Course code
A code which uniquely identifies each course within a provider. See Course code | TCSI Support
The course code format should follow TCSI submission format.

E308 – Course name
The full name of the course. See Course name | TCSI Support30

E310 – Course of study type code
This variable indicates the type of higher education course. See Course of study type | TCSI Support
Note that only undergraduate students and postgraduate course work students are in-scope for the SES.

E350 – Course of study load
The total EFTSL in years required to complete this course of study. See Course of study load | TCSI Support
Examples•A standard three-year full-time bachelor’s degree would have E350 = 3.0•

A standard one-year graduate diploma would have E350 = 1.0

Valid range for E350 is 0 – 9.9.

E455 – Combined course of study indicator
A code which indicates if a course of study is a combined course of study (i.e. a double degree). Valid values
are TRUE and FALSE. See Combined course of study indicator | TCSI Support

E461 – Field of education code
A code identifying the field of education to which this course is classified. See Field of education code | TCSI
SupportThis field should be coded using the ABS’s Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED).

E462 – Field of education supplementary code
A code identifying the supplementary field of education to which a combined course is classified. See Field of
education supplementary code | TCSI Support
This field should be coded using the ABS’s Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED).
Note that this field should only be populated for records with E455=1 (i.e. a combined course/ double
degree).

Student demographics
E314 – Date of birthStudent date of birth in YYYY-MM-DD format. See Date of birth | TCSI Support
Date of birth is an optional variable in the template but is essential for students to participate in the survey via
Authentication.

E315 – Gender code
A code which identifies the gender of a person. See Gender code | TCSI Support

E316 – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander code
A code which identifies whether or not the student/applicant identifies herself or himself as being of
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent. See Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander code | TCSI
SupportE327 – Bases for admission code
A code which identifies the applicant background and, for those with recent secondary education, the main
assessment pathway used by the education provider in making an offer of admission to a course. See Basisfor admission code | TCSI Support

E329 – Mode of attendance code
A code which identifies the mode of attendance by which the student undertakes a unit of study. See Modeof attendance code | TCSI Support

E346 – Country of birth code
A code representing the country of birth of a student. This field should be coded using the ABS’s Standard
Australian Classification of Countries (SACC), 2016, with three exceptions:•1100 – Student was born in Australia•

9998 – No information on country for student who was born outside Australia•

9999 – No information on whether born in Australia or not

Use code 9999 if you do not have access to this information. See Country of birth code | TCSI Support

E347 – Year of arrival in Australia
The year in which a student, not born in Australia, first arrived in Australia. This data element is only
applicable to students not born in Australia and should be in the format YYYY. Other valid codes are:•9998 – No information on year of arrival•

9999 – No information on whether student/applicant was born in Australia or not

Use code 9999 for students coded 9999 at E346. See Year of arrival in Australia | TCSI Support

E348 – Language spoken at home code
A code indicating use of a language other than English at the student's permanent home residence. This
field should be coded using the ABS’s Australian Standard Classification of Languages (ASCL), 2016 withthree exceptions:•

0001 – Student speaks only English at permanent home residence•

9999 – No information on whether or not a non-English language is spoken at permanent homeresidence by a student/applicant

Use code 9999 if you do not have access to this information. See Language spoken at home code | TCSI
SupportE358 – Citizen resident/indicator
A code indicating a student's citizenship and residence status. See Citizen resident code | TCSI Support

E490 – Student status code
A code which indicates the student status for a unit of study. Please refer to Student Status code | TCSI
Support for the permissible values for this variable.

32

E573 – Highest educational attainment of parent/guardian 1
A code which provides information about the highest educational attainment of the first parent or guardian as
identified by the student. See Highest educational attainment parent 1 | TCSI Support
Note: This field only applies to commencing students – non-commencing students should have this field
populated with a ‘1’.

E574 – Highest educational attainment of parent/guardian 2
A code which provides information about the highest educational attainment of the second parent or
guardian as identified by the student. See Highest educational attainment parent 2 | TCSI Support
Note: This field only applies to commencing students – non-commencing students should have this field
populated with a ‘1’.

E615 – Disability code
Disability code identifies the type(s) of disability, impairment, or long-term condition that a student indicates.
See Disability code | TCSI Support.

Student enrolment details
E330 – Type of attendance code
A code which identifies whether a student is classified as full-time or part-time. See Type of attendance code
| TCSI Support

E534 – Course of study commencement date
The date on which the student commenced the current course of study. This should be in the format YYYYMM-DD. See Course of study commencement date | TCSI Support
Note: Students with a commencement date in the SES collection year are considered commencing students
for survey scoping and reporting purposes.

ENRLSTAT – Current enrolment status
By default, this should be populated with a ‘0’ which denotes currently enrolled students.
We want to avoid contacting students who are no longer enrolled at your institution. An enrolment status
field (ENRLSTAT) has been included in the file which asks you to provide current enrolment status details for each
student.

For the TCSI templates, ENRLSTAT will be populated with ’0’ indicating ‘Enrolled’ status. Institutions are
permitted to change ‘0’ to any other code. When randomly sampling large strata, non-enrolled students will
be excluded from the selection pool.
For institutions using the full population template, our preference is for non-enrolled students to be excluded
from the template. However, if it is easier for your institution to include all students in the file, students should
be flagged using the response categories below. Students in categories ‘1’ to ‘4’ will not be contacted or
included in the survey.
0 = Enrolled
1 = Withdrew (i.e. student no longer enrolled at the institution)
2 = Graduated (i.e. student has completed the course mid-year)
3 = Deferred or Leave of absence4 = to be excluded from the survey for other reasons as determined by the Institution

If your student administration system does not have information to allow you to update the ENRLSTAT field,
please leave it unchanged. Students who are not currently enrolled will have an opportunity to opt out of thesurvey and avoid multiple follow up emails inviting their participation. But please note that if we cannot
exclude students who are no longer enrolled during sampling preparation, it may make it more difficult toachieve a target response rate for your institution.

Commented [AT39]: @Cynthia Kim Are you happy with this
explanation for ENROLSTAT?
Commented [PT40R39]: I think this is good @Ali Tirdad

IntendedLocation
This is a flag to indicate whether the student was enrolled at your institution as an onshore or offshore
student, regardless of their actual physical location. This variable is being included because of COVID-19
related restrictions or international boarder closure. The permissible values are:
1 = Onshore
2 = Offshore

STAGE
STAGE variable is derived and populated by SRC in the TCSI template (see Appendix D for the STAGE
algorithm) to indicate whether the student is commencing, middle year or completing. This variable isincluded in the TCSI templates for institutions to review and crosscheck against the institution-provided
CompletingFlag variable.

Commented [AT41]: @Paddy Tobias how's this foreplanation of stage variable that we added in this year tosampletemplate?
Commented [PT42R41]: Have just updated, looks good tome

EXCLUDE
Unless special arrangements are made with individual institutions, the SES is restricted to undergraduate
students and postgraduate coursework students in their first or final year studying at an onshore campus.
Although all of your records in the TCSI extract are included in the TCSI template file, six groups of students
have been flagged as excluded from the SES.
These include students in postgraduate research (E310 = 1, 2, 3) and non-award courses (E310 = 30, 41,
42, 50). The survey also excludes the following groups of undergraduate and postgraduate coursework
students:•

Offshore international students (E358 = 5). Initially they are consider excluded. However,IntendedLocation will be used to update the exclusion of these records.

•

University students in the middle of their courses (i.e. not commencing and not in the final year)•

Concurrent enrolments (E331 = 3)•

Strata in which six or fewer students were enrolled

The variable EXCLUDE is labelled as follows:
0 = In-scope for the SES
1 = Not undergraduate or postgraduate coursework
2 = Offshore undergraduate or postgraduate coursework
3 = Onshore undergraduate or postgraduate coursework in middle year (universities only)
4 = Onshore undergraduate or postgraduate coursework in concurrent course
5 = Onshore undergraduate or postgraduate coursework in strata with six or fewer students(universities only)
34

CompletingFlag
Flag students who are expected to complete their course by 31 July 2023. This is only intended to be an
estimate and should be calculated in whatever manner is easiest for your institution.
For universities - The Social Research Centre will use this to cross-check the provided EFTSL variables andthe STAGE estimation. The CompletingFlag will not be used on its own to determine scope or to include or
exclude students from the 2022 SES.
For NUHEIs – The Social Research Centre will use this to identify Completing/ Final year students forreporting. But note that both Middle years and Final year students are in-scope for the SES.
The permissible values for the CompletingFlag are:•0 = non-final year students•

1 = final / completing year students (i.e. students who are expected to complete their course by 31
July 2023)

All commencing and middle years students should have CompletingFlag = 0 in their data.

FACULTY and CAMPUS
It is very useful for institutions to provide Faculty and / or Campus information for each student in the sample
file to enable in field and post field reporting at these levels, however, this is optional.
If your institution is considering post-field telephone reminder activity and would like the Social ResearchCentre to target potential respondents by Faculty or Campus, these variables must be included in the sample
file.
If they are to be included, both Faculty and Campus must be provided in the sample file as a text value.
Please note that there will be a cost involved if an institution does not provide Faculty and Campus
information during sample preparation but would like to Social Research Centre to append this information tothe output files (or to historical data files) after the survey data have been processed.

Student contact details
E403 – Student given name first
The first given name of the student. See Student given name first | TCSI Support

E402 – Student family name
The family name of the student. See Student family name | TCSI Support

E320 – Residential address postcode
The Australian postcode of the student’s residence. See Residential address postcode | TCSI Support
Use 0000 where there is no information on the residence.

E469 – Residential address suburb
The suburb of the student’s residence. See Residential address suburb | TCSI Support

E470 – Residential address state
The Australian state or territory of the student’s residence. See Residential address state | TCSI Support

E658 – Residential address country code
The overseas country code of the student’s residence. See Residential address country code | TCSI Support

EMAIL1, EMAIL2 – Email addresses
The SES is an online survey and requires students to have a valid email address to participate. Pleaseappend students’ institutional email address to the email column of the population file. We expect all students
will have an institution email account. Please also include the students’ personal email address wherever
possible. Email addresses should be included for all students in the file, except for students who have been
flagged as ‘1’ to ‘4’ in ENRLSTAT.

PHONE1, PHONE2, PHONE3, PHONE4 – Phone numbers
There are two purposes that phone numbers are used for in the SES:SMS – the Social Research Centre uses SMS to complement email reminders throughout fieldwork. If yourinstitution chooses to provide mobile numbers, it is considered that your institution consents to the students
receiving SMS unless you instruct us otherwise.
Telephone reminder activity – the option to carry out full Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI)
surveys and additional reminder calls is available on a fee-for-service basis. These are conducted after the
online fieldwork period. Full CATI completed surveys will not be reported nationally, or in the UA files orappear on the QILT website; however, they are included in institutional data files and institutional Tableau
reports.
Please provide phone numbers for all students who your institution consents us contacting via telephone
and/or SMS.

36

Appendix C

EFTSL and related variables

This Appendix provides information on the EFTSL related variables used to calculate STAGE.
STAGE, as further explained in Appendix D, is a critical scoping for universities and a reporting variable forall institutions.
For institutions using data from TCSI, the variables included in this Appendix will be sourced from TCSI (i.e.
the data will be included in the extract from the department).
Universities using the full population template will need to provide EFTSL data to the Social Research Centre(see Sections 2.4 and 2.5). If you have any issues providing these variables accurately in the full
population template, please contact the QILT team as soon as possible to discuss alternatives.
NUHEIs using the full population template are not required to provide EFTSL data (see Sections 2.4 and2.5).

E339 – Equivalent full-time student load
This is the amount of EFTSL the student will receive as credit towards completion of this course. See
Equivalent Full–time student load | TCSI Support
Examples•A full-time student enrolled in four standard units of study in the first half of the year is likely to have
E339 = 0.5•

A part-time student enrolled in two standard units of study in the first half of the year is likely to have
E339 = 0.25•

A student enrolled in a full semester intensive placement in the first half of the year may have 0.5
EFTSL for a single unit of study

In 2020 and 2021, E339 was referred to as CurrentEFTSL in the full population templates. If your institution
participated in these years, E339 and CurrentEFTSL should be considered as the same thing.

E931 – Aggregated EFTSL

Commented [PT43]: @Ali Tirdad @Cynthia Kim are you
happy with this note?
Commented [CK44R43]: All good

This is a derived element (i.e. calculated by the department) by summing all the EFTSL the student has
against E339 recorded in the system, including any credit recorded in E560 (e.g. recognition of prior learning,credit transfers). Please note that the EFTSL for E339 for the first half of the year will already be included in
the data for E931 extracted in May/ June. See Aggregated EFTSL | TCSI Support
E931 was used when the SES sample was sourced from HEIMS. In 2020 and 2021, we used
HistoricalEFTSL in the full templates to make it easier for institutions to report the data. Now that we aresourcing the sample from TCSI, we are reverting to using E931 in all the templates. In the terminology of2020 and 2021, E931 can be derived by summing CurrentEFTSL, HistoricalEFTS and E560.

Commented [PT45]: And this point? @Ali Tirdad @Cynthia
Kim

E560 – Credit used value

Commented [CK46R45]: I have edited it. Pls feel free towordsmith further if it is unclear.

The amount of EFTSL the student has received as credit towards completion of this course from othersources. This might include recognition of prior learning, or credit transfers from other courses or institutions.
See Credit used value | TCSI Support

Commented [PT47R45]: looks good to me

Examples•A student who completed 1 year of another related course before transferring to their current course
will have E560 = 1.0, where all credits were eligible for transfer

•A student who received 2 standard units worth of RPL from prior studies will have E560 = 0.25

Valid range for E350 is 0 – 9.9.

E350 – Course of study load
The aggregated EFTSL value for a course of study, summed across all units of study which meet theacademic requirements for the course of study. See Course of study load | TCSI Support

38

Appendix D
STAGE

The algorithm for calculatingThis Appendix is for information only. Institutions are NOT required to
calculate STAGE as part of the sample return.
The STAGE variable in the SES sample file is used to determine the stage of studies for survey eligibility.
This calculation will be done by the Social Research Centre during sample preparation.
The permissible values for the STAGE variables are as followed:
Value

Description

1

Commencing

2Completing3

Middle years

For universities, only Commencing and Completing students are in-scope for the SES.
For NUHEIs, Middle years students are also in-scope.

Definitions
Commencing student (STAGE = 1)
As defined in TCSI: A student is a commencing student if she / he has enrolled in the course for the first timeat the higher education provider or an antecedent higher education provider between 1 January of theCollection Year and 31 December of the Collection Year.

Completing / Final year students (STAGE = 2)
There is no indicator in TCSI that can be used to identify a completing or final year student. For the purposesof the 2022 SES, a completing or final year student is expected to complete their current course of study by
31 July 2023.

Middle year students (STAGE = 3)
Any student who is not a Commencing or Completing/Final year student is defined as a middle year student.

Variables used to derive STAGE
The Social Research Centre derive STAGE using the following variables:
Variable Name

Description

E306

Higher Education Provider code

E534

Course of study commencement date

E330

Type of attendance code

E350

Course of study load (the total EFTSL value for the course of study to meet
the academic requirements for the course).

E339

EFTSL (current year)

E931

Aggregated EFTSL

E560

Total EFTSL from other sources (e.g. recognition of prior learning, credit
transfers)

Definition of Commencing students (STAGE = 1)
The Social Research Centre use the TCSI definition of Commencing students:“A student is a commencing student if she / he has enrolled in the course for the first time at thehigher education provider or an antecedent higher education provider between 1 January of theCollection Year and 31 December of the Collection Year.”
See Commencing student | TCSI Support
A student can be a commencing student only once in relation to a course or program. If a student enrols in acourse and defers before completing any unit of study, that student will not be considered as a commencing
student when he/she resumes studying at a subsequent time.
Students can sometimes be wrongly classified as commencing students if an institution updates its courses
or course codes without back casting their student records appropriately.

Completing / Final year students (STAGE = 2)
There is no indicator in TCSI that can be used to identify a completing or final year student, although this isrequired for reporting. The identification of completing / final year students in the SES is built on an
estimation algorithm using the students’ aggregated study load.
For the purpose of the SES, students’ study progression is estimated by combining:• E931 Aggregated EFTSL and• E339 current EFTSL as a proxy for EFTSL to be incurred in the second half of the year
and comparing the ratio of this aggregated EFTSL to the Total EFTSL for the course (E350).
i.e. (E931 + E339) / E350
The assumption here is that the student will continue to follow the same enrolment pattern, and the projected
EFTSL in the second half of the collection year is identical to the current EFTSL in the first half. The current
EFTSL is provided by the institution.
If the ratio is close enough to 1.0, it is assumed that the student intends to complete their course before thefollowing round of SES and is therefore deemed a final year student for the purpose of the survey. We have
two methods of estimating students’ study progression.
Method 1
Method 1 is the standard approach which takes into account attendance mode (E330) and course duration(E350). This method requires a greater proportion of aggregated EFTSL for longer courses and is the morerobust method. We use this method for all NUHEIs but also include middle years in the in-scope population
to avoid any issues with identification.
In this method, a full-time student in a three-year course with semesters or a two-year course with threetrimesters need 83% of the total EFTSL (E350) to qualify as a final year student. A part-time student needs
92%.
Students in longer or shorter courses require correspondingly lower or higher ratios. Bear in mind that theaggregated EFTSL in the population file includes Semester 1 load for the reference year and any credit or
RPL. Extending the syntax to include slightly different ratios for very short (one year) and very long (six year)
courses makes no appreciable difference to the estimation. Here is the SPSS syntax for this method:

IF (E922 = 1) Stage=1. *Commencing student
DO IF (E922 = 2).
DO IF (E350 < 2.5).
IF (E330 = 1 AND (E931+E339 < E350*.7500)) Stage=3. *Full-time middle year40IF (E330 = 2 AND (E931+E339 < E350*.8750)) Stage=3. *Part-time middle year
IF (E330 = 1 AND (E931+E339 ≥ E350*.7500)) Stage=2. *Full-time final year
IF (E330 = 2 AND (E931+E339 ≥ E350*.8750)) Stage=2. *Part-time final year
END IF.
DO IF (E350 ≥ 2.5 AND E350 < 3.5).
IF (E330 = 1 AND (E931+E339 < E350*.8333)) Stage=3. *Full-time middle year
IF (E330 = 2 AND (E931+E339 < E350*.9167)) Stage=3. *Part-time middle year
IF (E330 = 1 AND (E931+E339 ≥ E350*.8333)) Stage=2. *Full-time final year
IF (E330 = 2 AND (E931+E339 ≥ E350*.9167)) Stage=2. *Part-time final year
END IF.
DO IF (E350 ≥ 3.5 AND E350 < 4.5).
IF (E330 = 1 AND (E931+E339 < E350*.8750)) Stage=3. *Full-time middle year
IF (E330 = 2 AND (E931+E339 < E350*.9375)) Stage=3. *Part-time middle year
IF (E330 = 1 AND (E931+E339 ≥ E350*.8750)) Stage=2. *Full-time final year
IF (E330 = 2 AND (E931+E339 ≥ E350*.9375)) Stage=2. *Part-time final year
END IF.
DO IF (E350 ≥ 4.5).
IF (E330 = 1 AND (E931+E339 < E350*.90)) Stage=3. *Full-time middle year
IF (E330 = 2 AND (E931+E339 < E350*.95)) Stage=3. *Part-time middle year
IF (E330 = 1 AND (E931+E339 ≥ E350*.90)) Stage=2. *Full-time final year
IF (E330 = 2 AND (E931+E339 ≥ E350*.95)) Stage=2. *Part-time final year
END IF.
END IF.

Method 2
This is a non-standard method which does not make allowance for the duration of the course. It tends toover-estimate the number of final year students (which is acceptable for survey purposes). It is only used forthe small number of universities where Method 1 does not work because of issues with their data.
In Method 2, a full-time student is defined as being in their final year if their aggregated EFTSL in thereference year is 75% of the total EFTSL for the course. A part-time student is defined as being in their final
year if their aggregated EFTSL is 85% of the total for the course.
Here is the SPSS syntax:

IF (E922 = 1) Stage=1. *Commencing student
DO IF (E922 = 2).
IF (E330 = 1 AND (E931+E339 < E350*.750)) Stage=3. *Full-time middle year
IF (E330 = 2 AND (E931+E339 < E350*.875)) Stage=3. *Part-time middle year
IF (E330 = 1 AND (E931+E339 ≥ E350*.750)) Stage=2. *Full-time final year
IF (E330 = 2 AND (E931+E339 ≥ E350*.875)) Stage=2. *Part-time final year
END IF.
Limitations of the current methods of identifying final year students
While the estimation works well at the broad cohort level, neither method of estimation is foolproof at thestudent level because even for students who studied full-time in standard 3-year courses, it is difficult to becertain what students intend to do in Semester 2 or in the Summer Term based on their enrolment status in
Semester 1. For example, students may change from full-time to part-time in their final semester, thereby
extending the duration of their enrolment.
The estimation of completing / final year students is more straight forward for full‐time students in standard
three-year courses that are broken up into two semesters each year or two-year courses that are broken up
into three trimesters each year. It is difficult to estimate correctly for part‐time and external students, those
who took leave of absence during their studies, those who transferred from one course to another, orstudents who are enrolled in courses where there is a heavily weighted work-based placement in the final
year with different EFTSL calculation. There may also be practical difficulties in correctly collating ‘EFTSL
completed successfully’ for students whose initial enrolment in the course may date back many years.

What about Honours students – are they commencing or final year students?
The HEIMS guidelines for reporting of commencing students stipulates that honours students continuingfrom a related bachelor’s degree should not be classified as commencing students.
“Students of the following types are not to be classified as commencing students:…
…
students who are admitted to or transfer to a bachelor's honours course of study having previously beenenrolled, at the higher education provider or an antecedent higher education provider, in the related
bachelor's pass course of study”
See: Commencing student | TCSI Support
Despite this stipulation in TCSI, some institutions may (wrongly) classify their honours students ascommencing students in some courses. This is an issue that the survey manager should follow up with the
TCSI reporting team in their institution.
Please note that the Social Research Centre rely heavily on institutions to accurately identify their honours
students in their TCSI submissions. Special treatment of students in honours degrees within the SES
process is not possible. There is no way of distinguishing commencing honours students who havecompleted the related bachelor’s pass course from those that have transferred in from another institution. As
such, an edit cannot be applied in a consistent way. As well, some honours courses are offered for theduration of 3+ years of the course rather than as an additional year after the completion of the standard
bachelor degree. In which case, it would make sense for their student to be flagged as commencing students
when they first enrol.
In terms of reporting, the easiest way to identify honours students is to use E310 “Course of study type code”– code 9 flags “Bachelors Honours” courses. See Course of study type | TCSI Support

How to provide data for the CompletingFlag variable?
The STAGE variable will be calculated by the Social Research Centre using the variables listed in at the
beginning of this Appendix. If your institution is using the full template and you have any issues
providing these variables accurately in the template, please contact the QILT team as soon as
possible to discuss alternatives.
To validate our calculation of STAGE for universities, we also request that institutions provide their own
estimate of completing students in the CompletingFlag variable when submitting a template to help validate
the provided EFTSL variables.

42

Appendix E Australian Government Department of
Education Study Areas by Field of Education
AREA

AREA45

Field of Education0

Non-award

0

Non-award

0000001

Science and mathematics

1

Natural & Physical Sciences

010000, 010300, 010301, 010303, 010500, 010501, 010503, 010599,
010700, 010701, 010703, 010705, 010707, 010709, 010711, 010713,
010799, 019900, 019999

2

Mathematics

010100, 010101, 010103, 010199

3

Biological Sciences

010900, 010901, 010903, 010905, 010907, 010909, 010911, 010913,
010915, 010999

4

Medical Science & Technology

019901, 019903, 019905, 019907, 019909

2

Computing & Information Systems

5

Computing & Information Systems

020000, 020100, 020101, 020103, 020105, 020107, 020109, 020111,
020113, 020115, 020117, 020119, 020199, 020300, 020301, 020303,
020305, 020307, 020399, 029900, 029901, 029999

3

Engineering

6

Engineering - Other

030000, 030100, 030101, 030103, 030105, 030107, 030109, 030111,
030113, 030115, 030117, 030199, 030500, 030501, 030503, 030505,
030507, 030509, 030511, 030513, 030515, 030599, 031100, 031101,
031103, 031199, 031700, 031701, 031703, 031705, 031799, 039900,
039901, 039903, 039905, 039907, 039909, 039999

7

Engineering - Process & Resources

030300, 030301, 030303, 030305, 030307, 030399

8

Engineering - Mechanical

030700, 030701, 030703, 030705, 030707, 030709, 030711, 030713,
030715, 030717, 030799

9

Engineering - Civil

030900, 030901, 030903, 030905, 030907, 030909, 030911, 030913,
03099910

Engineering - Electrical & Electronic

031300, 031301, 031303, 031305, 031307, 031309, 031311, 031313,
031315, 031317, 031399

11

Engineering - Aerospace

031500, 031501, 031503, 031505, 031507, 031599

12

Architecture & Urban Environments

040000, 040100, 040101, 040103, 040105, 040107, 040199

13

Building & Construction

040300, 040301, 040303, 040305, 040307, 040309, 040311, 040313,
040315, 040317, 040319, 040321, 040323, 040325, 040327, 040329,
0403994

Architecture and built environment

AREA

AREA45

Field of Education

14

Agriculture & Forestry

050000, 050100, 050101, 050103, 050105, 050199, 050300, 050301,
050303, 050500, 050501, 050700, 050701, 050799, 059900, 059901,
05999915

Environmental Studies

050900, 050901, 050999

16

Health Services & Support

060000, 060900, 060901, 060903, 060999, 061500, 061501, 061700,
061705, 061707, 061709, 061711, 061713, 061799, 061900, 061901,
061903, 061905, 061999, 069900, 069901, 069903, 069905, 069907,
06999917

Public Health061300, 061301, 061303, 061305, 061307, 061309, 061311, 061399

18

Medicine

060100, 060101, 060103, 060105, 060107, 060109, 060111, 060113,
060115, 060117, 060119, 060199

Nursing

19

Nursing

060300, 060301, 060303, 060305, 060307, 060309, 060311, 060313,
060315, 060399

5

Agriculture and environmental studies

6

Health services and support

7

Medicine89Pharmacy

20

Pharmacy

060500, 060501

10

Dentistry

21

Dentistry

060700, 060701, 060703, 060705, 060799

11

Veterinary science22

Veterinary Science

061100, 061101, 061103, 061199

12

Rehabilitation

23

Physiotherapy

06170124

Occupational Therapy

06170313

Teacher education

25

Teacher Education - Other

070000, 070100, 070107, 070109, 070111, 070113, 070115, 070117,
070199, 070300, 070301, 070303, 079900, 079999

26

Teacher Education - Early Childhood

07010127

Teacher Education - Primary & Secondary

070103, 070105

28

Accounting

080100, 080101

29

Business Management

080300, 080301, 080303, 080305, 080307, 080309, 080311, 080313,
080315, 080317, 080319, 080321, 080323, 080399

30

Sales & Marketing

080500, 080501, 080503, 080505, 080507, 080509, 080599

31

Management & Commerce - Other

080000, 080900, 080901, 080903, 080905, 080999, 089900, 089901,
089903, 089999

32

Banking & Finance081100, 081101, 081103, 081105, 081199

40

Economics

091900, 091901, 091903

14

Business and management

44

AREA
15

AREA45
Humanities, culture and social
sciences

Field of Education

33

Political Science

090100, 090101, 090103

34

Humanities inc History & Geography

090000, 090300, 090301, 090303, 090305, 090307, 090309, 090311,
090313, 090399, 091300, 091301, 091303, 091700, 091701, 091703,
099900, 099901, 099903, 099905, 099999

35

Language & Literature

091500, 091501, 091503, 091505, 091507, 091509, 091511, 091513,
091515, 091517, 091519, 091521, 091523, 091599

16

Social work

36

Social Work

090500, 090501, 090503, 090505, 090507, 090509, 090511, 090513,
090515, 090599

17

Psychology

37

Psychology

090700, 090701, 090799

18

Law and paralegal studies

38

Law

090900, 090901, 090903, 090905, 090907, 090909, 090911, 090913,
09099939

Justice Studies & Policing

091100, 091101, 091103, 091105, 091199

19

Creative arts

42

Art & Design

100000, 100300, 100301, 100303, 100305, 100307, 100309, 100399,
100500, 100501, 100503, 100505, 100599, 109900, 109999

43

Music & Performing Arts

100100, 100101, 100103, 100105, 100199

20

Communications

44

Communication, Media & Journalism

100700, 100701, 100703, 100705, 100707, 100799

21

Tourism, Hospitality, Personal
Services, Sport and recreation

41

Sport & Recreation

092100, 092101, 092103, 092199

45

Tourism, Hospitality & Personal Services

080700, 080701, 110000, 110100, 110101, 110103, 110105, 110107,
110109, 110111, 110199, 110300, 110301, 110303, 110399, 120000,
120100, 120101, 120103, 120105, 120199, 120300, 120301, 120303,
120305, 120399, 120500, 120501, 120503, 120505, 120599, 129900,
129999The Social Research Centre

page 45

How to use
the pack

Thank you for your ongoing support of the Student
Experience Survey (SES). With your help, we cancontinue to shape the future of higher education inAustralia.
In this pack, you’ll find the resources you need toshare the SES with your students. It includes social
media content, web tiles, posters and lecture slides toencourage students to complete the survey.

2

How to use the pack

Social media tiles
Distribute the attached social media tiles to the appropriate teamwithin your institution. Below are some suggested captions they
can use when they post them to your institution’s social media
accounts.
There are ten different social media tiles you can use, each with asuggested timeframe and caption.

Example organic – Universities/Institutions

Calling all [institution] students - how would you rate your university
experience? By contributing your views and experiences, you’re
helping improve higher education for everyone - including current
and future [institution] students.
Enter now at http://www.ses.edu.au/

Social media tiles C, D, E, F can be used any time
Suggested caption:
Calling all [institution] students - how would you rate your university experience?
By contributing your views and experiences, you’re helping improve higher education foreveryone - including current and future [institution] students.
Enter now at http://www.ses.edu.au/

Social media tiles A, B can be used up until final prize draw
Suggested caption:
Sharing your experience at [institution] in the Student Experience Survey (SES) only
takes ten minutes, and puts you in the draw to win $1,000!
Complete the survey by [insert date] for your chance to win.
To complete the survey, visit http://www.ses.edu.au/

Social media tiles G, H can be used week prior to last prize draw
Suggested caption:
Don’t miss your chance to complete the Student Experience Survey (SES)!
Your answers are used to shape the future of higher education– and there are still chances to win $1,000!
Complete the survey now at http://www.ses.edu.au/

Social media tiles I, J can be used in the final week of the survey
Suggested caption:[Institution] students - it’s the final week of the Student Experience Survey (SES).
Don’t miss your chance to share your experience as a current student. Your answers areused to shape the future of higher education.
Complete the survey now at http://www.ses.edu.au/3Facebook example
Calling all [Institution] students
How would you rate your university experience? Fill out the Student
Experience Survey (SES) now for your chance to win $1000.

Example editable body

Twitter example
Calling all [institution] students - how would you rate your university
experience?

Example editable body

By contributing your views and experiences, you’re helping improve
higher education for everyone...

Instagram example
Example editable body
Calling all[Institution] students
How would you
rate your university
experience? Fillout the Student
Experience Survey(SES) now for yourchance to win $1000.

4Social media tiles
We have also made the 1080x1080 file size available in themarketing pack (ideal size for Instagram).

Tile A file name:SES Social media tile 1200x628 A.jpg

Tile B file name:SES Social media tile 1200x628 B.jpg

Tile C file name:SES Social media tile 1200x628 C.jpg

Tile D file name:SES Social media tile 1200x628 D.jpg

Tile E file name:SES Social media tile 1200x628 E.jpg

Tile F file name:SES Social media tile 1200x628 F.jpg

Tile G file name:SES Social media tile 1200x628 G.jpg

Tile H file name:SES Social media tile 1200x628 H.jpg

Tile I file name:SES Social media tile 1200x628 I.jpg

Tile J file name:SES Social media tile 1200x628 J.jpg

5Web tiles
Distribute the attached web tiles to your web team toinclude on your institution’s website. The click throughlink has been set to: http://www.ses.edu.au/
There are three included sizes to suit different spaces
your website might have available. Included you’ll findmRec, leaderboard and skyscraper formats.

mRec file name: mrec-hero

Skyscraper file name: skyscraperhero

Leaderboard file name: leaderboard-hero6

Learning Management
System (LMS) tiles
Distribute the attached LMS tiles to the appropriate
team within your institution. The LMS tiles should beaccessible from your institution’s LMS home page andinclude a link to http://www.ses.edu.au/
Below are some suggested captions that can be used
when they are posted to the LMS home page.
Alternatively, the social media tiles and webtiles canalso be displayed on your institution’s LMS home page.

Tile A file name:SES LMS tile A.jpg

Tile B file name:SES LMS tile B.jpg

Tile C file name:SES LMS tile C.jpg

LMS tiles A & B can be used any time
Suggested caption:
Calling all [institution] students - how would you rate your university experience?
By contributing your views and experiences, you’re helping improve higher education foreveryone - including current and future [institution] students.
Enter now at http://www.ses.edu.au/

LMS tile C can be used up until final prize draw
Suggested caption:
Sharing your experience at [institution] in the Student Experience Survey (SES) only
takes ten minutes, and puts you in the draw to win $1,000!
Complete the survey by [insert date] for your chance to win.
To complete the survey, visit http://www.ses.edu.au/7

A3 Posters
Distribute the attached posters to the appropriate team within yourinstitution. There is room to include your university logo alongside the
QILT logo. Once you’ve added your logo, print the posters and display
the posters around campus.

Co-branding area

Co-branding example

Area where Universities/Institutions
can place their logo. The grey area
is a rough indication of height andwidth the co-branded logo can be.

8

A3 Posters
We have provided the posters in two different
file types for you to access, edit and print. Pleasechoose the file type that best suits your situation.
PDF (.pdf)
Recommended if your institution is not intending
to use co-branding. Also suitable for use withco-branding if your institution has access to PDF
editing software.
InDesign (.indd)
If your institution has access to Adobe InDesign
software and would like to co-brand, werecommend this format. All posters are included in
the one InDesign file, so you can apply co-branding
and print all at once.

9

A3 Posters
Posters available:

Poster A file name: Co-branded poster A

Poster B file name: Co-branded poster B

Poster C file name: Co-branded poster C

Poster D file name: Co-branded poster D

10Lecture slides
Distribute the attached lecture slides to lecturers
and tutors to include in their presentations. You
can include the following introduction to explain to
lecturers how to use the slides:

The attached lecture slides can be used toencourage your students to participate in
the Student Experience Survey (SES). The
SES is important, because it provides aclear picture of what life is like at university.
It isn’t a review of individual subjects, butinstead an overarching look at the university
experience in Australia.
There are six versions of the lecture slides
attached:
Lecture Slides A, B, C, D can be used up
until final prize draw
Lecture Slides E, F can be used in the final
week of the survey
When you’re displaying the slides, remind
your students to check their emails for aninvitation from the Social Research Centre.
You can explain that their answers are used
to inform the future of higher educationin Australia, and by completing the survey
they go in the draw to win $1,000.
Thank you for your continued support. The
SES is a great way for us to get a pictureof what student life is like, and give us apathway to follow into the future.

11Lecture slides

Slide A file name: SES Branded Lecture Slide A.pptm

Slide B file name: SES Branded Lecture Slide B.pptm

Slide C file name: SES Branded Lecture Slide C.pptm

Slide D file name: SES Branded Lecture Slide D.pptm

Slide E file name: SES Branded Lecture Slide E.pptm

Slide F file name: SES Branded Lecture Slide F.pptm

12

Lecture slides
If you’d like to include your institutions branding on
slides or tailor messaging, a set of co-branded slide
templates are included in this pack:To use the co-branded slides:• Place your institution logo over the co-brandingarea (ensure logo height matches the SES logo, andis left-aligned with the specified co-branding area)• Insert text in the provided areas - ensure whitetext is used, with Tahoma font.
• Please use similar language to the lecture slides
that are not co-branded. We recommend includinga reference to students checking their inbox for theemail and prize draw information.
Once you have created your co-branded lectureslide, please provide a draft version to qilt@
srcentre.com.au for review prior to public use.

13

Lecture slides

Slide A file name: Co-branded Lecture Slide A.pptm

Slide B file name: Co-branded Lecture Slide B.pptm

Slide C file name: Co-branded Lecture Slide C.pptm

Slide D file name: Co-branded Lecture Slide D.pptm

Slide E file name: Co-branded Lecture Slide E.pptm

Slide F file name: Co-branded Lecture Slide F.pptm

14

Pull up banners
Distribute the attached high resolution pull up banners to theappropriate team within your institution. The banners are suitablefor professional printing with your preferred print supplier. Usethem for display around campus or at events such as graduation
ceremonies.
The size of these banner files are 2000mm high x 850mm wide.

Banner A file name:SES Pull up banner 2000x850 A.pdf

Banner B file name:SES Pull up banner 2000x850 B.pdf

Banner C file name:SES Pull up banner 2000x850 C.pdf

15

Thank you again for your ongoing support – it isintegral to the success and continued value of theSES.
If you need any support accessing or using any of
the supplied materials, please don’t hesitate tocontact us on qilt@srcentre.com.au

16Appendix 2

Participating institutions

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

51

2022 SES – Participating institutions
Universities

NUHEIs

Name

HESA

Name

Australian Catholic University

HESA

Academies Australasia Polytechnic Pty Limited

Non-HESAHESA

Avondale University

HESA

Academy of Information Technology

HESA

Bond University

HESA

Adelaide Central School of Art

HESA

Central Queensland University

HESA

Adelaide College of Divinity

HESA

Charles Darwin University

HESA

Adelaide Institute of Higher Education

Non-HESACharles Sturt University

HESA

Alphacrucis College

HESA

Curtin University

HESA

Asia Pacific International College

HESA

Deakin University

HESA

Australasian College of Health and Wellness

HESA

Edith Cowan University

HESA

Australia Advance Education Group Pty Ltd

Non-HESA

Federation University Australia

HESA

Australian Academy of Music and Performing Arts

HESA

Flinders University

HESA

Australian Chiropractic College Limited

Non-HESA

Griffith University

HESA

Australian College of Applied Professions

HESA

James Cook University

HESA

Australian College of Christian Studies

HESA

La Trobe University

HESA

Australian College of Nursing

HESA

Macquarie University

HESA

Australian College of Theology Limited

HESA

Monash University

HESA

Australian Institute of Business Pty Ltd

HESA

Murdoch University

HESA

Non-HESA

Queensland University of Technology

HESA

RMIT University

HESA

Southern Cross University

HESA

Swinburne University of Technology

HESA

Australian Institute of Higher Education
Australian Institute of Management Education &Training
Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors
BBI - The Australian Institute of Theological
Education
Box Hill Institute

The Australian National University

HESA

CIC Higher Education

Non-HESAThe University of Adelaide

HESA

Campion College Australia

HESA

The University of Melbourne

HESA

Canberra Institute of Technology

HESA

The University of Notre Dame Australia

HESA

Chisholm Institute

HESA

The University of Queensland

HESA

Christian Heritage College

HESA

The University of South Australia

HESA

Collarts (Australian College of the Arts)HESAThe University of Sydney

HESA

Curtin College

HESA

The University of Western Australia

HESA

Deakin College

HESA

Torrens University

HESA

Eastern College Australia

HESA

University of Canberra

HESA

Edith Cowan College

HESA

University of Divinity

HESA

Endeavour College of Natural Health

HESA

University of New England

HESA

Engineering Institute of Technology

HESA

University of New South Wales

HESA

Equals International

Non-HESA

University of Newcastle

HESA

Excelsia College

HESA

University of Southern Queensland

HESA

Eynesbury College

HESA

University of Tasmania

HESA

Governance Institute of Australia

Non-HESA

University of Technology Sydney

HESA

Griffith College

HESA

University of Wollongong

HESA

HEPCO The Tax Institute Higher Education

Non-HESA

University of the Sunshine Coast

HESA

Health Education & Training Institute

HESA

Victoria University

HESA

Higher Education Leadership Institute

HESA

Western Sydney University

HESA

Holmes Institute

HESA

Holmesglen Institute

HESA

ICHM

HESA

ISN Psychology Pty Ltd

HESAIkon Institute of Australia

HESA

Institute of Health & Management Pty Ltd

Non-HESA

HESA
HESA
HESA
HESA

UniversitiesName

NUHEIsHESA

NameInternational College of Management, Sydney
International Institute of Business andTechnology
Jazz Music Institute

HESA
HESA
Non-HESAHESA

Kaplan Business School

HESA

Kaplan Higher Education Pty Ltd

HESAKent Institute Australia

HESA

King's Own Institute

HESA

LCI Melbourne

HESA

La Trobe College Australia

HESA

Le Cordon Bleu Australia

HESA

Leaders Institute

Non-HESA

Macleay College

HESA

Marcus Oldham College

HESA

Melbourne Institute of Technology

HESA

Melbourne Polytechnic

HESA

Montessori World Educational Institute (Australia)

Non-HESA

Moore Theological College

Non-HESA

Morling College

HESA

Nan Tien Institute

HESA

National Art SchoolHESA

National Institute of Organisation Dynamics AustHESA

Ozford Institute of Higher Education

HESA

Performing Arts Education

HESA

Perth Bible College

HESA

Photography Studies College (Melbourne)

HESA

Polytechnic Institute Australia Pty Ltd

Non-HESASAE Institute

HESA

SP Jain School of Management

HESA

Sheridan Institute of Higher Education
South Australian Institute of Business andTechnology
Stanley College

Non-HESA

Stott's College

HESA

Sydney College of Divinity

HESA

Sydney Institute of Business and Technology

HESA

TAFE NSWHESATAFE Queensland

HESA

TAFE South Australia

HESA

Tabor College of Higher Education

HESA

The Australian College of Physical Education

HESA

The Australian Institute of MusicHESAThe Cairnmillar Institute

Non-HESAThe Institute of International Studies (TIIS)

Non-HESAThe JMC Academy

HESA

The MIECAT Institute

HESA

Think EducationHESAUOW College

HESA

UTS College

HESA

Universal Business School Sydney

HESA

VIT (Victorian Institute of Technology)

HESA

Wentworth Institute of Higher Education

HESA

HESA

HESA

UniversitiesName

NUHEIsHESA

NameWhitehouse Institute of Design, Australia

HESA
HESA

William Angliss Institute

HESA

Appendix 3

52

Study area concordance

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

SES 2022 Study area concordance
Study Area 21

Study Area 45

Field of Education0

Non-award

0

Non-award

0000001

Science andmathematics

1

Natural & PhysicalSciences

010000, 010300, 010301, 010303,
010500, 010501, 010503, 010599,
010700, 010701, 010703, 010705,
010707, 010709, 010711, 010713,
010799, 019900, 019999

2

Mathematics

010100, 010101, 010103, 010199

3

Biological Sciences

010900, 010901, 010903, 010905,
010907, 010909, 010911, 010913,
010915, 010999

4

Medical Science &Technology

019901, 019903, 019905, 019907,
0199092

Computing &Information Systems

5

Computing & Information
Systems

020000, 020100, 020101, 020103,
020105, 020107, 020109, 020111,
020113, 020115, 020117, 020119,
020199, 020300, 020301, 020303,
020305, 020307, 020399, 029900,
029901, 029999

3

Engineering

6

Engineering - Other

030000, 030100, 030101, 030103,
030105, 030107, 030109, 030111,
030113, 030115, 030117, 030199,
030500, 030501, 030503, 030505,
030507, 030509, 030511, 030513,
030515, 030599, 031100, 031101,
031103, 031199, 031700, 031701,
031703, 031705, 031799, 039900,
039901, 039903, 039905, 039907,
039909, 039999

7

Engineering - Process &Resources

030300, 030301, 030303, 030305,
030307, 030399

8

Engineering - Mechanical

030700, 030701, 030703, 030705,
030707, 030709, 030711, 030713,
030715, 030717, 030799

9

Engineering - Civil

030900, 030901, 030903, 030905,
030907, 030909, 030911, 030913,
03099910

Engineering - Electrical &Electronic

031300, 031301, 031303, 031305,
031307, 031309, 031311, 031313,
031315, 031317, 031399

11

Engineering - Aerospace

031500, 031501, 031503, 031505,
031507, 031599

12

Architecture & Urban
Environments

040000, 040100, 040101, 040103,
040105, 040107, 040199

13

Building & Construction

040300, 040301, 040303, 040305,
040307, 040309, 040311, 040313,
040315, 040317, 040319, 040321,
040323, 040325, 040327, 040329,
0403994

Architecture and built
environment

Study Area 2156Agriculture andenvironmental studies

Health services andsupportStudy Area 45

Field of Education

14

Agriculture & Forestry

050000, 050100, 050101, 050103,
050105, 050199, 050300, 050301,
050303, 050500, 050501, 050700,
050701, 050799, 059900, 059901,
05999915

Environmental Studies

050900, 050901, 050999

16

Health Services &Support

060000, 060900, 060901, 060903,
060999, 061500, 061501, 061700,
061705, 061707, 061709, 061711,
061713, 061799, 061900, 061901,
061903, 061905, 061999, 069900,
069901, 069903, 069905, 069907,
06999917

Public Health061300, 061301, 061303, 061305,
061307, 061309, 061311, 061399

7

Medicine

18

Medicine

060100, 060101, 060103, 060105,
060107, 060109, 060111, 060113,
060115, 060117, 060119, 060199

8

Nursing

19

Nursing

060300, 060301, 060303, 060305,
060307, 060309, 060311, 060313,
060315, 060399

9

Pharmacy

20

Pharmacy

060500, 060501

10

Dentistry

21

Dentistry

060700, 060701, 060703, 060705,
060799

11

Veterinary science22

Veterinary Science

061100, 061101, 061103, 061199

12

Rehabilitation

23

Physiotherapy

06170124

Occupational Therapy

06170325

Teacher Education Other

070000, 070100, 070107, 070109,
070111, 070113, 070115, 070117,
070199, 070300, 070301, 070303,
079900, 079999

26

Teacher Education - Early
Childhood

07010127

Teacher Education Primary & Secondary

070103, 070105

28

Accounting

080100, 080101

29

Business Management

080300, 080301, 080303, 080305,
080307, 080309, 080311, 080313,
080315, 080317, 080319, 080321,
080323, 080399

30

Sales & Marketing

080500, 080501, 080503, 080505,
080507, 080509, 080599

31

Management &Commerce - Other

080000, 080900, 080901, 080903,
080905, 080999, 089900, 089901,
089903, 089999

32

Banking & Finance081100, 081101, 081103, 081105,
08119940

Economics

091900, 091901, 091903

13

14

Teacher education

Business andmanagement

Study Area 21
15

Humanities, culture andsocial sciences

Study Area 45

Field of Education

33

Political Science

090100, 090101, 090103

34

Humanities inc History &Geography

090000, 090300, 090301, 090303,
090305, 090307, 090309, 090311,
090313, 090399, 091300, 091301,
091303, 091700, 091701, 091703,
099900, 099901, 099903, 099905,
09999935

Language & Literature

091500, 091501, 091503, 091505,
091507, 091509, 091511, 091513,
091515, 091517, 091519, 091521,
091523, 091599

16

Social work

36

Social Work

090500, 090501, 090503, 090505,
090507, 090509, 090511, 090513,
090515, 090599

17

Psychology

37

Psychology

090700, 090701, 090799

18

Law and paralegal
studies38

Law

090900, 090901, 090903, 090905,
090907, 090909, 090911, 090913,
09099939

Justice Studies & Policing

091100, 091101, 091103, 091105,
09119942

Art & Design

100000, 100300, 100301, 100303,
100305, 100307, 100309, 100399,
100500, 100501, 100503, 100505,
100599, 109900, 109999

43

Music & Performing Arts

100100, 100101, 100103, 100105,
10019919

Creative arts

20

Communications

44

Communication, Media &Journalism

100700, 100701, 100703, 100705,
100707, 100799

21

Tourism, Hospitality,
Personal Services, Sportand recreation

41

Sport & Recreation

092100, 092101, 092103, 092199

45

Tourism, Hospitality &Personal Services

080700, 080701, 110000, 110100,
110101, 110103, 110105, 110107,
110109, 110111, 110199, 110300,
110301, 110303, 110399, 120000,
120100, 120101, 120103, 120105,
120199, 120300, 120301, 120303,
120305, 120399, 120500, 120501,
120503, 120505, 120599, 129900,
129999Appendix 4

Sample size formulae

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre53

In order to establish target sample sizes and evaluate achieved sample sizes, it was necessary to establish arequired sample size given a certain level of precision, and to evaluate the achieved level of precision foreach strata. Confidence intervals were used as a measure of precision.
A common approach to deriving confidence intervals for proportions is the use of a normal approximation to
the binomial:𝑝̂(1−𝑝̂)𝑝̂ ± 𝜖 = 𝑝̂ ± 𝑧𝛼⁄2 √𝑛,where 𝜖 is the margin of error (the half-width of the confidence interval), 𝑧𝛼⁄2 is the percentile of the standard
normal distribution, 𝑛 is the sample size and √𝑝̂(1−𝑝̂)𝑛

is the approximate standard error for the proportion 𝑝̂ .

This can be re-arranged to yield the sample size required for a given level of precision:𝑛=𝑧 2 ∝⁄2 𝑝̂(1−𝑝̂).

𝜖2Since this is a maximum when 𝑝̂ = 0.5, such a value is often used when conservative estimates of sample
size are required or when no information about 𝑝̂ is available.

This expression for deriving confidence intervals and sample size assumes that the population is large andthat the sampling fraction is small (so that

𝑁−𝑛
𝑁−1

~1, where 𝑁 is the population size). If this is not the case, thestandard error must be adjusted to account for the extra precision that results from taking a larger sample
from the population:𝑝̂(1−𝑝̂) 𝑁−𝑛𝑝̂ ± 𝜖 = 𝑝̂ ± 𝑧𝛼⁄2 √

𝑛

∙

𝑁−1

,

This equation has been used to calculate confidence intervals for the purposes of determining reportability at
a given level of precision.
Re-arranging as above leads to the following equation for the required sample size:𝑛=𝑧 2 ∝⁄2 ̂𝑝(1 − 𝑝̂ )⁄𝜖 2
𝑁 ̂𝑝(1 − 𝑝̂ )=2
𝑧 ∝⁄2 𝑝̂ (1 − 𝑝̂ )(𝑁 − 1) 𝜖 2 ⁄𝑧 2 ∝⁄2 + 𝑝̂ (1 − 𝑝̂ )
𝑁−1
+
2
𝑁
𝑁𝜖

This equation has been used to establish target sample sizes for each stratum when determining sampling
parameters.
For a full treatment of sampling, refer to Kish (1965), especially Chapter 2.

Kish, L., 1965: Survey Sampling. John Wiley & Sons. New York. ISBN 0-471-10949-5.

The Social Research Centre

Appendix 5

54

Response rates and targets byinstitution

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

2022 SES – Response rates and targets by institution
Target and actual response rate by universities

Actualresponse
rate 2022

Achieved2022
response
rate
targetActualresponse rate2022 as %required
response rate
2022

Percentage
pointsdifference target vsactualresponse rate
2022

2021 required
response rate(%)

2022 required
response rate(%)

Difference 2021
to 2022
response rate
target(percentage
points)Australian Catholic University

21.9

20.1

-1.8

No

47.0

Yes

234.1

26.9

Avondale University

70.4

72.2

1.8

Yes

49.8

No

68.9

-22.4

Bond University

60.5

55.9

-4.6

No

36.4

No

65.1

-19.5

Central Queensland University

38.5

39.9

1.4

Yes

43.0

Yes

107.6

3.0

Charles Darwin University

42.0

43.7

1.7

Yes

43.4

No

99.4

-0.3

Charles Sturt University

33.1

35.7

2.6

Yes

37.1

Yes

104.1

1.5

Curtin University

31.3

31.7

0.4

Yes

37.5

Yes

118.4

5.8

Deakin University

29.7

31.7

2.0

Yes

40.8

Yes

128.5

9.0

Edith Cowan University

36.1

33.5

-2.6

No

41.4

Yes

123.8

8.0

Federation University Australia

35.2

40.7

5.4

Yes

38.2

No

93.9

-2.5

Flinders University

41.7

38.0

-3.7

No

27.9

No

73.5

-10.1

Griffith University

29.9

31.1

1.2

Yes

34.1

Yes

109.5

3.0

James Cook University

48.0

46.5

-1.4

No

29.1

No

62.6

-17.4

La Trobe University

32.2

29.7

-2.5

No

38.7

Yes

130.3

9.0

Macquarie University

24.8

24.9

0.1

Yes

36.2

Yes

145.0

11.2

Monash University

21.3

22.0

0.7

Yes

36.9

Yes

167.6

14.9

Murdoch University

39.0

45.0

6.0

Yes

37.0

No

82.0

-8.1

Queensland University of Technology

21.9

24.1

2.2

Yes

33.8

Yes

140.2

9.7

RMIT University

24.6

23.2

-1.4

No

22.7

No

98.0

-0.5

Southern Cross University

42.3

39.2

-3.1

No

41.7

Yes

106.3

2.5

Swinburne University of Technology

30.2

29.0

-1.1

No

42.0

Yes

144.6

13.0

Institution

2022 SES
Response rates and targets by institution

Increasedtarget for
2022?

1

Percentage
pointsdifference target vsactualresponse rate
2022

2021 required
response rate(%)

2022 required
response rate(%)

The Australian National University

36.8

44.9

8.0

Yes

34.9

No

77.7

-10.0

The University of Adelaide

47.2

48.4

1.1

Yes

41.0

No

84.9

-7.3

The University of Melbourne

18.5

19.0

0.5

Yes

43.4

Yes

228.3

24.4

The University of Notre Dame Australia

37.6

33.8

-3.9

No

35.0

Yes

103.6

1.2

The University of Queensland

26.7

28.8

2.1

Yes

31.9

Yes

110.8

3.1

The University of South Australia

32.5

35.7

3.2

Yes

38.2

Yes

107.1

2.6

The University of Sydney

29.0

28.5

-0.5

No

30.8

Yes

108.2

2.3

The University of Western Australia

25.7

27.7

2.0

Yes

41.7

Yes

150.3

13.9

Torrens University

25.6

32.5

6.9

Yes

50.1

Yes

154.1

17.6

University of Canberra

47.4

46.7

-0.7

No

40.2

No

86.2

-6.4

University of Divinity

41.9

39.5

-2.4

No

47.8

Yes

121.1

8.3

University of New England

48.0

47.5

-0.6

No

41.7

No

87.9

-5.7

University of New South Wales

25.4

20.8

-4.6

No

37.5

Yes

180.4

16.7

University of Newcastle

36.0

37.2

1.2

Yes

34.3

No

92.3

-2.9

University of Southern Queensland

36.4

36.9

0.5

Yes

45.1

Yes

122.3

8.2

University of Tasmania

30.8

34.1

3.3

Yes

44.6

Yes

130.6

10.4

University of Technology Sydney

23.7

25.3

1.6

Yes

32.8

Yes

129.7

7.5

University of the Sunshine Coast

43.7

43.3

-0.3

No

46.9

Yes

108.3

3.6

University of Wollongong

42.0

45.3

3.4

Yes

40.5

No

89.4

-4.8

Victoria University

33.5

34.6

1.2

Yes

35.2

Yes

101.7

0.6

Western Sydney University

23.7

29.1

5.4

Yes

37.1

Yes

127.4

8.0

Institution

2

Actualresponse
rate 2022

Achieved2022
response
rate
targetActualresponse rate2022 as %required
response rate2022

Difference 2021
to 2022
response rate
target(percentage
points)Increasedtarget for
2022?

2022 SES
Response rates and targets by institution

Target and actual response rate by NUHEIs

Actualresponse
rate 2022

Achieved2022
response
rate
targetActualresponse rate2022 as %required
response rate
2022

Percentage
pointsdifference target vsactualresponse rate
2022

2021 required
response rate(%)

2022 required
response rate(%)

Difference 2021
to 2022
response rate
target(percentage
points)Academies Australasia Polytechnic Pty Limited

39.7

47.8

8.1

Yes

49.1

Yes

102.6

1.2

Academy of Information Technology

51.6

51.7

0.1

Yes

41.9

No

80.9

-9.9

Adelaide Central School of Art

49.1

60.7

11.6

Yes

58.9

No

97.2

-1.7

Adelaide College of Divinity

87.5

92.5

5.0

Yes

47.9

No

51.8

-44.6

100.0

100.0

Yes

46.9

No

46.9

-53.1

NUHEIsAdelaide Institute of Higher Education

Increasedtarget for
2022?

Alphacrucis College

38.8

42.5

3.8

Yes

38.9

No

91.5

-3.6

Asia Pacific International College

54.7

51.3

-3.4

No

30.6

No

59.6

-20.7

Australasian College of Health and Wellness

45.9

53.6

7.7

Yes

31.9

No

59.5

-21.7

Australia Advance Education Group Pty Ltd

92.0

44.6

-47.4

No

25.6

No

57.4

-19.0

Australian Academy of Music and Performing Arts

79.8

85.0

5.2

Yes

43.8

No

51.6

-41.2

80.6

80.6

Yes

58.2

No

72.1

-22.5

Australian Chiropractic College Limited
Australian College of Applied Professions

28.2

27.8

-0.4

No

43.2

Yes

155.2

15.4

Australian College of Christian Studies

93.3

93.1

-0.3

No

58.2

No

62.6

-34.8

Australian College of Nursing

22.7

20.8

-1.9

No

40.1

Yes

193.1

19.4

Australian College of Theology Limited

21.5

24.1

2.6

Yes

53.4

Yes

221.1

29.2

Australian Institute of Business Pty Ltd

20.4

22.0

1.6

Yes

38.2

Yes

173.4

16.2

Australian Institute of Higher Education

32.3

36.9

4.6

Yes

33.4

No

90.5

-3.5

Australian Institute of Management Education &Training

24.2

18.3

-5.9

No

33.6

Yes

183.3

15.3

Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors

49.7

55.2

5.6

Yes

38.2

No

69.2

-17.0

BBI - The Australian Institute of Theological
Education

59.5

63.8

4.3

Yes

46.2

No

72.5

-17.5

Box Hill Institute

79.5

79.8

0.3

Yes

37.7

No

47.3

-42.1

Campion College Australia

84.2

85.4

1.3

Yes

35.8

No

41.9

-49.6

2022 SES
Response rates and targets by institution3Percentage
pointsdifference target vsactualresponse rate
2022

2021 required
response rate(%)

2022 required
response rate(%)

Canberra Institute of Technology

97.0

100.0

3.0

Yes

50.0

No

50.0

-50.0

Chisholm Institute

77.5

82.9

5.4

Yes

37.1

No

44.7

-45.9

Christian Heritage College

78.2

74.0

-4.2

No

44.9

No

60.6

-29.1

CIC Higher Education

72.9

78.1

5.2

Yes

39.8

No

50.9

-38.3

Collarts (Australian College of the Arts)

53.0

56.4

3.5

Yes

37.9

No

67.1

-18.6

Curtin College

59.1

62.8

3.8

Yes

37.4

No

59.5

-25.5

Deakin College

59.5

62.0

2.4

Yes

37.8

No

61.1

-24.1

Eastern College Australia

93.5

100.0

6.5

Yes

55.9

No

55.9

-44.1

Edith Cowan College

81.9

71.9

-10.0

No

46.6

No

64.7

-25.4

Endeavour College of Natural Health

11.2

13.4

2.2

Yes

43.4

Yes

323.5

30.0

Engineering Institute of Technology

87.5

74.6

-12.9

No

47.0

No

63.0

-27.6

Equals International

91.4

89.8

-1.6

No

18.8

No

20.9

-71.0

Excelsia College

53.6

54.6

1.1

Yes

28.4

No

52.1

-26.2

Eynesbury College

77.1

80.9

3.8

Yes

30.8

No

38.0

-50.1

Governance Institute of Australia

57.9

47.7

-10.2

No

47.0

No

98.5

-0.7

Griffith College

57.7

60.7

3.0

Yes

26.5

No

43.7

-34.2

Health Education & Training Institute

71.9

70.2

-1.7

No

39.7

No

56.6

-30.5

HEPCO The Tax Institute Higher Education

59.6

61.7

2.0

Yes

29.4

No

47.6

-32.3

96.2

96.2

Yes

58.3

No

60.7

-37.8

NUHEIsHigher Education Leadership Institute4

Actualresponse
rate 2022

Achieved2022
response
rate
targetActualresponse rate2022 as %required
response rate2022

Difference 2021
to 2022
response rate
target(percentage
points)Increasedtarget for
2022?

Holmes Institute

15.8

32.9

17.2

Yes

19.1

No

58.1

-13.8

Holmesglen Institute

49.1

55.1

6.0

Yes

24.2

No

43.9

-30.9

ICHM

73.5

83.1

9.6

Yes

39.0

No

47.0

-44.1

Ikon Institute of Australia

51.7

51.2

-0.5

No

51.6

Yes

100.8

0.4

Institute of Health & Management Pty Ltd

56.3

70.7

14.4

Yes

49.1

No

69.4

-21.6

International College of Management, Sydney

44.7

45.9

1.2

Yes

43.6

No

95.0

-2.3

2022 SES
Response rates and targets by institution

Actualresponse
rate 2022

Achieved2022
response
rate
targetActualresponse rate2022 as %required
response rate
2022

Percentage
pointsdifference target vsactualresponse rate
2022

2021 required
response rate(%)

2022 required
response rate(%)

Difference 2021
to 2022
response rate
target(percentage
points)International Institute of Business and Technology

100.0

100.0

0.0

No

22.2

No

22.2

-77.8

ISN Psychology Pty Ltd

66.5

66.4

-0.1

No

54.8

No

82.5

-11.7

Jazz Music Institute

84.3

86.6

2.3

Yes

47.5

No

54.8

-39.1

Kaplan Business School

29.4

35.6

6.3

Yes

34.6

No

97.1

-1.0

Kaplan Higher Education Pty Ltd

7.9

8.9

1.0

Yes

26.9

Yes

302.3

18.0

Kent Institute Australia

34.9

54.3

19.4

Yes

34.4

No

63.3

-19.9

King's Own Institute

30.3

33.6

3.3

Yes

35.3

Yes

105.1

1.7

La Trobe College Australia

47.6

53.6

6.0

Yes

38.2

No

71.3

-15.4

LCI Melbourne

69.4

56.0

-13.4

No

34.4

No

61.5

-21.6

Le Cordon Bleu Australia

66.4

78.3

11.9

Yes

23.7

No

30.2

-54.6

Leaders Institute

66.7

74.8

8.1

Yes

64.5

No

86.2

-10.3

Macleay College

77.3

62.3

-15.1

No

0.0

No

0.0

-62.3

Marcus Oldham College

60.8

64.6

3.8

Yes

75.6

Yes

117.0

11.0

Melbourne Institute of Technology

39.2

48.3

9.1

Yes

26.0

No

53.9

-22.2

Melbourne Polytechnic

65.3

77.8

12.5

Yes

21.1

No

27.2

-56.6

Montessori World Educational Institute (Australia)

90.3

90.6

0.3

Yes

36.7

No

40.5

-54.0

Moore Theological College

55.1

58.6

3.5

Yes

63.0

Yes

107.4

4.3

Morling College

75.8

82.0

6.1

Yes

60.3

No

73.6

-21.6

Nan Tien Institute

94.1

96.1

2.0

Yes

55.8

No

58.1

-40.3

National Art School

40.1

41.3

1.2

Yes

42.7

Yes

103.2

1.3

National Institute of Organisation Dynamics Aust

96.0

100.0

4.0

Yes

86.7

No

86.7

-13.3

Ozford Institute of Higher Education

86.7

86.5

-0.1

No

27.5

No

31.8

-59.0

Performing Arts Education

89.5

93.9

4.5

Yes

61.3

No

65.2

-32.6

Perth Bible College

75.3

95.1

19.8

Yes

55.6

No

58.4

-39.6

Photography Studies College (Melbourne)

77.0

78.3

1.3

Yes

52.4

No

67.0

-25.8

NUHEIs2022 SES
Response rates and targets by institution

Increasedtarget for
2022?

5

Percentage
pointsdifference target vsactualresponse rate
2022

2021 required
response rate(%)

2022 required
response rate(%)

Polytechnic Institute Australia Pty Ltd

66.4

69.4

2.9

Yes

18.3

No

26.4

-51.0

SAE Institute

30.4

32.6

2.2

Yes

27.5

No

84.3

-5.1

Sheridan Institute of Higher Education

95.0

95.1

0.1

Yes

78.2

No

82.2

-16.9

South Australian Institute of Business andTechnology

74.2

76.5

2.4

Yes

34.6

No

45.2

-41.9

SP Jain School of Management

50.0

51.5

1.5

Yes

65.5

Yes

127.1

14.0

75.8

75.8

Yes

39.1

No

51.6

-36.7

NUHEIsStanley College

6

Actualresponse
rate 2022

Achieved2022
response
rate
targetActualresponse rate2022 as %required
response rate2022

Difference 2021
to 2022
response rate
target(percentage
points)Increasedtarget for
2022?

Stott's College

30.6

24.8

-5.7

No

32.6

Yes

131.1

7.7

Sydney College of Divinity

43.4

57.6

14.3

Yes

32.0

No

55.6

-25.6

Sydney Institute of Business and Technology

81.2

88.2

7.0

Yes

45.3

No

51.3

-42.9

Tabor College of Higher Education

80.7

78.7

-2.0

No

38.4

No

48.8

-40.3

TAFE NSW

45.1

46.4

1.4

Yes

36.4

No

78.4

-10.0

TAFE Queensland

63.8

74.3

10.6

Yes

32.6

No

43.8

-41.8

TAFE South Australia

82.6

79.8

-2.8

No

38.4

No

48.1

-41.4

The Australian College of Physical Education

69.5

67.6

-2.0

No

26.5

No

39.3

-41.0

The Australian Institute of Music

34.2

47.4

13.2

Yes

28.6

No

60.3

-18.8

The Cairnmillar Institute

55.6

48.3

-7.3

No

50.5

Yes

104.5

2.2

The Institute of International Studies (TIIS)

81.0

80.0

-1.0

No

35.3

No

44.1

-44.7

The JMC Academy

38.9

38.0

-0.9

No

43.0

Yes

113.3

5.0

The MIECAT Institute

64.5

64.7

0.2

Yes

58.2

No

89.9

-6.5

Think Education

41.6

77.5

35.9

Yes

49.4

No

63.7

-28.1

Universal Business School Sydney

46.4

53.2

6.8

Yes

27.0

No

50.8

-26.2

UOW College

86.6

85.0

-1.6

No

40.8

No

48.0

-44.2

UTS College

46.5

53.1

6.5

Yes

31.7

No

59.8

-21.4

VIT (Victorian Institute of Technology)

28.9

31.3

2.3

Yes

62.9

Yes

201.3

31.7

2022 SES
Response rates and targets by institution

Actualresponse
rate 2022

Achieved2022
response
rate
targetActualresponse rate2022 as %required
response rate
2022

Percentage
pointsdifference target vsactualresponse rate
2022

2021 required
response rate(%)

2022 required
response rate(%)

Difference 2021
to 2022
response rate
target(percentage
points)Wentworth Institute of Higher Education

72.3

82.1

9.8

Yes

43.7

No

53.2

-38.5

Whitehouse Institute of Design, Australia

58.8

46.1

-12.8

No

53.7

Yes

116.6

7.6

William Angliss Institute

45.3

46.4

1.0

Yes

26.3

No

56.7

-20.1

NUHEIs2022 SES
Response rates and targets by institution

Increasedtarget for
2022?

7

Appendix 6

Survey invitations andreminders2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre55

2022 Student Experience Survey (SES)
Email and SMS Plan: Invitation and reminder text
Table of Contents
1.

AUGUST COLLECTION MESSAGES ............................................................................... 22.

1.1
Authentication Message – Tue 26 Jul .................................................................. 2
1.2
INVITATION – Tue 26 Jul/Thu 28 July ................................................................. 3
1.3
REMINDER 1 – Sat 30 Jul ................................................................................... 4
1.4
REMINDER 2 – Mon 1 Aug .................................................................................. 5
1.5
REMINDER 3 – Thu 4 Aug .................................................................................. 6
1.6
REMINDER 4 – Mon 8 Aug ................................................................................. 7
1.7
SMS 1 (255 characters) - Mon 08 Aug ................................................................ 8
1.8
REMINDER 5 – Wed 10 Aug ............................................................................... 9
1.9
REMINDER 6 – Mon 15 Aug ............................................................................. 10
1.10
SMS 2 (292 characters) - Mon 15 Aug .............................................................. 11
1.11
REMINDER 7 – Fri 19 Aug ................................................................................. 12
1.12
REMINDER 8 – Mon 22 Aug ............................................................................. 13
1.13
SMS F4S (255 characters) – TBC ..................................................................... 14
1.14
REMINDER 9 – Thu 25 Aug .............................................................................. 15
1.15
SMS 3 (278 characters) – Mon 22 Aug ............................................................. 16
1.16
CATI Wants to complete online / CATI Reminder (post-field) ........................... 17
September COLLECTION MESSAGES .......................................................................... 18
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
2.10
2.12
2.13
2.14
2.15
2.16

Authentication Message – Tue 6 September ..................................................... 18
INVITATION – Tue 6 Sep/Thu 8 Sep ................................................................. 19
REMINDER 1 – Sat 10 Sep ............................................................................... 20
REMINDER 2 – Mon 12 Sep .............................................................................. 21
REMINDER 3 – Thu 15 Sept ............................................................................. 22
REMINDER 4 – Mon 19 Sep ............................................................................. 23
SMS 1 (252 characters) - Mon 19 Sep .............................................................. 24
REMINDER 5 – Wed 21 Sep ............................................................................. 25
REMINDER 6 – Mon 26 Sep ............................................................................. 26
SMS 2 (292 characters) – Mon 26 Sep ............................................................. 27
REMINDER 7 – Fri 30 Sep ................................................................................. 28
REMINDER 8 – Mon 3 Oct ................................................................................ 29
REMINDER 9 – Thu 9 Oct ................................................................................. 30
SMS 3 (254 characters) – Thu 9 Oct ................................................................. 31
CATI Wants to complete online / CATI Reminder (post-field) ........................... 32

1.

AUGUST COLLECTION MESSAGES

1.1

Authentication Message - Tue 26 Jul

SUBJECT:
Student Experience Survey - Your details have been verified
BODY:
Dear %%E403**student%%,
As a current student, we would like to hear about your experiences at %%E306CTXT**your institution%% through the Student
Experience Survey.
It should take approximately %%IntLength**10%% minutes to complete and your responses will be kept confidential.
To start the survey, please click the button below:
START SURVEY NOW(%%srvylink%%)
The Student Experience Survey is the largest Australian study of education and part of the Quality Indicators for Learning
and Teaching (QILT) {HYPERLINK: www.qilt.edu.au} – the only source of national data on student experiences with higher
education.
By completing the survey you will enter the prize draw for the chance to win one of four $1,000 prepaid VISA e-giftcards each week. Prize draws close each Monday from 1 August to 22 August - there's $7,000 in prizes to be won eachweek. The earlier you submit your survey the more chances you have of winning the weekly prize!
If you are unable to access the survey by clicking on the link, please copy and paste the link into a new browser window.
Alternatively, go to www.ses.edu.au , click ‘start survey’ and enter your unique login details as below.
Username: %%Username%%
Password: %%Password%%Your ideas and opinions are important to future students. Thank you in advance for your time and feedback.

Graham Challice
Executive Director
The Social Research Centre

Trouble accessing the survey? Try copying and pasting the URL below into your browser.
%%srvylink%%

1.2

INVITATION - Tue 26 Jul/Thu 28 JulySUBJECT:
Student Experience Survey - Your experiences matter
BODY:
Dear %%E403**student%%,
We would like to invite you to the 2022 Student Experience Survey, where you can let future students across Australia know
about your experiences of the %%QualName**qualification%% at %%E306CTXT**your institution%%.
Based on feedback from students like you, %%HEPTYPE_TXT**institutions%% have been able to create better places to study
and learn by improving their %%Course**course%%s, learning resources, support services and campus facilities. Whilst yourstudies may have been impacted by COVID-19, your views are more important than ever.
Please spend %%IntLength**10%% minutes sharing your experiences. All your responses will be kept confidential.
To start the survey please click the button below:
START SURVEY NOW(%%srvylink_inv%%)
Complete the survey by Monday 1 August to have four chances to win $1,000.
Once all survey responses have been compiled the National Report will be published on the QILT website, and institution
comparisons will be available on www.compared.edu.au.

Thank you in advance for your time and feedback. We wish you all the best with your studies.

Graham Challice
Executive Director
The Social Research Centre

Trouble accessing the survey? Try copying and pasting the URL below into your browser.
%%srvylink_inv%%

1.3

REMINDER 1 – Sat 30 Jul

SUBJECT:
Student Experience Survey – Let future students know
BODY:
Dear %%E403**student%%,
Recently we invited you to provide feedback about your %%QualName**qualification%% at %%E306CTXT**your institution%%through the Student Experience Survey, the largest Australian study of education.
You are from a unique group of students and we would be very grateful if you could spare %%IntLength**10%% minutes out ofyour busy schedule to complete the survey. Your feedback is very important and will contribute directly to the experience of
current and future students.
To get started, please click the button below:
TAKE THE SURVEY(%%srvylink_r01%%)
Complete the survey by Monday 1 August to have four chances to win $1,000.
Thank you in advance for taking part in the survey. We wish you all the best in your course and studies.

Graham Challice
Executive Director
The Social Research Centre

Trouble accessing the survey? Try copying and pasting the URL below into your browser.
%%srvylink_r01%%

1.4

REMINDER 2 - Mon 1 Aug

SUBJECT:
Student Experience Survey - Prize draw closes tonight
BODY:
Dear %%E403**student%%,
As a current student at %%E306CTXT**your institution%%, we would appreciate it if you could spend %%IntLength**15%%
minutes completing the Student Experience Survey. We still need more responses from students like you so that feedback
about your institution and study area can be published on www.compared.edu.au to help future students.
Remember, complete the survey by tonight, Monday 1 August, to have four chances to win $1,000.
To complete the survey, please click the button below:
TAKE THE SURVEY(%%srvylink_r02%%)
Thank you in advance for your time and feedback. We wish you all the best in your course and studies.

Graham Challice
Executive Director
The Social Research Centre

Trouble accessing the survey? Try copying and pasting the URL below into your browser.
%%srvylink_r02%%

1.5

REMINDER 3 – Thu 4 Aug

SUBJECT:
Student Experience Survey - Have your say
BODY:
Dear %%E403**student%%,
The Student Experience Survey is Australia’s largest national study of tertiary education. Thousands of students have alreadycompleted the survey and provided feedback about course satisfaction and student life. Join them by having your say to help%%HEPTYPE_TXT**institutions%% improve courses, student services and campus facilities.
Complete the survey by Monday 8 August to have three chances to win $1,000. To begin, please click the button below:
TAKE THE SURVEY(%%srvylink_r03%%)
It will take approximately %%IntLength**10%% minutes to complete and your responses will be kept confidential.
Thank you in advance for your time and feedback. We wish you all the best in your course and studies.

Graham Challice
Executive Director
The Social Research Centre

Trouble accessing the survey? Try copying and pasting the URL below into your browser.
%%srvylink_r03%%

1.6

REMINDER 4 – Mon 8 Aug

SUBJECT:
Student Experience Survey - Win $1,000 for your feedback
BODY:
Dear %%E403**student%%,
We would be very grateful if you could take %%IntLength**10%% minutes to provide feedback on your%%QualName**qualification%% in the Student Experience Survey. Join other students who have already had their say. Without
your important feedback, future students won't know what it's like to study at %%E306CTXT**your institution%%.
Remember, complete the survey by tonight, Monday 8 August to have three chances to win $1,000.
To complete the survey, please click the button below:
TAKE THE SURVEY(%%srvylink_r04%%)

Thank you in advance for taking part in the survey. We wish you all the best in your course and studies.

Graham Challice
Executive Director
The Social Research Centre

Trouble accessing the survey? Try copying and pasting the URL below into your browser.
%%srvylink_r04%%

1.7

SMS 1 (255 characters) - Mon 08 Aug

Hi %%E403**there%%, a note from the Social Research Centre on behalf of the %%SMS1SEND_SES_TXT%% to complete
the SES by tonight for a chance to win $1,000. Take part in Australia's largest education study: %%srvylink_sms1%% For more
info call 1800 055 818

1.8

REMINDER 5 – Wed 10 Aug

DOMESTIC STUDENTS (DOMINT=1):

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS (DOMINT=2):

SUBJECT:
Student Experience Survey – Australian Government wants your input
BODY:
Dear %%E403**student%%,
DOMESTIC STUDENT (DOMINT=1):
We understand that your studies may still be impacted by COVID-19 which is why we want to hear from you. The Student
Experience Survey is one of the main ways %%E306CTXT**your institution%% and the Australian Government can better
understand the support students like yourself need.
INTERNATIONAL STUDENT (DOMINT=2):
As an international student, we understand that your studies may still be impacted by COVID-19 which is why we want to hearfrom you. The Student Experience Survey is one of the main ways %%E306CTXT**your institution%% and the AustralianGovernment can better understand the support international students like yourself need.
ALL:
To complete the survey, please click the button below:
TAKE THE SURVEY(%%srvylink_r05%%)
Complete the survey by Monday 15 August to have two chances to win $1,000.
We value your time and participation – if you do not wish to participate, you can unsubscribe using the link at the bottom of theemail.
Once all survey responses have been compiled the National Report will be published on the QILT website, and institution
comparisons will be available on www.compared.edu.au.
Thank you in advance for your time and feedback. We wish you all the best in your course and studies.

Graham Challice
Executive Director
The Social Research Centre

Trouble accessing the survey? Try copying and pasting the URL below into your browser.
%%srvylink_r05%%

1.9

REMINDER 6 – Mon 15 Aug

SUBJECT:
Student Experience Survey - Prize draw closes tonight!
BODY:
Dear %%E403**student%%,
We know you’ve received several emails, however it’s important for the Australian Government to hear the experiences of as
many students as possible so that higher education can best reflect student needs. Students like you, completing the Student
Experience Survey, are the reason that %%HEPTYPE_TXT **institutions%% have been able to respond to survey feedback
and improve their course offerings.
Complete the survey by tonight, Monday 15 August to have two chances to win $1,000.
To complete the survey, please click the button below:
TAKE THE SURVEY(%%srvylink_r06%%)
We value your time and participation – if you do not wish to participate, you can unsubscribe using the link at the bottom of theemail.
Thank you in advance for taking part in the survey. We wish you all the best in your course and studies.

Graham Challice
Executive Director
The Social Research Centre

Trouble accessing the survey? Try copying and pasting the URL below into your browser.
%%srvylink_r06%%

1.10 SMS 2 (292 characters) - Mon 15 Aug
Hi %%E403%%, a note from the Social Research Centre on behalf of the Dept of Education. The second last prize draw for the
SES closes tonight! Complete the survey now to join the largest national study of education %%srvylink_sms2%% For more
information call 1800 055 818 Reply STOP to optout

1.11 REMINDER 7 - Fri 19 Aug

SUBJECT:
Student Experience Survey - We need your insight
BODY:
Dear %%E403**student%%,
We understand that you are busy, but it is really important that you complete the Student Experience Survey as you are from aunique group of students studying the %%QualName**qualification%% at %%E306CTXT**your institution%%.
The Student Experience Survey is the only source of national data on student experiences and course satisfaction. By
contributing your views and experiences, you can help improve higher education for current and future students.
To complete the %%IntLength**10%% minute survey, please click the button below:
TAKE THE SURVEY(%%srvylink_r07%%)
Complete the survey by Monday 22 August for a final chance to win $1,000.
As a thank you for participating in the survey, you can elect to receive a summary of the research findings once the study iscomplete.
Thank you in advance for your time and feedback. We wish you all the best in your course and studies.

Graham Challice
Executive Director
The Social Research Centre

Trouble accessing the survey? Try copying and pasting the URL below into your browser.
%%srvylink_r07%%

1.12 REMINDER 8 – Mon 22 Aug

SUBJECT:
Student Experience Survey - Final prize draw tonight
BODY:
Dear %%E403**student%%,
This is now the last week for the Student Experience Survey and we still need to hear from more students who study a%%QualName**qualification%% at %%E306CTXT**your institution%%. Your unique feedback helps %%E306CTXT**yourinstitution%% improve student life and course offerings.
Complete the survey by tonight, Monday 22 August, to be part of the final prize draw to win $1,000.
To complete the survey, please click the button below:
TAKE THE SURVEY(%%srvylink_r08%%)
Thank you in advance for taking part in the survey. We wish you all the best in your course and studies.

Graham Challice
Executive Director
The Social Research Centre

Trouble accessing the survey? Try copying and pasting the URL below into your browser.
%%srvylink_r08%%

1.13 SMS F4S (255 characters) – TBC
Hi %%E403**there%%, a reminder from the Social Research Centre to complete the SES by tonight for a final chance to win$1,000! Share your experiences as a student at %%E306C_SMS%%: %%srvylink_smsf4s%% For more info call 1800 055 818
Reply STOP to opt out

1.14 REMINDER 9 – Thu 25 Aug

SUBJECT:
Student Experience Survey - Last opportunity to complete
BODY:
Dear %%E403**student%%,
ALL (STAGE=1):
This is the very last email we will send you about the Student Experience Survey, as it closes this weekend. The AustralianGovernment is interested in understanding more about the start of your %%QualName**qualification%%. Your feedback can
positively impact the remainder of your time at %%HEPTYPE_TXT**your institution%%.

ALL (STAGE=3 OR 9):
This is the very last email we will send you about the Student Experience Survey, as it closes this weekend. The AustralianGovernment is interested in understanding more about your experiences of the %%QualName**qualification%%. Your feedback
can go a long way to helping %%HEPTYPE_TXT**institutions%% improve their courses for both current and future students.
ALL (STAGE=2):This is the very last email we will send you about the Student Experience Survey, as it closes this weekend. As you near theend of your course, the Australian Government is interested in understanding more about your experiences of the%%QualName**qualification**. Your feedback can go a long way to helping %%HEPTYPE_TXT**institutions%% improve theircourses for both current and future students.
ALL:
To complete the survey, please click the button below:
TAKE THE SURVEY(%%srvylink_r09%%)
Thank you in advance for your time. We wish you all the best in your course and studies.

Graham Challice
Executive Director
The Social Research Centre
Trouble accessing the survey? Try copying and pasting the URL below into your browser.
%%srvylink_r09%%

1.15 SMS 3 (278 characters) – Mon 22 Aug
Hi %%E403**there%%, a final reminder from the Social Research Centre to let you know the SES closes this weekend. Don’t
miss your chance to tell the Australian Government about your higher education experience %%srvylink_sms3%% For more
info call 1800055818 Reply STOP to optout

1.16 CATI Wants to complete online / CATI Reminder (postfield)

SUBJECT:
Student Experience Survey – Invitation to complete online
BODY:
Dear %%E403**student%%,
We recently spoke to you on the phone about completing the Student Experience Survey and providing feedback about yourexperiences of your %%QualName**qualification%% at %%E306CTXT**your institution%%.
Thank you for agreeing to take part. It should only take approximately %%IntLength**10%% minutes to complete and yourresponses will be kept confidential.
To complete the survey, please click the button below:
TAKE THE SURVEY(%%srvylink%%)If you are having trouble accessing the survey, please copy and paste the link at the bottom of this email into a new browser
window. Alternatively, go to www.ses.edu.au, click ‘start survey’ and enter your unique login details as below.
Username: %%Username%%
Password: %%Password%%
This is a rare opportunity to contribute to education policy. The Student Experience Survey is the only source of national data on
student satisfaction with their course. By sharing your thoughts and experiences you can help improve the quality of campus lifeand courses for students in the future. As a thank you for participating in the survey I can also provide you with asummary of the research findings once the study is complete.
Thank you in advance for your time and feedback.
Graham Challice
Executive Director
The Social Research Centre

Trouble accessing the survey? Try copying and pasting the URL below into your browser.
%%srvylink%%

2.

September COLLECTION MESSAGES

2.1

Authentication Message - Tue 6 September

SUBJECT:
Student Experience Survey - Your details have been verified
BODY:
Dear %%E403**student%%,
As a current student we would like to hear about your experiences at %%E306CTXT**your institution%% through the Student
Experience Survey.
It should take approximately %%IntLength**10%% minutes to complete and your responses will be kept confidential.
To start the survey, please click the button below:
START SURVEY NOW(%%srvylink%%)
The Student Experience Survey is the largest Australian study of education and part of the Quality Indicators for Learning
and Teaching (QILT) {HYPERLINK: www.qilt.edu.au} – the only source of national data on student experiences with higher
education.
By completing the survey you will enter the prize draw for the chance to win a $1,000 prepaid VISA e-gift card eachweek. Prize draws close each Monday from 12 September to 3 October. The earlier you submit your survey the morechances you have of winning the weekly prize!
If you are unable to access the survey by clicking on the link, please copy and paste the link into a new browser window.
Alternatively, go to www.ses.edu.au, click ‘start survey’ and enter your unique login details as below.
Username: %%Username%%
Password: %%Password%%Your ideas and opinions are important to future students. Thank you in advance for your time and feedback.

Graham Challice
Executive Director
The Social Research Centre

Trouble accessing the survey? Try copying and pasting the URL below into your browser.
%%srvylink%%

2.2

INVITATION - Tue 6 Sep/Thu 8 Sep

SUBJECT:
Student Experience Survey - Your experiences matter
BODY:
Dear %%E403**student%%,
We would like to invite you to the 2022 Student Experience Survey, where you can let future students across Australia know
about your experiences of the %%QualName**qualification%% at %%E306CTXT**your institution%%.
We understand that your studies may still be impacted by COVID-19, however your views are more important than ever. Basedon feedback from students like you, %%HEPTYPE_TXT**institutions%% have been able to create better places to study andlearn by improving their %%Course**course%%s, learning resources, support services and campus facilities
Please spend %%IntLength**10%% minutes sharing your experiences. All your responses will be kept confidential.
To start the survey please click the button below:
START SURVEY NOW(%%srvylink_inv%%)
Complete the survey by Monday 12 September to have four chances to win $1,000.
The Student Experience Survey collects information about students’ higher education experiences. By completing the survey,
you will be providing critically important information to the Australian Government about your experiences as a student.
Once all survey responses have been compiled the National Report will be published on the QILT website, and institution
comparisons will be available on www.compared.edu.au.

Thank you in advance for your time and feedback. We wish you all the best with your studies.

Graham Challice
Executive Director
The Social Research Centre

Trouble accessing the survey? Try copying and pasting the URL below into your browser.
%%srvylink_inv%%

2.3

REMINDER 1 – Sat 10 Sep

SUBJECT:
Student Experience Survey – Let future students know
BODY:
Dear %%E403**student%%,
Recently we invited you to provide feedback about your %%QualName**qualification%% at %%E306CTXT**your institution%%through the Student Experience Survey, the largest Australian study of education.
You are from a unique group of students and we would be very grateful if you could spare %%IntLength**10%% minutes out ofyour busy schedule to complete the survey. Your feedback is very important and will contribute directly to the experience of
current and future students.
To get started, please click the button below:
TAKE THE SURVEY(%%srvylink_r01%%)
Complete the survey by Monday 12 September to have four chances to win $1,000.
Thank you in advance for taking part in the survey. We wish you all the best in your course and studies.

Graham Challice
Executive Director
The Social Research Centre

Trouble accessing the survey? Try copying and pasting the URL below into your browser.
%%srvylink_r01%%

2.4

REMINDER 2 - Mon 12 Sep

SUBJECT:
Student Experience Survey - Prize draw closes tonight
BODY:
Dear %%E403**student%%,
As a current student at %%E306CTXT**your institution%%, we would appreciate it if you could spend %%IntLength**15%%
minutes completing the Student Experience Survey. We still need more responses from students like you so that feedback
about your institution and study area can be published on www.compared.edu.au to help future students.
Remember, complete the survey by tonight, Monday 12 September, to have four chances to win $1,000.
To complete the survey, please click the button below:
TAKE THE SURVEY(%%srvylink_r02%%)

Thank you in advance for your time and feedback. We wish you all the best in your course and studies.

Graham Challice
Executive Director
The Social Research Centre

Trouble accessing the survey? Try copying and pasting the URL below into your browser.
%%srvylink_r02%%

2.5

REMINDER 3 – Thu 15 Sept

SUBJECT:
Student Experience Survey - Have your say
BODY:
Dear %%E403**student%%,
We really want to speak to a good cross-section of students about their experiences at %%E306CTXT**your institution%%.
Over the past four years, %%HEPTYPE_TXT**institutions%% have used the findings to help improve courses, student services
and campus facilities - all thanks to feedback from students like you.
To complete the survey, please click the button below:
TAKE THE SURVEY(%%srvylink_r03%%)
Complete the survey by Monday 19 September to have three chances to win $1,000.
It will take approximately %%IntLength**10%% minutes to complete and your responses will be kept confidential.
Thank you in advance for your time and feedback. We wish you all the best in your course and studies.

Graham Challice
Executive Director
The Social Research Centre

Trouble accessing the survey? Try copying and pasting the URL below into your browser.
%%srvylink_r03%%

2.6

REMINDER 4 – Mon 19 Sep

SUBJECT:
Student Experience Survey - Win $1,000 for your feedback
BODY:
Dear %%E403**student%%,
We would be very grateful if you could take %%IntLength**10%% minutes to provide feedback on your%%QualName**qualification%% in the Student Experience Survey. Join other students who have already had their say. Without
your important feedback, future students won't know what it's like to study at %%E306CTXT**your institution%%.
Remember, complete the survey by tonight, Monday 19 September, to have three chances to win $1,000.
To complete the survey, please click the button below:
TAKE THE SURVEY(%%srvylink_r04%%)

Thank you in advance for taking part in the survey. We wish you all the best in your course and studies.

Graham Challice
Executive Director
The Social Research Centre

Trouble accessing the survey? Try copying and pasting the URL below into your browser.
%%srvylink_r04%%

2.7

SMS 1 (252 characters) - Mon 19 Sep

Hi %%E403**there%%, a note from the Social Research Centre on behalf of the Dept of Education to complete the SES by
tonight for a chance to win $1,000. Take part in Australia's largest education study: %%srvylink_sms1%% For more info call1800 055 818

2.8

REMINDER 5 – Wed 21 Sep

DOMESTIC STUDENTS (DOMINT=1):

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS (DOMINT=2)

SUBJECT:
Student Experience Survey – Australian Government wants your input
BODY:
Dear %%E403**student%%,
DOMESTIC STUDENT (DOMINT=1):
We understand that your studies may still be impacted by COVID-19 which is why we want to hear from you. The Student
Experience Survey is one of the main ways %%E306CTXT**your institution%% and the Australian Government can better
understand the support students like yourself need.
INTERNATIONAL STUDENT (DOMINT=2):
As an international student, we understand that your studies may still be impacted by COVID-19 which is why we want to hearfrom you. The Student Experience Survey is one of the main ways %%E306CTXT**your institution%% and the AustralianGovernment can better understand the support international students like yourself need.
ALL:
To complete the survey, please click the button below:
TAKE THE SURVEY(%%srvylink_r05%%)
Complete the survey by Monday 26 September to have two chances to win $1,000.
We value your time and participation – if you do not wish to participate, you can unsubscribe using the link at the bottom of theemail.
Once all survey responses have been compiled the National Report will be published on the QILT website, and institution
comparisons will be available on www.compared.edu.au.
Thank you in advance for your time and feedback. We wish you all the best in your course and studies.

Graham Challice
Executive Director
The Social Research Centre

Trouble accessing the survey? Try copying and pasting the URL below into your browser.
%%srvylink_r05%%

2.9

REMINDER 6 – Mon 26 Sep

SUBJECT:
Student Experience Survey - Prize draw closes tonight!
BODY:
Dear %%E403**student%%,
We know you’ve received several emails, however it’s important for the Australian Government to hear the experiences of as
many students as possible so that higher education can best reflect your needs. Students like you completing the Student
Experience Survey are the reason that %%HEPTYPE_TXT**institutions%% have been able to respond to survey feedback andimprove their course offerings.
Complete the survey by tonight, Monday 26 September, to have two chances to win $1,000.
To complete the survey, please click the button below:
TAKE THE SURVEY(%%srvylink_r06%%)
We value your time and participation – if you do not wish to participate, you can unsubscribe using the link at the bottom of theemail.
Thank you in advance for taking part in the survey. We wish you all the best in your course and studies.

Graham Challice
Executive Director
The Social Research Centre

Trouble accessing the survey? Try copying and pasting the URL below into your browser.
%%srvylink_r06%%

2.10 SMS 2 (292 characters) – Mon 26 Sep
Hi %%E403**there%%, a note from the Social Research Centre on behalf of the Dept of Education. The second last prize draw
for the SES closes tonight! Complete the survey now to join the largest national study of education %%srvylink_sms2%% For
more info call 1800 055 818 Reply STOP to optout

2.12 REMINDER 7 - Fri 30 Sep

SUBJECT:
Student Experience Survey - We need your insight
BODY:
Dear %%E403**student%%,
We understand that you are busy, but it is really important that you complete the Student Experience Survey as you are from aunique group of students studying the %%QualName**qualification%% at %%E306CTXT**your institution%%.
The Student Experience Survey is the only source of national data on student experiences and course satisfaction. By
contributing your views and experiences, you can help improve higher education for current and future students.
To complete the %%IntLength**10%% minute survey, please click the button below:
TAKE THE SURVEY(%%srvylink_r07%%)
Complete the survey by Monday 3 October for a final chance to win $1,000.
As a thank you for participating in the survey, you can elect to receive a summary of the research findings once the study iscomplete.
Thank you in advance for your time and feedback. We wish you all the best in your course and studies.

Graham Challice
Executive Director
The Social Research Centre

Trouble accessing the survey? Try copying and pasting the URL below into your browser.
%%srvylink_r07%%

2.13 REMINDER 8 – Mon 3 Oct

SUBJECT:
Student Experience Survey - Final prize draw tonight
BODY:
Dear %%E403**student%%,
This is now the last week for the Student Experience Survey and we still need to hear from more students who study a%%QualName**qualification%% at %%E306CTXT**your institution%%. Your unique feedback helps %%E306CTXT**yourinstitution%% improve student life and course offerings.
Complete the survey by tonight, Monday 3 October, to be part of the final prize draw to win $1,000.
To complete the survey, please click the button below:
TAKE THE SURVEY(%%srvylink_r08%%)
Thank you in advance for taking part in the survey. We wish you all the best in your course and studies.

Graham Challice
Executive Director
The Social Research Centre

Trouble accessing the survey? Try copying and pasting the URL below into your browser.
%%srvylink_r08%%

2.14 REMINDER 9 – Thu 9 Oct

SUBJECT:
Student Experience Survey - Last opportunity to complete
BODY:
Dear %%E403**student%%,
ALL (STAGE=1):
This is the very last email we will send you about the Student Experience Survey, as it closes this weekend. The AustralianGovernment is interested in understanding more about the start of your %%QualName**qualification%%. Your feedback can
positively impact the remainder of your time at %%HEPTYPE_TXT**your institution%%.

ALL (STAGE=3 OR 9):
This is the very last email we will send you about the Student Experience Survey, as it closes this weekend. The AustralianGovernment is interested in understanding more about your experiences of the %%QualName**qualification%%. Your feedback
can go a long way to helping %%HEPTYPE_TXT**institutions%% improve their courses for both current and future students.
ALL (STAGE=2):This is the very last email we will send you about the Student Experience Survey, as it closes this weekend. As you near theend of your course, the Australian Government is interested in understanding more about your experiences of the%%QualName**qualification**. Your feedback can go a long way to helping %%HEPTYPE_TXT**institutions%% improve theircourses for both current and future students.
ALL:
To complete the survey, please click the button below:
TAKE THE SURVEY(%%srvylink_r09%%)
Thank you in advance for your time. We wish you all the best in your course and studies.

Graham Challice
Executive Director
The Social Research Centre
Trouble accessing the survey? Try copying and pasting the URL below into your browser.
%%srvylink_r09%%

2.15 SMS 3 (254 characters) – Thu 9 Oct
Hi %%E403**there%%, a reminder from the Social Research Centre to complete the SES by tonight for a final chance to win$1,000! Share your experiences as a student at %%E306C_SMS03%% %%srvylink_sms3%% For more info call 1800 055 818
Reply STOP to opt out

2.16 CATI Wants to complete online / CATI Reminder (postfield)

IMAGE: D
Student Experience Survey – Invitation to complete online
Dear %%E403**student%%,
We recently spoke to you on the phone about completing the Student Experience Survey and providing feedback about yourexperiences of your %%QualName**qualification%% at %%E306CTXT**your institution%%.
Thank you for agreeing to take part. It should only take approximately %%IntLength**10%% minutes to complete and yourresponses will be kept confidential.
To complete the survey, please click the button below:
TAKE THE SURVEY(%%srvylink%%)If you are having trouble accessing the survey, please copy and paste the link at the bottom of this email into a new browser
window. Alternatively, go to www.ses.edu.au, click ‘start survey’ and enter your unique login details as below.
Username: %%Username%%
Password: %%Password%%
This is a rare opportunity to contribute to education policy. The Student Experience Survey is the only source of national data on
student satisfaction with their course. By sharing your thoughts and experiences you can help improve the quality of campus lifeand courses for students in the future. As a thank you for participating in the survey I can also provide you with asummary of the research findings once the study is complete.
Thank you in advance for your time and feedback.
Graham Challice
Executive Director
The Social Research Centre

Trouble accessing the survey? Try copying and pasting the URL below into your browser.
%%srvylink%%

Appendix 7

56

Briefing slides for telephone
follow-up activities

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

2022 SES collection
Briefing slides

Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT)

www.srcentre.com.au

Briefing overview• SES•

Project background•

Privacy and confidentiality• Reminder Calls•

Project overview•

Ops performance•

Survey procedures•

Engagement techniqueswww.srcentre.com.au

Project background• The Student Experience Survey (SES) is conductedby the Social Research Centre on behalf of theAustralian Government Department of Education,
Skills and Employment.
• The SES falls within the Quality Indicators for
Learning and Teaching (QILT) survey suite.
• Students undertake the SES twice:➢Once in the first year of their course➢

Once in the final year of their course➢

Students at non-university higher education institutions(NUHEIs) can also undertake the SES in the middle years of
their course.

www.srcentre.com.au

The QILT journey• The QILT suite of surveys takes snapshots of students
in their first and final years of study, 6 months after
they graduate, and finally 3 years after that.
• The SES is the first stage of that journey.

www.srcentre.com.au

Project background• The SES is designed to measure levels of engagement
and the student experience amongst current higher
education students in Australia.
• It’s an extremely important, national benchmarking study
for institutions to be able to improve their courses and theoutcomes of students.
• The Department uses the results to make key decisions
about the future of institutions and monitor course quality.
• SES data is also available to students on the ComparED
website (https://www.compared.edu.au/) to help students
compare official study experience and student experience
outcomes data from Australian higher education institutions
to assist decision making when applying for undergraduate
or postgraduate courses.
www.srcentre.com.au

Housekeeping• As there are a number of SES projects in field at once,
please keep track of which one you are rostered to work oneach shift• Different project numbers are used for various iterations of
SES➢ Make sure you’re working on the project you havebeen assigned to.

www.srcentre.com.au

Privacy and confidentiality• All records are provided by the institutions themselves.
• The survey is voluntary.
• The Social Research Centre complies with the AustralianPrivacy Principles.

• No direct identifying information (such as name or phone
number) forms part of the final data - unique identifying
number is retained to ensure students are only contacted
again as appropriate. Only aggregated data will appear on
the QILT website.

www.srcentre.com.au

Privacy and confidentiality cont.
• There is a privacy information handout available forinterviewers.
• Please contact the Project Coordinator (Josh) if you haveany queries or concerns about privacy and confidentiality.
• General information about the Student Experience Survey
can be found here: www.ses.edu.au• The SRC’s SES page provides answers to commonly
asked questions from respondents:
https://www.srcentre.com.au/our-research/ses• No need to answer complicated privacy questions on the
spot – let the QR know you’ll get back to them and follow
up with ICS or Research; or refer them to the QILT
helpdesk via 1800 055 818.
www.srcentre.com.au

Post-field reminder calls

www.srcentre.com.au

Project overview• Post-field reminder calls are an additional fee-for-service
activity offered to institutions on an opt-in basis• The job is different to others at SRC in that no actualinterviewing will be done
• Instead, the purpose of the reminder call is to collect acurrent email from the QR so we can send them an email
invitation to complete the survey.

www.srcentre.com.au

Introductions – who we are•

It is important that we are clear with students about where we arecalling from and how we received their contact information•

We should never mention that we are calling from the institution –i.e. ‘I’m calling from University of Melbourne’•Some example text for how to handle further queries about who
we are and where we are calling from:➢‘We’re calling from the Social Research Centre on behalf of theAustralian Government Department of Education, Skills andEmployment. Your contact information was provided to us by<INSTITUTION NAME> for the explicit purpose of conducting thisresearch. Your personal information and any information you provide
during the survey is only used for the purposes of conducting theStudent Experience Survey’www.srcentre.com.au

Project overview•

Fieldwork dates••

Post-field: 10th October – 18th October

Sample selections•

Post-field: Typically all non-completers with valid telephone
contact information. Some institutions have prioritised dialling low
performing study areas.

www.srcentre.com.au

Survey procedures• We will be leaving a short pre-recorded answering machinemessage.
• No LOTEs.
• Be mindful of time zones when calling as some sample will
have international numbers.
• True measure of success is how many reminder calls
translate into completes.
• Vital that we address any student queries/concerns andcollect a current and accurate email address.

www.srcentre.com.au

Engagement techniques – Post-field• Emphasis the fact that survey is closing soon.
• This is the last chance for students to have their say.
• We’re only calling because their institution still needs
feedback from students like them.
• No prize draw (so don’t mention it).
• Make sure to listen and respond to respondent questions orconcerns.
• Respondents are likely to have had a lot of contact from
SRC by post-field, some refusals are expected. Make an
attempt to avert refusals, but respect the respondent anddo not reappoint refusals.
More detailed respondent engagement and refusal aversion
techniques are provided in your interviewer handout
www.srcentre.com.au

What the email looks like
Sent from ses@srcentre.com.au

www.srcentre.com.au

SES Questionnairewww.srcentre.com.au

Questionnaire
Module A: Introduction and screening
Module B: Inclusion and learner engagement
Module C: Teaching and education development
Module D: Support
Module E: Demographics
Module F: Institution specific items
Module G: Course experience
Module H: International student items

www.srcentre.com.au

Example items asked in survey
Thinking about your <FINALCOURSEA> <course>, overall how would you rate thequality of your entire educational experience this year?
1. Poor2. Fair
3. Good
4. Excellent
During 2022, to what extent have the lecturers, tutors and demonstrators in yourcourse…
•

Engaged you actively in learning?

•

Demonstrated concern for student learning?

•

Provided clear explanations on coursework and assessment?

•

Stimulated you intellectually?

•

Commented on your work in ways that help you learn?

•

Seemed helpful and approachable?

•

Set assessment tasks that challenge you to learn?
www.srcentre.com.au

Thank you

Any questions?



PO Box 13328
Law Courts Victoria 8010



www.srcentre.com.au

03 9236 8500

Appendix 8

Core questionnaire2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

572523 2022 SES

2523 2022 SES mixed mode questionnaire
SAMPLE VARIABLES
Questionnaire
Variable name
SESID
E403
E402
Email

Brief description

Detailed description (if applicable)

Key use points

Unique SES ID
Student first name
Student surname
Student email

SRC assigned ID
SampleSampleSample0=Not started survey
1=Partial
Section flag
Stage = 1, student is COMMENCING
Stage = 3, student is neither commencing
or completing (e.g., middle year, generic
intro, present tense CEQ if required forinstitutional modifications).
Stage = 2, student is COMPLETING
Stage = 9, stage unknown
QUALNUMS = 1 (one qualification in thesample)QUALNUMS = 2 (two qualifications in thesample)Identifier
Intro
Intro

PartialComp

StatusSectionWhat section up to

STAGE

Student StageQUALNUMS

Number of Qualifications

AREA1

Study Area of first course

AREA2

Study area of course 2

E306

Institution code

TCSI institution code

Module 5 filter

E306CTXT

Institution Name

Institution nameThroughout
surveyE307

Course code

E308A

CourseCourse name for qualification 1

E308B

CourseCourse name for qualification 2<units>Naming variation

Variation in what the institution call units<course>Naming variation

E310

Study area

MUEXPOP

Onshore or offshore forMonash postgraduate
coursework students

Onshore postgraduate course work =1
Offshore postgraduate course work=2

OFFSHORE

Off shore or onshore

Offshore=1
Onshore=2

E358

Citizenship status

E940

Indigenous indicator

WRS

Workplace Relevance
Scheme eligibility

Introduction andscreening/
Module 6

Introduction andscreening/ Module
2 / Module 6

Module F

Variation in what the institution calls a
courseDetailed course level that comes fromTCSI

0=Non-indigenous
1=Indigenous
Flag for sample records to see WRS
items
1=Yes
2=No

Throughout
surveyThroughout
surveyThroughout
surveyModule F

WRS items

1

2523 2022 SES

Questionnaire
Variable name

Brief description

StartMode

Method of accessing
surveyFinishMode

Mode of survey exit

Time zone

Time zone of student

Detailed description (if applicable)
1.
2.
3.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
1.
2.
3.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

Link
Type-in
CATI
Authentication
LMS
In-field CATI reminders
VM link
Full CATI – complete online
SMS
Post-field CATI reminders
Link
Type-in
CATI
Authentication
LMS
In-field CATI reminders
VM link
Full CATI – complete online
SMS
Post-field CATI reminders

Key use points

Not used withinsurvey routing

Not used withinsurvey routing

Base on state in sample

For CATI

SampleType

Landline/Mobile

For CATI

PhoneType

Domestic/international

PhoneNumber
Altnum1
Altnum2
PhoneCountry1

Primary phone number
Alternative phone
numberSecond alternative
phone number
Country of
PhoneNumber

PhoneCountry2Country of Altnum1

PhoneCountry3

Country of Altnum2

TransferDate

Date of transfer to web

Only for CATIFULLNAME

Full nameE403 + E402

For CATICATIType

CATI Type

Reminder/Full/None

For CATI

NoCallRefusal flag

RefConCATI refusal flag

INTLENGTH

Interview length

MUFOUNDYEA
R
E943

Flag for Monash FY
students
Disability status

INSTLMS_TXT

Learning Management
SystemInternational student
module elegibility

INTMODSURVEYYEAR

Year of survey

0=OK to be called
1=Not to be called
0=OK to be called
1=Not to be called

For CATIFor CATI

20 for E306=3035 and INTMOD=1
15 for E306=3035
15 for INTMOD=1
10 for all other institutions
1=Foundation Year student

Intro

1=Has disability

Avondale add
q’s
QLINTROA/QLI
NTROBModule H

Institution provided
Flag for sample records to seeinternational student items
1=Yes
2=No
1=2022

Monash add q’s

22523 2022 SES

Questionnaire
Variable name

IHEAFLAG

DUMNAVITAS

Brief description

Detailed description (if applicable)

Key use points

Institutions
participating in IHEA
items
Institutions
participating in Navitas
items

1=Eligible to receive IHEA items

Module F

1=Eligible to receive Navitas items

Module F

GENERAL PROGRAMMING NOTES•Text if ‘Save and close’ is pressed should read ‘Thanks for your time so far. You can comeback to complete your survey at any time before 28 August.’•

Data need to provide programmer with an updated course list each year•

All questions are mandatory until INLERENINTRO•

After PREVUNI add an “item skipped” option to all CATI questions, excluding C4*SRC LOGO AND SES LOGO*(TIMESTAMP)AUTHENTICATION TEXT*(BEFORE SURVEY OPENS)
Thank you for your interest in the Student Experience Survey (SES).
The SES starts in a few days, opening from 26 July until 28 August, so please checkback then.
*(INPUT SCREEN)
Please type in your details below.
*(SUCCESSFUL AUTHENTICATION)
Thanks, you have now been sent an email with your username and password to yournominated email address.
If you have not received this email within the next hour, please call us on 1800 055 818 (ifin Australia) or +61 3 8327 1951 (if overseas) or email at ses@srcentre.com.au.
Please check your junk mail before you call; sometimes our emails can be diverted to thisfolder.
Please click 'Done' to complete your request. Thank you for your time. You may close thepage now.
*(DENIED AUTHENTICATION)
Sorry but your details don't match our records. Please check your details and try again.
*DISPLAY INPUT OPTIONS
If you are still unable to log in, please email ses@srcentre.com.au and we can verify youreligibility.
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: SURVEY CLOSE DATE FOR ALL NON POST-FIELD TELEPHONE
ACTIVITY INSTITUTIONS PARTICIPATING IN THE AUGUST COLLECTION IS 29
AUGUST AND FOR ALL POST-FIELD TELEPHONE ACTIVITY INSTITUTIONSPARTICIPATING IN THE AUGUST COLLECTION 14 SEPTEMBER

3

2523 2022 SES*(AFTER SURVEY IS CLOSED)The Student Experience Survey is now closed. If you have and queries please contact
the Social Research Centre on 1800 055 818 (if in Australia) or +61 3 8327 1951 (ifoverseas) or ses@srcentre.com.au.
You can also visit our website at https://www.qilt.edu.au/surveys/student-experiencesurvey
CATI INTRODUCTION*PROGRAMMER NOTE: ONLY ASK CATI INTRODUCTION MODULE IF CATI*(ALL)
WELCOME SCREEN
Agreed to complete online date: 12:00:00 AM
Minutes left: <minutes>
Good afternoon/evening my name is <NAME> and I’m calling on behalf of <E306CTXT>
and The Australian Government Department of Education from the Social ResearchCentre.
May I please speak to <E403> <E402>?

*(TRANSFERDATE=BLANK, NO TRANSFER TO WEB DATE)INTRO
RE-INTRODUCE IF NECESSARY: Good afternoon/evening my name is <NAME> andI’m calling on behalf of <E306CTXT> and The Australian Government Department of
Education from the Social Research Centre.
I’m calling to follow up on an email that we recently sent inviting you to participate in an
online survey about your current qualification at <E306CTXT>.
*(DISPLAY IF PARTIALCOMP=0) We are seeking feedback about what you think about
your studies so far at <E306CTXT>. Your feedback will help facilitate the ongoing
improvement of <E306CTXT> and the quality of Australian higher education in general.
Your feedback is very important and we would appreciate your participation.
*(DISPLAY IF PARTIALCOMP=0) This interview should only take about <INTLENGTH>
minutes, depending on your answers, and all information you give to us will be strictly
confidential.
*(DISPLAY IF PARTIALCOMP=1) The survey usually takes <INTLENGTH> minutes
depending on your answers, but it looks like you have already started so we can continue
from where you left off.
Do you have some time now?
IF NEEDED: All information will be used for research purposes only and will remaincompletely confidential.
IF NECESSARY: Your telephone number was provided to us under strict privacy
provisions by <E306CTXT> and will be used only for this research.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Continue
Wants to complete online *(GO TO EM1)
Household refusal *(GO TO RR1)
Respondent refusal *(GO TO RR1)
Language difficulty *(GO TO LOTE)*(TRANSFERDATE=NOT BLANK, KNOW DATE OF PREVIOUS CALL)
4

2523 2022 SES

INTRO2

RE-INTRODUCE IF NECESSARY: Good afternoon/evening my name is <NAME> andI’m calling on behalf of <E306CTXT> and The Australian Government Department of
Education from The Social Research Centre.

We spoke to you on <TransferDate> and you said you would like to complete the survey
online yourself. It doesn’t look like it’s been completed yet so we were calling back to see
if you’d like to finish it off over the phone?
*(DISPLAY IF PARTIALCOMP=1) It looks like you have already started, so we cancontinue from where you left off.

Participation in this study is voluntary and you can stop the interview at any time. Do you
have time now to complete the survey?
IF NEEDED: All information will be used for research purposes only and will remaincompletely confidential.
IF NECESSARY: Your telephone number was provided to us under strict privacy
provisions by <E306CTXT> and will be used only for this research.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Continue *(GO TO MOB, CLEAR TRANSFERDATE IN SAMPLE)
Wants email again *(GO TO EM1)
Household refusal *(GO TO TERM1)
Respondent refusal *(GO TO TERM1)
Language difficulty *(GO TO LOTE)*(INTRO=2, STUDENTS WHO WANT TO COMPLETE THE SURVEY ONLINE)
EM1
I can send you an email with the link to the survey. Can I please confirm your email
address?
Email address: <email1>
1.
2.

Email address shown is correct
Email address: (Please specify)*PROGRAMMER NOTE: SHOW TERM1 AND FLAG AS TRANSFER_TO_WEB*(INTRO=5 OR INTRO2=5, STUDENTS WHO ARE HAVING LANGUAGE DIFFICULITIES)LOTERECORD LANGUAGE
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
*(ALL)
MOB

Cantonese
Mandarin
Vietnamese
Italian
Greek
ArabicLebanese
TurkishOther language (Please specify)
Language not identified

DO NOT ASKINTERVIEWER CHECK: ARE YOU CALLING A MOBILE?
1.
2.

Yes
No

*(MOB=1, CALLING MOBILE)

5

2523 2022 SESSAFEMay I just check whether or not it is safe for you to take this call at the moment?
1.
2.

Safe to take call
Not safe to take call (MAKE APPOINTMENT)*(SAFE=2, NOT SAFE TO TAKE CALL)SAFE1
DO NOT ASK
1.
*(ALL)MON

Returning from appointment *(GO TO INTRO)

This call may be monitored or recorded for quality assurance purposes. Please tell me ifyou don't want this to happen.
1.
2.

Monitoring and recording allowed
Monitoring and recording NOT permitted

MODULE A: INTRODUCTION AND SCREENING*(ONLINE)
CONFIRM *(DISPLAY IF STAGE=1) Thank you for agreeing to take part in the Student Experience
Survey (SES) and congratulations on starting your current higher education studies in<SURVEYYEAR>. This is an important survey conducted by the Social Research Centre
on behalf of The Australian Government Department of Education. As a new student thisyear, we are very interested to know how things are going for you and how yourinstitution is supporting you to achieve success in your <course>.
*(DISPLAY IF STAGE=2) Thank you for agreeing to take part in the Student Experience
Survey (SES) and congratulations on entering the final stage of your higher education<course> in <SURVEYYEAR>. This is an important survey conducted by the Social
Research Centre on behalf of The Australian Government Department of Education. As astudent close to completing your studies, we are very interested to know how things havegone for you and how your institution supported you to achieve success in your<course>.
*(DISPLAY IF STAGE=3 OR 9) Thank you for agreeing to take part in the Student
Experience Survey (SES). This is an important survey conducted by the Social ResearchCentre on behalf of The Australian Government Department of Education. We are very
interested to know how things are going for you in your current higher education studies
and how your institution is supporting you to achieve success in your <course>.
*(DISPLAY IF DATE <=22 Aug <SURVEYYEAR>) Complete now to be entered into all
remaining weekly prize draws with a chance to win $1,000.
Most people take approximately <INTLENGTH> minutes to complete all the questions,depending on their answers.
If you need to take a break, you can press the ‘Save and close’ button and close yourbrowser. You can come back to the survey at any time and continue from where you
stopped.
Please do not use the browser ‘BACK’ button to go back to a previous question.
Please press the 'Next' button below to continue.
*(ALL)INSTITUTION*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF E306=3044 AND E310=30 SHOW ii ELSE SHOW i
i. Are you currently enrolled in a <course> at <E306CTXT>?

6

2523 2022 SES

ii. The University of Notre Dame would like you to answer the survey about your
Tertiary Pathway Program.
Are you currently or were you previously enrolled in a Tertiary Pathway Program at<E306CTXT>?
1.
2.

Yes *(FOR E306 = 3044 AND E310=30 IF SELECTED GO TO PREVUNI)No *(FOR E306 = 3044 AND E310=30 IF SELECTED GO TO TERM)*(INSTITUTION=2, NOT CURRENTLY ENROLLED)
INSTITUTION1 Just to confirm, you are not enrolled in any <course> at <E306CTXT>?
1.
2.

Actually, I am still enrolled at <E306CTXT>
I am definitely no longer enrolled at <E306CTXT> *(GO TO TERM)*(INSTITUTION=1 OR INSTITUTION1=1, CURRENTLY ENROLLED)
COURSESCREEN1
Can you please confirm that you are currently enrolled in the following <course>/s?
*(IF QUALNUMS=1 DISPLAY): <E308A>*(IF QUALNUMS=2 DISPLAY): <E308A> / <E308B>(RESPONSE FRAME)
1.
Yes
2.
No
*(COURSESCREEN1=1 AND STAGE=1, COURSE DISPLAYED CORRECTLY AND COMMENCINGSTUDENT)COMMENCESCREEN1
Have you completed at least one <unit> in the following <course>/s?
*(IF QUALNUMS=1 DISPLAY): <E308A>*(IF QUALNUMS=2 DISPLAY): <E308A> / <E308B>(SINGLE RESPONSE)
1.
2.

Yes
No

*(COMMENCESCREEN1=2, HAVE NOT COMPLETED AT LEAST ONE UNIT IN ALL COURSESINPUT AT COMMENCESCREEN1)COMMENCESCREEN2
In this survey we’ll be asking you about your <course>/s, including your experiences withteaching and assessment. Do you feel that you have enough experience in your current<course>/s to provide feedback on topics like these?
*(IF QUALNUMS=1 DISPLAY): <E308A>*(IF QUALNUMS=2 DISPLAY): <E308A> / <E308B>(SINGLE RESPONSE)
1. Yes
2. No *(GO TO TERM3)*(COURSECREEN1=2, COURSE DISPLAYED NOT CORRECT)COURSESCREEN2
Are you currently enrolled in a double degree and/or two courses simultaneously?
72523 2022 SES(RESPONSE FRAME)
1.
Yes
2.
No

*(COURSESCREEN1=2, COURSE DISPLAYED NOT CORRECT)COURSESCREEN3
Please specify which <course>/s you are currently doing.
*(IF COURSESCREEN2=1 OR 2, DISPLAY TEXTBOX): Course A:*(IF COURSESCREEN2=1, DISPLAY TEXTBOX): Course B:*PROGRAMMER NOTE: CREATE FINALCOURSEA, FINALCOURSEB HERE.
PROGRAMMER NOTE: CREATE COURSENUM HERE.
COURSENUM=1 IF QUALNUMS=1 AND COURSESCREEN1=1 OR
COURSESCREEN2=2, OR QUALNUMS= 2 AND COURSESCREEN2=2.
COURSENUM=2 IF QUALNUM_S = 2 AND COURSESCREEN1=1,
OR QUALNUM_S = 1 AND COURSESCREEN2=1.
*(E308A CORRECTED OR NO MATCH FOR COURSE NAME AT COURSESCREEN1)
LEVEL1
And is <E308A> a…
PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

Higher Doctorate
Doctorate by Research
Doctorate by Coursework
Master Degree by Research
Master Degree by Coursework
Graduate Diploma
Graduate Certificate
Bachelor (Honours) Degree
Bachelor (Pass) Degree
Advanced Diploma
Associate Degree
Diploma
Non-award course
Bridging or Enabling course*(E308B CORRECTED OR NO MATCH FOR COURSE NAME AT COURSESCREEN1, AND
COURSESCREEN3 IS NOT BLANK)LEVEL2And is <E308B> a…
PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

Higher Doctorate
Doctorate by Research
Doctorate by Coursework
Master Degree by Research
Master Degree by Coursework
Graduate Diploma
Graduate Certificate
Bachelor (Honours) Degree
Bachelor (Pass) Degree
Advanced Diploma
Associate Degree
Diploma
Non-award course
Bridging or Enabling course82523 2022 SES*(COURSESCREEN1=2, COURSE DISPLAYED NOT CORRECT)COURSESCREEN4
Have you completed at least one <unit> in the following <course>/s?
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: DISPLAY AS GRID*(DISPLAY): <COURSESCREEN3_COURSEA>*(IF COURSENUM=2 DISPLAY): <COURSESCREEN3_COURSEB>(RESPONSE FRAME)
1.
Yes
2.
No
*(COURSESCREEN4=2 FOR ALL COURSES INPUT AT COURSESCREEN3, HAVE NOTCOMPLETED AT LEAST ONE UNIT IN ALL COURSES INPUT AT COURSESCREEN3)
COURSESCREEN6
In this survey we’ll be asking you about your <course>/s including your experiences withteaching and assessment. Do you feel that you have enough experience in your current<course>/s to provide feedback on topics like these?
*(DISPLAY): Course A: <COURSESCREEN3_COURSEA>*(IF COURSENUM=2 DISPLAY): Course B: <COURSESCREEN3_COURSEB>(RESPONSE FRAME)
1.
2.

Yes
No

*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF COURSESCREEN6=2, USE POPULATION COURSE
INFORMATION E308A/E308B*(COURSESCREEN4=1 FOR ANY OR COURSESCREEN6=1, HAVE COMPLETED AT LEAST ONE
UNIT IN COURSE INPUT AT COURSESCREEN3 OR HAVE ENOUGH EXPERIENCEIN NEW COURSE TO RESPOND)CONFIRMNEWCOURSE
Please respond to the Student Experience Survey on the basis of the <course>/s you are
currently doing, that is, the:*(DISPLAY): Course A: <COURSESCREEN3_COURSEA>*(DISPLAY IF COURSENUM=2) Course B: <COURSESCREEN3_COURSEB>*(IF COURSESCREEN6=2, DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH EXPERIENCE IN NEW COURSE TORESPOND)
CONFIRMORIGINALCOURSE
Please respond to the Student Experience Survey on the basis of your original course,that is, the:*(DISPLAY IF QUALNUMS=1) CourseA: <E308A>*(DISPLAY IF QUALNUMS=2) Course B: <E308B>*PROGRAMMER NOTE: FOR STAGE=1 OR 3 OR 9 AND COURSENUM=2, AUTO
CODE RESPONSE FROM COURSESCREEN4 AT STARTED. IF COURSESCREEN4=1
FOR BOTH COURSE A AND COURSE B ASSIGN STARTED=1, IF
COURSESCREEN4=1 FOR COURSE A AND 2 FOR COURSE B ASSIGN STARTED=2,
IF COURSESCREEN4=1 FOR COURSE B AND 2 FOR COURSE A ASSIGNSTARTED=3, IF COURSESCREEN4=2 FOR BOTH COURSE A AND COURSE B AND
COURSESCREEN6=1 ASSIGN STARTED=4*(STAGE=1 OR 3 OR 9 AND COURSENUM=2, COMMENCING OR MIDDLE YEARS STUDENTS
AND TWO COURSES)
9

2523 2022 SES

STARTED Have you completed <units> in both your <E308A> <course> and your <E308B><course>?
1.
2.
3.
4.

Yes, I have completed <units> in both <course>s
No, I have only completed <units> in my <E308A> <course>
No, I have only completed <units> in my <E308B> <course>
No, I have not completed <units> in either my <E308A> <course> or <E308B><course>*(STAGE=1 OR INSTITUTION=1 AND E306 = 3044 AND E310=30, COMMENCING STUDENTS OR
CURRENTLY ENROLLED FROM NOTRE DAME DOING STUDY AREA 30)
PREVUNI Before you enrolled in your current <course>(s) had you ever undertaken any university
or higher education studies (even if you didn’t complete the <course>)?
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DIPLAY (INTERVIEWER NOTE: IF YES, PROBE TORESPONSE FRAME)
1.
2.
3.

Yes, I was enrolled in a different <course> at <E306CTXT>
Yes, I was enrolled at another university or higher education institution
No, this is the first time I have enrolled in a university or higher education <course>*PROGRAMMER NOTE: CREATE DVQUALNUM HERE.
Qualification criteria

Definition

FinalCourse
A

FinalCourse
B

DVQUA
LNUM

IF COURSCREEN1 =COURSEA POPULATED AND
COURSEB NOT POPULATEDAND STAGE=2

One qualification,completing student

FinalCourseAmissing

1

IF COURSCREEN1 =COURSEA POPULATED AND
COURSEB POPULATED AND
STAGE=2

Two qualifications,completing student

FinalCourse
A

FinalCourse
B

2

IF COURSCREEN1 =COURSEA POPULATED AND
COURSEB NOT POPULATEDAND STAGE=1 OR 3 OR 9

One qualification,commencing or middle
years student

FinalCourseAmissing

1

IF COURSCREEN1 =COURSEA POPULATED AND
COURSEB POPULATED AND
STAGE=1 OR 3 OR 9 AND
STARTED=1 OR 4

Two qualifications,commencing or middle
years student, started bothcourses

FinalCourse
A

FinalCourse
B

2

IF COURSCREEN1 =COURSEA POPULATED AND
COURSEB POPULATED AND
STAGE=1 OR 3 OR 9 AND
STARTED=2

Two qualifications,commencing or middle
years student, started
course A only

FinalCourseAmissing

1

IF COURSCREEN1 =COURSEA POPULATED AND
COURSEB POPULATED AND
STAGE=1 OR 3 OR 9 AND
STARTED=3

Two qualifications,commencing or middle
years student, started
course B only

FinalCourse

missing

1

B*(TIMESTAMP)MODULE B: INCLUSION AND LEARNER ENGAGEMENT*(ALL)

10

2523 2022 SES

INLERENINTRO The next questions are about how included and engaged you feel you have been ingeneral with your current studies.
*(ALL)ADMININTRO At <E306CTXT> during <SURVEYYEAR>, to what extent have you…
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT*PROGRAMMER NOTE: DISPLAY AS GRID(STATEMENTS) (ROTATE)
settleeffenrolfeelprepInductReceived support from your institution to settle into study?
Experienced efficient enrolment and admissions processes?
Felt prepared for your study?
Felt induction/orientation activities were relevant and helpful?

(RESPONSE FRAME)
1
2
3
4
5
6

Not at all
Very little
Some
Quite a bit
Very much
Not applicable *(ONLY DISPLAY FOR INDUCT)*(ALL)OVERALLA Thinking about your <FINALCOURSEA> <course>, overall how would you rate thequality of your entire educational experience this year?
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT
1.
2.
3.
4.

Poor
Fair
Good
Excellent*(DVQUALNUM_S=2, TWO QUALIFICATIONS)OVERALLB And thinking about your <FINALCOURSEB> <course>, overall, how would you rate thequality of your entire educational experience this year?
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT
1.
2.
3.
4.
*(ALL)BELONG

Poor
Fair
Good
Excellent

At your institution during <SURVEYYEAR>, to what extent have you had a sense of
belonging to <E306CTXT>?
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Not at all
Very little
Some
Quite a bit
Very much*(ALL)

11

2523 2022 SES

INTERACTINTROA Thinking about your <FINALCOURSEA> <course>, in <SURVEYYEAR>, howfrequently have you…
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT*PROGRAMMER NOTE: DISPLAY AS GRID(STATEMENTS) (ROTATE)
discuss
wrkotherinterout
interdif

Participated in discussions online or face-to-face?
Worked with other students as part of your study?
Interacted with students outside study requirements?
Interacted with students who are very different from you?

(RESPONSE FRAME)
1.
2.
3.
4.

Never
Sometimes
Often
Very often*(DVQUALNUM_S=2, TWO QUALIFICATIONS)INTERACTINTROB And thinking about your <FINALCOURSEB> <course>, in <SURVEYYEAR>,
how frequently have you…
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT*PROGRAMMER NOTE: DISPLAY AS GRID(STATEMENTS) (ROTATE)
discussb
wrkotherb
interoutb
interdifb

Participated in discussions online or face-to-face?
Worked with other students as part of your study?
Interacted with students outside study requirements?
Interacted with students who are very different from you?

(RESPONSE FRAME)
1.
2.
3.
4.
*(ALL)OPPLOC

Never
Sometimes
Often
Very often

At your institution during <SURVEYYEAR>, to what extent have you been given
opportunities to interact with local students?
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

*(ALL)ENGAGENot at all
Very little
Some
Quite a bit
Very much
Not applicable

Learner engagement scale score
RECODE OPPLOC BELONG FEELPREP(1=0) (2=25) (3=50) (4=75) (5=100) INTOOPPLOCR BELONGR FEELPREPR.

12

2523 2022 SESRECODE DISCUSS WRKOTHER INTEROUT INTERDIF(1=0) (2=33.33) (3=66.66) (4=100) INTODISCUSSR WRKOTHERR INTEROUTR INTERDIFR.
COMPUTE ENGAGE = MEAN.5(OPPLOCR, BELONGR, FEELPREPR, DISCUSSR,
WRKOTHERR, INTEROUTR, INTERDIFR).
IF NOT MISSING, FLAG AS TECHNICAL COMPLETE*(DVQUALNUM=2, TWO QUALIFICATIONS)ENGAGEb Learner engagement scale score
RECODE OPPLOC BELONG FEELPREP(1=0) (2=25) (3=50) (4=75) (5=100) INTOOPPLOCR BELONGR FEELPREPR.
RECODE DISCUSSB WRKOTHERB INTEROUTB INTERDIFB(1=0) (2=33.33) (3=66.66) (4=100) INTODISCUSSRB WRKOTHERRB INTEROUTRB INTERDIFRB.
COMPUTE ENGAGEB = MEAN.5(OPPLOCR, BELONGR, FEELPREPR, DISCUSSRB,WRKOTHERRB, INTEROUTRB, INTERDIFRB).
IF NOT MISSING, FLAG AS TECHNICAL COMPLETE*(TIMESTAMP)MODULE C: TEACHING AND EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT*(ALL)YEAEDUDINTRO The next questions are about the quality of the teaching and learning resources
provided to you.
*(ALL)QLTEACHA Thinking of this year, overall at <E306CTXT>, how would you rate the quality of theteaching you have experienced in your <FINALCOURSEA> <course>?
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT
1.
2.
3.
4.

Poor
Fair
Good
Excellent*(DVQUALNUM=2, TWO QUALIFICATIONS)QLTEACHB Thinking of this year, overall at <E306CTXT>, how would you rate the quality of theteaching you have experienced in your <FINALCOURSEB> <course>?
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT
1.
2.
3.
4.

Poor
Fair
Good
Excellent*(ALL)TCHINTROA During <SURVEYYEAR>, to what extent have the lecturers, tutors and demonstrators inyour <FINALCOURSEA> <course>…
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT

13

2523 2022 SES*PROGRAMMER NOTE: DISPLAY AS GRID(STATEMENTS) (ROTATE)
tchactiv
tchconlr
tchclexp
tchstimi
tchfeedb
tchhelptchasschEngaged you actively in learning?
Demonstrated concern for student learning?
Provided clear explanations on coursework and assessment?
Stimulated you intellectually?
Commented on your work in ways that help you learn?
Seemed helpful and approachable?
Set assessment tasks that challenge you to learn?

(RESPONSE FRAME)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Not at all
Very little
Some
Quite a bit
Very much*(DVQUALNUM=2, TWO QUALIFICATIONS)TCHINTROB During <SURVEYYEAR>, to what extent have the lecturers, tutors and demonstrators inyour <FINALCOURSEB> <course>…
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT*PROGRAMMER NOTE: DISPLAY AS GRID(STATEMENTS) (ROTATE)
tchactivb Engaged you actively in learning?
tchconlrb Demonstrated concern for student learning?
tchclexpb Provided clear explanations on coursework and assessment?
tchstimib Stimulated you intellectually?
tchfeedbb Commented on your work in ways that help you learn?
tchhelpb Seemed helpful and approachable?
tchasschb Set assessment tasks that challenge you to learn?
(RESPONSE FRAME)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Not at all
Very little
Some
Quite a bit
Very much*(ALL)QLINTROA Thinking of this year, overall how would you rate the following learning resources
provided for your <FINALCOURSEA> <course>…?
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT*PROGRAMMER NOTE: DISPLAY AS GRID*PROGRAMMER NOTE: FOR QLLMS USE <INSTLMS>, IF MISSING USE ‘SUCH AS
MOODLE, BLACKBOARD OR CANVAS’(STATEMENTS) (ROTATE)
qltspace
qlsspace
qlonline
qlcomput
qltbookqlequip

Teaching spaces (e.g. lecture theatres, tutorial rooms, laboratories)
Student spaces and common areas
Online learning materials
Computing/IT resources
Assigned books, notes and resources
Laboratory or studio equipment
14

2523 2022 SES

qllibryqllms

Library resources and facilities
Online Learning Platform (i.e. Learning Management System,<INSTLMS_TXT>)(RESPONSE FRAME)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Poor
Fair
Good
Excellent
Not applicable*(ALL)RESOURCELearning resources scale score
RECODE QLTSPACE QLSSPACE QLONLINE QLCOMPUT QLTBOOK QLEQUIPQLLIBRY(1=0) (2=33.33) (3=66.66) (4=100) INTOQLTSPACER QLSSPACER QLONLINER QLCOMPUTR QLTBOOKR QLEQUIPRQLLIBRYRCOMPUTE RESOURCE = MEAN.5(QLTSPACER, QLSSPACER, QLONLINER,QLCOMPUTR, QLTBOOKR, QLEQUIPR, QLLIBRYR).
IF NOT MISSING, FLAG AS TECHNICAL COMPLETE*(DVQUALNUM=2, TWO QUALIFICATIONS)QLINTROB Thinking of this year, overall how would you rate the following learning resources
provided for your <FINALCOURSEB> <course>…?
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT*PROGRAMMER NOTE: DISPLAY AS GRID(STATEMENTS) (ROTATE)
qltspaceb Teaching spaces (e.g. lecture theatres, tutorial rooms, laboratories)
qlsspaceb Student spaces and common areas
qlonlineb Online learning materials
qlcomputb Computing/IT resources
qltbookb Assigned books, notes and resources
qlequipb Laboratory or studio equipment
qllibryb
Library resources and facilities
qllmsbOnline Learning Platform (i.e. Learning Management System,<INSTLMS_TXT>)(RESPONSE FRAME)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Poor
Fair
Good
Excellent
Not applicable*(DVQUALNUM=2, TWO QUALIFICATIONS)RESOURCEb Learning resources scale score
RECODE QLTSPACEB QLSSPACEB QLONLINEB QLCOMPUTB QLTBOOKBQLEQUIPB QLLIBRYB(1=0) (2=33.33) (3=66.66) (4=100) INTO

15

2523 2022 SESQLTSPACERB QLSSPACERB QLONLINERB QLCOMPUTRB QLTBOOKRBQLEQUIPRB QLLIBRYRBCOMPUTE RESOURCEB = MEAN.5(QLTSPACERB, QLSSPACERB, QLONLINERB,QLCOMPUTRB, QLTBOOKRB, QLEQUIPRB, QLLIBRYRB).
IF NOT MISSING, FLAG AS TECHNICAL COMPLETE*(ALL)STINTROA In <SURVEYYEAR>, to what extent has *(IF DVQUALNUM=1 DISPLAY: your study, IF
DVQUALNUM=2 DISPLAY: your <FINALCOURSEA> <course>) been delivered in a waythat is…
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT*PROGRAMMER NOTE: DISPLAY AS GRID(STATEMENTS)
Stdstrucstdrelev

Well-structured and focused?
Relevant to your education as a whole?

(RESPONSE FRAME)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
*(ALL)
TEACH

Not at all
Very little
Some
Quite a bit
Very much

Teaching quality scale score
RECODE STDSTRUC STDRELEV TCHACTIV TCHCONLR TCHCLEXP TCHSTIMI
TCHFEEDB TCHHELP TCHASSCH(1=0) (2=25) (3=50) (4=75) (5=100) INTO
STDSTRUCR STDRELEVR TCHACTIVR TCHCONLRR TCHCLEXPR TCHSTIMIR
TCHFEEDBR TCHHELPR TCHASSCHR
RECODE QLTEACH OVERALL(1=0) (2=33.33) (3=66.66) (4=100) INTOQLTEACHR OVERALLR.
COMPUTE TEACH = MEAN.8(STDSTRUCR, STDRELEVR, TCHACTIVR,
TCHCONLRR, TCHCLEXPR, TCHSTIMIR, TCHFEEDBR, TCHHELPR, TCHASSCHR,QLTEACHR, OVERALLR).
IF NOT MISSING, FLAG AS TECHNICAL COMPLETE*(DVQUALNUM=2, TWO QUALIFICATIONS)STINTROB In <SURVEYYEAR>, to what extent has your <FINALCOURSEB> <course> beendelivered in a way that is…
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT*PROGRAMMER NOTE: DISPLAY AS GRID(STATEMENTS)
stdstrucb
stdrelevb

Well-structured and focused?
Relevant to your education as a whole?

(RESPONSE FRAME)

16

2523 2022 SES

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Not at all
Very little
Some
Quite a bit
Very much*(DVQUALNUM=2, TWO QUALIFICATIONS)TEACHbTeaching quality scale score
RECODE STDSTRUCB STDRELEVB TCHACTIVB TCHCONLRB TCHCLEXPB
TCHSTIMIB TCHFEEDBB TCHHELPB TCHASSCHB(1=0) (2=25) (3=50) (4=75) (5=100) INTO
STDSTRUCRB STDRELEVRB TCHACTIVRB TCHCONLRRB TCHCLEXPRBTCHSTIMIRB TCHFEEDBRB TCHHELPRB TCHASSCHRBRECODE QLTEACHB OVERALLB(1=0) (2=33.33) (3=66.66) (4=100) INTOQLTEACHRB OVERALLRB.
COMPUTE TEACHB = MEAN.8(STDSTRUCRB, STDRELEVRB, TCHACTIVRB,TCHCONLRRB, TCHCLEXPRB, TCHSTIMIRB, TCHFEEDBRB, TCHHELPRB,TCHASSCHRB, QLTEACHRB, OVERALLRB).
IF NOT MISSING, FLAG AS TECHNICAL COMPLETE*(ALL)
EXPINTROA Thinking about your <FINALCOURSEA> <course>, to what extent has your <course>
developed your…
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT*PROGRAMMER NOTE: DISPLAY AS GRID(STATEMENTS) (ROTATE)
expthink
expprbsl
exptmwrk
expconf
Expwrite
expspeakexpknow
expwork

Critical thinking skills?
Ability to solve complex problems?
Ability to work with others?
Confidence to learn independently?
Written communication skills?
Spoken communication skills?
Knowledge of the field(s) you are studying?
Development of work-related knowledge and skills?

(RESPONSE FRAME)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Not at all
Very little
Some
Quite a bit
Very much*(ALL)DEVELOP Skills development scale score
RECODE EXPTHINK EXPPRBSL EXPTMWRK EXPCONF EXPWRITE EXPSPEAKEXPKNOW EXPWORK(1=0) (2=25) (3=50) (4=75) (5=100) INTO
EXPTHINKR EXPPRBSLR EXPTMWRKR EXPCONFR EXPWRITER EXPSPEAKREXPKNOWR EXPWORKR.

17

2523 2022 SESCOMPUTE DEVELOP = MEAN.6(EXPTHINKR, EXPPRBSLR, EXPTMWRKR,
EXPCONFR, EXPWRITER, EXPSPEAKR, EXPKNOWR, EXPWORKR).
IF NOT MISSING, FLAG AS TECHNICAL COMPLETE*(DVQUALNUM=2, TWO QUALIFICATIONS)EXPINTROB And thinking about your <FINALCOURSEB> <course>, to what extent has your<course> developed your…
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT*PROGRAMMER NOTE: DISPLAY AS GRID(STATEMENTS) (ROTATE)
expthinkb Critical thinking skills?
expprbslb Ability to solve complex problems?
exptmwrkb Ability to work with others?
expconfb Confidence to learn independently?
Expwriteb Written communication skills?
expspeakb Spoken communication skills?
expknowb Knowledge of the field(s) you are studying?
expworkb Development of work-related knowledge and skills?
(RESPONSE FRAME)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Not at all
Very little
Some
Quite a bit
Very much*(DVQUALNUM=2, TWO QUALIFICATIONS)DEVELOPb Skills development scale score
RECODE EXPTHINKB EXPPRBSLB EXPTMWRKB EXPCONFB EXPWRITEBEXPSPEAKB EXPKNOWB EXPWORKB(1=0) (2=25) (3=50) (4=75) (5=100) INTO
EXPTHINKRB EXPPRBSLRB EXPTMWRKRB EXPCONFRB EXPWRITERBEXPSPEAKRB EXPKNOWRB EXPWORKRB.
COMPUTE DEVELOPB = MEAN.6(EXPTHINKRB, EXPPRBSLRB, EXPTMWRKRB,EXPCONFRB, EXPWRITERB, EXPSPEAKRB, EXPKNOWRB, EXPWORKRB).
IF NOT MISSING, FLAG AS TECHNICAL COMPLETE*(TIMESTAMP)MODULE D: SUPPORT*(ALL)INTROSUPP The next questions are about your overall experience of the support services provided
by your institution.
*(ALL)CARINTRO During <SURVEYYEAR>, to what extent have you found careers advisors to be…
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT*PROGRAMMER NOTE: DISPLAY AS GRID(STATEMENTS)

18

2523 2022 SES

caravail
carhelp

Available?
Helpful?

(RESPONSE FRAME)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Had no contact
Not at all
Very little
Some
Quite a bit
Very much*(ALL)ADMINTRO During <SURVEYYEAR>, to what extent have you found administrative staff orsystems (e.g. online administrative services, frontline staff, enrolment systems) to be…
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT*PROGRAMMER NOTE: DISPLAY AS GRID(STATEMENTS)
admavailadmhelp

Available?
Helpful?

(RESPONSE FRAME)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Had no contact
Not at all
Very little
Some
Quite a bit
Very much*(ALL)ACDINTRO During <SURVEYYEAR>, to what extent have you found academic or learning
advisors to be…
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT*PROGRAMMER NOTE: DISPLAY AS GRID(STATEMENTS)
acdavail
acdhelp

Available?
Helpful?

(RESPONSE FRAME)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Had no contact
Not at all
Very little
Some
Quite a bit
Very much*(ALL)SUPINTRO During <SURVEYYEAR>, to what extent have you found support services such as
counsellors, financial/legal advisors and health services to be…
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT*PROGRAMMER NOTE: DISPLAY AS GRID(STATEMENTS)

19

2523 2022 SESSupavail
Suphelp

Available?
Helpful?

(RESPONSE FRAME)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Had no contact
Not at all
Very little
Some
Quite a bit
Very much*(ALL)SERVINTRO At your institution during <SURVEYYEAR>, to what extent have you…
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT*PROGRAMMER NOTE: DISPLAY AS GRID(STATEMENTS)
OffsupEnglang

Been offered support relevant to your circumstances?
Received appropriate English language skill support?

(RESPONSE FRAME)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Not at all
Very little
Some
Quite a bit
Very much
Not applicable*(ALL)SUPPORT Student support scale score
RECODE ENGLANG OFFSUP INDUCT SETTLE EFFENROL(1=0) (2=25) (3=50) (4=75) (5=100) INTO
ENGLANGR OFFSUPR INDUCTR SETTLER EFFENROLR.
RECODE ADMAVAIL ADMHELP CARAVAIL CARHELP ACDAVAIL ACDHELPSUPAVAIL SUPHELP(2=0) (3=25) (4=50) (5=75) (6=100) INTOADMAVAILR ADMHELPR CARAVAILR CARHELPR ACDAVAILR ACDHELPRSUPAVAILR SUPHELPR.
COMPUTE SUPPORT = MEAN.6(ENGLANGR, OFFSUPR, INDUCTR, SETTLER,
ADMAVAILR, ADMHELPR, CARAVAILR, CARHELPR, ACDAVAILR, ACDHELPR,
SUPAVAILR, SUPHELPR, EFFENROLR).
IF NOT MISSING, FLAG AS TECHNICAL COMPLETE*(ALL)
BAA

What have been the best aspects of your <FINALCOURSEA> <course>?
If possible, please avoid using symbols (eg. - = < > *) in the text box<verbatim text box>*(DVQUALNUM=2, TWO QUALIFICATIONS)BABWhat have been the best aspects of your <FINALCOURSEB> <course>?

20

2523 2022 SES

If possible, please avoid using symbols (eg. - = < > *) in the text box<verbatim text box>*(ALL)
NIA

What aspects of your <FINALCOURSEA> <course> most need improvement?
If possible, please avoid using symbols (eg. - = < > *) in the text box.
<verbatim text box>*(DVQUALNUM=2, TWO QUALIFICATIONS)NIBWhat aspects of your <FINALCOURSEB> <course> most need improvement?
If possible, please avoid use symbols (eg. - = < > *) in the text box.
<verbatim text box>*(TIMESTAMP)*(ALL)FOEX

The following statements are about freedom of expression on campus at <E306CTXT>.
Freedom of expression can be part of the academic and social aspects of your student
experience.
How strongly do you agree or disagree that…

(STATEMENTS)
foexa I am free to express my views at <E306CTXT>
foexb Academics are free to express their views at <E306CTXT>
foexc I am free from discrimination, harm or hatred at <E306CTXT>(RESPONSE FRAME)
1.
Strongly disagree
2.
Disagree
3.
Neither disagree or agree
4.
Agree
5.
Strongly agree*(TIMESTAMP)MODULE E: DEMOGRAPHICS*(ALL)DEMOINTRO The next questions are about your current <course>(s) progress and factors affecting
your study.
*(ALL)YRENROL In what year did you first start your current <course>(s)?
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY (PROBE TO RESPONSE FRAME IF
NECESSARY)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Before <SURVEYYEAR-4 YEARS><SURVEYYEAR-4 YEARS><SURVEYYEAR-3 YEARS><SURVEYYEAR-2 YEARS><SURVEYYEAR-1 YEAR>

21

2523 2022 SES

6.
*(ALL)YRCOMP<SURVEYYEAR>

When do you expect to complete your current <course>(s)?
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT
1.
2.

<SURVEYYEAR><SURVEYYEAR + 1 YEAR> or later*(ALL)CAMPUSR Where has your study been mainly based in <SURVEYYEAR>?
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT
1.
2.
3.
4.
*(ALL)ONLINEA

On one campus
On two or more campuses
Mix of external, distance and on-campus
External/DistanceThinking about your <FINALCOURSEA> <course>, how much of your study do you do
online?
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT
1.
2.
3.
4.

None
About a quarter
About half
All or nearly all*(DVQUALNUM_S=2, TWO QUALIFICATIONS)ONLINEB
And thinking about your <FINALCOURSEB> <course>, how much of your study do you
do online?
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT
1.
2.
3.
4.
*(ALL)GRADEA

None
About a quarter
About half
All or nearly all

Thinking about your <FINALCOURSEA> <course>, which number between 0 and 100
represents your average grade so far in <SURVEYYEAR>?
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

No results
0-49%
50-59%
60-69%
70-79%
80-89%
90-100%*(DVQUALNUM=2, TWO QUALIFICATIONS)GRADEB And thinking about your <FINALCOURSEB> <course>, which number between 0 and
100 represents your average grade so far in <SURVEYYEAR>?
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT

22

2523 2022 SES

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

No results
0-49%
50-59%
60-69%
70-79%
80-89%
90-100%*(ALL)
ASTDINTRO At <E306CTXT> during <SURVEYYEAR>, to what extent have…
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT*PROGRAMMER NOTE: DISPLAY AS GRID(STATEMENTS) (ROTATE)
Astdliv
AstdfinAstdworYour living arrangements negatively affected your study?
Your financial circumstances negatively affected your study?
Paid work commitments negatively affected your study?

(RESPONSE FRAME)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Not at all
Very little
Some
Quite a bit
Very much
Not applicable *(ONLY DISPLAY FOR ASTDWOR)*(ALL)CONSIDCHG During <SURVEYYEAR>, have you seriously considered leaving <E306CTXT>?
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT
1.
2.

Yes, I have seriously considered leaving
No, I have not seriously considered leaving*(CONSIDCHG=1, HAVE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED LEAVING)
CHINTRO Please indicate your reasons for seriously considering leaving your current institution in<SURVEYYEAR>. Please select all that apply.
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: MULTI ANSWER TICK BOXES, SPLIT INTO TWO COLUMNS*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT
chaexchchasuppchadsupchboredchproschdirec
chcommu
chfeeschwrkld
chexpec
chfamly
chfdiff
chgapyr
chgvtaschgraduchhealt

Academic exchange
Academic support
Administrative support
Boredom/lack of interest
Career prospects
Change of direction
Commuting difficulties
Difficulty paying fees
Difficulty with workload
Expectations not met
Family responsibilities
Financial difficulties
Gap year/deferral
Government assistance
Graduating
Health or stress232523 2022 SES

chreput
chmovechbreak
chpwork
chopp
chwrkrpchprsnlchqacrnchothofchsocrn
chshgstd
chblncechtravl
chother

Institution reputation
Moving residence
Need a break
Need to do paid work
Other opportunities
Paid work responsibilities
Personal reasons
Quality concerns
Received other offer from another university or higher education institution
Social reasonsStandards too highStudy/life balance
Travel or tourism
Other reasons (please specify)*(ALL)
LOCATINTRO The following questions are related to where you live.
*(ALL)CURCOUNTRY Do you currently live in Australia or overseas?
1.
2.

Australia
Overseas*(CURCOUNTRY=1, LIVES IN AUSTRALIA)CURSTATE In which state or territory do you currently live?
1. NSW
2. VIC
3. QLD
4. SA
5. WA
6. TAS
7. NT
8. ACT
98. Don’t know*(CURCOUNTRY=1, LIVES IN AUSTRALIA)CURPCODE What is the postcode or suburb where you currently live?
1.
2.

<verbatim text box> *PROGRAMMER NOTE USE POSTCODE LOOKUP LIST
Not sure*(CURCOUNTRY=2, LIVES OVERSEAS)OSCOUNTRY In which country do you currently live?
1.

<Predictive text verbatim text box> *PROGRAMMER NOTE: USE SACC
COUNTRY LIST*PROGRAMMER NOTE: EXCLUDE E306=3025 FROM COVLOC2*(COVIDMOD=1, ELIGIBLE FOR COVID ITEMS)COVLOC2 Is this where you have been located for the majority of your studies in <SURVEYYEAR>?
1.
2.

Yes
No

*(IF COVLOC2=2, LOCATION NOT WHERE LOCATED FOR MAJORITY OF 2021 STUDIES)COVLOC3 Where have you been located for the majority of your studies in <SURVEYYEAR>?
1.
2.

Australia
Overseas242523 2022 SES*(IF COVLOC3=1, LOCATED IN AUSTRALIA FOR MAJORITY OF 2020 STUDIES)COVLOC4 And in which state or territory have you been located for the majority of your studies in<SURVEYYEAR>?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
98.

NSW
VIC
QLD
SA
WA
TAS
NT
ACT
Don’t know*(IF COVLOC3=1, LOCATED IN AUSTRALIA FOR MAJORITY OF 2020 STUDIES)COVPCODE1 What is the postcode or suburb of your location for the majority of your studies in<SURVEYYEAR>?
1.
98.

Enter postcode or suburb *PROGRAMMER NOTE USE POSTCODE LOOKUP
LIST
Don’t know*(IF COVLOC3=2, LOCATED OVERSEAS FOR MAJORITY OF 2020 STUDIES)COVOS1 In which country have you been located for the majority of your <SURVEYYEAR>
studies?
1.

<Predictive text verbatim text box> *PROGRAMMER NOTE: USE GO8 COUNTRY
LIST*PROGRAMMER NOTE: EXCLUDE E306=3025 FROM COVREL*(COVIDMOD=1 AND E306≠3025, ELIGIBLE FOR COVID ITEMS AND EXCLUDING MACQ)
COVRELDid you have to relocate due to issues relating to COVID-19?
1.
2.

Yes
No

*(TIMESTAMP)*PROGRAMMER NOTE: SURVEY IS CONSIDERED COMPLETE AT THIS POINT,FLAG AS 1 AT EARLYCOMPLETE
MODULE H: INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ITEMS*(INTMOD=1, ONSHORE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS)
INTINTRO The following questions are related to your experience as an international student inAustralia.

*(INTMOD=1, ONSHORE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS)
INTAUS
When deciding to study in Australia, how important was….
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT*PROGRAMMER NOTE: DISPLAY AS GRID(STATEMENTS)a) The reputation of Australia’s education system?

25

2523 2022 SESb) Your personal safety and security?
i) The cost of living?
c) The ability to work part-time?
d) The opportunity to study in an English-speaking country?
e) Having friends and family already in Australia?
f) The chance to experience a new culture/lifestyle?
g) The possibility of migrating to Australia?
h) The weather/climate?
(RESPONSE FRAME)
1. Extremely important
2. Important
3. Not important
4. Not at all important
98. Don’t know*(INTMOD=1, ONSHORE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
INTINST
When you were deciding to apply to <E306CTXT>, how important was…
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT*PROGRAMMER NOTE: DISPLAY AS GRID(STATEMENTS)
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)

The reputation of the education provider?
The reputation of the qualification?
<E306CTXT> offered the course I wanted to study?
The course fee?
Employment opportunities after completing the course?
<E306CTXT> had a partnership with my local institution?
The location of the institution?

(RESPONSE FRAME)
1. Extremely important
2. Important
3. Not important
4. Not at all important
98. Don’t know*(INTMOD=1, ONSHORE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
INTSATHow satisfied are you with each of the following aspects of living in Australia?
*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF CATI DISPLAY READ OUT*PROGRAMMER NOTE: DISPLAY AS GRID(STATEMENTS)
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)

Employment while studying
Improving your English skills
Getting work experience in your field of study
Transport
Personal safety on campus
Personal safety off campus
Making friends
Overall living experience in Australia

26

2523 2022 SES(RESPONSE FRAME)
1. Very satisfied
2. Satisfied
3. Dissatisfied
4. Very dissatisfied
97. Not applicable*PROGRAMMER NOTE: ONLY ASK INTEMP TO INTHELPX ON MONDAY 3 AUGUST
2020. IF INTEMP=1 ASSIGN DUMMY VARIABLE AND SET QUOTA TO 1,000. ONCEQUOTA IS MET SKIP ITEMS INTEMP TO INTHELPX*(INTMOD=1, ONSHORE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS)
INTAGENT When coming to Australia, did you use an agent to help you with your visa application or
to enrol at <E306CTXT>?
1. Yes
2. No*(INTAGENT=1, USED AN AGENT)INTSERV How would you rate the overall service provided by the agent?
1.
2.
3.
4.

Very goodGood
Poor
Very poor*(DUMNAVITAS=1 AND STAGE=1 AND INTSERV=3 OR 4, PARTICIPATING NAVITASINSTITUTION, COMMENCING STUDENTS WHO GAVE POOR OR VERY POOR
RATING)
XQ_9000_NAV_AG9 Why did you give that rating?
1.

RECORD VERBATIM: <text box>*(INTMOD=1, ONSHORE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
INTLIVE
Which of the following best describes your current living arrangements?
1. University or college halls of residence
2. Student house or flat controlled by university
3. Private halls or student hostel
4. Private rented house/flat/room
5. Homestay with a family not related to you
7. Living with parents
6. With friends or relatives in their accommodation
90. Other (please specify)*(INTMOD=1, ONSHORE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
INTLIVSAT Overall, how satisfied are you with your current living arrangements?
1.
2.
3.
4.

Very satisfied
Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied*(INTLIVSAT=3 OR 4, DISSATISFIED WITH LIVING ARRANGEMENTS)
INTLIVEDISN Why are you dissatisfied with your current living arrangements?
(MULTIPLE RESPONSE)
1. Too expensive

27

2523 2022 SES

2. Not enough space
3. Too noisy
4. I am lonely
5. Issues with housemates
6. Issues with landlord or agent
7. Dirty
8. Old / bad condition
9. Slow internet
10. Located too far from institution
97. Other (please specify)*(INTMOD=1, ONSHORE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
INTVISA
What type of Australian visa do you currently hold?
1. Student visa (Subclass 500)
2. Temporary graduate visa (Subclass 485)
3. Bridging visa (awaiting outcome of substantive visa application)
90. Other
MODULE G: <COURSE> EXPERIENCE*(STAGE=2 OR 3 OR 9, MIDDLE YEARS OR COMPLETING STUDENT)COMPSEM And lastly, do you expect to complete your <course> at the end of this semester?
1.
2.
3.

Yes
No
Not sure*(COMPSEM=1, EXPECTS TO COMPLETE COURSE)PEMAIL
Congratulations on being so close to finishing your studies. You will be contacted again
next year to take part in the Graduate Outcomes Survey and we would like to make sure
we can stay in touch with you. Please provide a long-term (private) email address so we
can contact you in the future. This information will be held securely and will only be used
for the purpose of sending you an invitation to participate in the Graduate Outcomes
Survey.
1.
2.

Email address (Please specify) *(KICKBOX VALIDATION REQUIRED)
Prefer not to provide email address*(ALL)CONTACT The Department of Education is undertaking some research into why students chose theircurrent <COURSE>s. Do you consent to being contacted in future to participate in thisresearch?
1.
2.
*(ALL)
C4

Yes
No

Would you like to be notified via email when the national data is released on the Quality
Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) website?
1.
2.

Yes
No

*(C4=1 OR CONTACT=1, WANTS TO BE NOTIFIED OF RESULTS OR RECONTACTED BY
DEPARTMENT)NTFEMAIL
What is the best email address to contact you on?

28

2523 2022 SES*PROGRAMMER NOTE: IF PEMAIL=2 SHOW SAMPLE EMAIL. IF PEMAIL=1
SHOW PEMAIL . IF STAGE=1 OR (STAGE=2 OR 3 AND COMPSEM=2 OR 3)
SHOW SAMPLE EMAIL<email>1.
2.

Address as above
Enter new email address*(TIMESTAMP)END*(DISPLAY IF ONLINE)
Thank you for your responses.
Please click ‘Submit’ to finalise your survey and be redirected to our homepage.
Everyone’s experiences are different, if the questions in this survey have raised anythingthat you would like support for, you could contact:• Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36• Lifeline on 13 11 14*(IF CATI) We appreciate your feedback, which will remain confidential. It plays asignificant role in enhancing Australian higher education. I can give you the details ofsome websites if you would like further information:www.ses.edu.au – The survey home page with links to key information.
www.srcentre.com.au/ses – A list of SES FAQs with detailed information.
www.compared.edu.au – The ComparEd website helps you compare official study
experience and employment outcomes data from Australian higher education institutions.
IF NEEDED: Everyone’s experiences are different, if the questions in this survey haveraised anything that you would like support for, you could contact:• Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36• Lifeline on 13 11 14
Thank you for your time. Just in case you missed it, my name is <NAME> from the Social
Research Centre and this survey is being conducted on behalf of The AustralianGovernment Department of Education.
*(CATI ONLY)
INT1
DO NOT ASK, INTERVIEWER PLEASE RECORD
Was the interview conducted on a domestic number or international number?
1.
2.

Domestic number
International number

SUBMIT*PROGRAMMER NOTE: FOR ONLINE SUBMIT BUTTON LINKS TOHTTPS://WWW.QILT.EDU.AU/SURVEY-SUCCESS/STUDENT-EXPERIENCE-SURVEYTHANK-YOU*(INSTITUTION1=2, NO LONGER ENROLLED)
TERM*(IF ONLINE) Unfortunately you do not qualify to complete this survey. If you have any
questions, please contact the Social Research Centre SES helpdesk on 1800 055 818 (ifin Australia) or +61 3 8327 1951 (if overseas) or via email at ses@srcentre.com.au.

29

2523 2022 SES*(IF CATI) Thank you for your willingness to complete the Student Experience Survey(SES). Unfortunately, that’s all we need from you as we can only speak to students whoare currently undertaking a course.

*(COMMENCESCREEN=2, HAVE NOT COMPLETED ENOUGH OF COURSE)
TERM3
As you have indicated that you have not completed at least one <unit> of your
<COURSE>, you do not qualify to complete the survey at this time. Thank you for yourinterest in the Student Experience Survey.
If you have any questions, please contact the Social Research Centre SES helpdesk on
1800 055 818 (if in Australia) or +61 3 8327 1951 (if overseas) or via email at
ses@srcentre.com.au.
*(INTRO=3 OR 4, REFUSED)
RR1
OK, that’s fine, no problem, but could you just tell me the main reason you do not want toparticipate, because that’s important information for us?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

No comment/just hung up
Too busy
Not interested
Too personal/intrusive
Don’t like subject matter
Don’t believe surveys are confidential/privacy concerns
Don’t trust surveys/government
Never do surveys
Survey is length too long
Get too many calls for surveys / telemarketing
Other (Please specify)*(INTRO=3 OR 4, REFUSED)RR2RECORD RE-CONTACT TYPE
1.
2.

Definitely don’t call back *(GO TO TERM2)
Possible conversion *(GO TO TERM2)*(EM1=1 OR 2, AGREED TO COMPLETE ONLINE)TERM1Thank you so much for being willing to take part in the survey, you will receive the survey
via email in the next hour or so. Your feedback plays a significant role in enhancing
Australian higher education.
*(ALL LOTE)
TERM2
No worries, thanks very much for your help anyway.
*(ALLTERM)
1
2
3
4
5
6

SUBMIT
INTRO=3 OR
INTRO2=3
INTRO=4 OR
INTRO2=4
INTRO=5 OR
INTRO2=5
EM=1 OR 2
QET

Detailed outcome
Completed interview
Household refusal

Summary outcome
Interview
RefusalRespondent refusal

RefusalLanguage difficulty

Other contacts

Agreed to complete online
Terminated midway

Other contacts
Refusal*(TIMESTAMP)

30

Appendix 958

Survey screenshots

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

2022 Student Experience Survey (SES) – Survey screen shots
This appendix provides examples of the different item styles displayed in the online survey.
Introduction2022

Yes/No item with radio buttons

Multiple response item with radio buttons

Grid item2022

Free text response item

Close screenAppendix 10

Small screen optimisation

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre59

Small screen optimisation
This appendix outlines key design decisions relating to the presentation of the online survey for the2022 SES and the QILT suite of surveys more broadly. Online survey presentation was informed by
the literature and accessibility guidelines.

Small screen optimisation principles
Some of the device effects associated with completing online surveys via small screen devices, asreported in Callegaro et al. (2015), include longer questionnaire completion times, but quicker
response times, higher break off rates, shorter answers to open ended questions, increased primacy
effects and increased use of responses that appear on the screen without the need for vertical or
horizontal scrolling. Small screen optimisation is the term used to try and mitigate some of thesepotential device effects. For the QILT suite of surveys, the Social Research Centre had sought toensure that the surveys were optimised for small screen devices. Based on Callegaro, et al., (2015),
the Social Research Centre adopted a set of basic guidelines for designing online surveys forcompletion on small screen devices. These included:•

Keeping the subject, content and survey link short in the email invitation, as long subject
lines will create multiple lines of text requiring the respondent to scroll.

•Removing or reducing all non-essential, non-question content in question pages as thesetake longer to load. Information such as the Social Research Centre’s privacy statement, andsurvey frequently asked questions, were made available as links at the bottom of email
invitations and reminders and were not presented on screen by default.

•

Minimising the use of grid / table format for questions as tables require respondents to zoom
and scroll horizontally just to read the text. The current iteration of the survey had all gridstatements presented as a set of items on small screen devices, so respondents only had toscroll vertically and were not required to zoom or scroll horizontally.

•

Optimising the size and orientation of the navigation (Previous and Next) and Save buttons
for small screen devices. The small screen layout stacked the buttons vertically at the bottomof the screen, with the Next button in the highest position, the Previous button in the middle
and the Save button in the lowest position. The size of the navigation and Save buttons werealso increased to assist with selection and reduce the need for scrolling.

•

Drag and drop format questions (as often used for ranking) may not work well on a small
screen device and are best avoided. There were no drag and drop format questions in the2022 SES questionnaire, but this is a consideration for the future.

•

Consider splitting long bipolar scales into two questions, first the two main options (satisfied
or dissatisfied) and then the level within each option (e.g. extremely, very, somewhat),
particularly for scales with 7 or more points (this was not applied to items used for the QILT
suite of surveys indicators to date).

•

Continuing to avoid videos and large pictures wherever possible as they can be problematicand take a long time to load.

2022 Student Experience Survey
Small screen optimisation

1

Optimisation within the SES
Small screen users were classified using a JavaScript function that returned details from therespondent’s browser, including browser name and version, device type and operating system andversion. Small screen device optimisation was also triggered where screen width was less than 768
pixels, regardless of device type.
Several elements of the online survey were changed for small screen users. The size of pictures (suchas the SES logo) were scaled for optimal display on small screens and grid items were optimised toensure response options on the right-hand side of the grid do not fall off-screen, leading to response
error. The size and orientation of the navigation (Previous and Next) and Save buttons was alsochanged for small screen devices. The small screen layout stacks the buttons vertically at the bottomof the screen, with the Next button in the highest position, the Previous button in the middle and theSave button in the lowest position. The size of the navigation and Save buttons is also increased in
the small screen view.
Font types and sizes were customised for small screen display and there were subtle differences in
the user interface between touchscreen and non-touch enabled devices. For touchscreen devices
proportionally larger buttons were used to reduce margin of error for selecting a response option, withthe software being able to determine which response option was intended to be selected where a user
had touched near, but not perfectly on the response option.
Grid (also known as table or matrix) items were reconfigured to display over multiple screens(navigated by vertical scrolling) on a small screen device. See Figure 1 and Figure 2 for comparison ofsmall screen and desktop grid item display.

2

2022 Student Experience Survey
Small screen optimisation

Figure 1 Grid item display on small screen device

2022 Student Experience Survey
Small screen optimisation

3

Figure 2 Grid item display on desktop device

2022 Student Experience Survey
4

Small screen optimisation

References
Callegaro, M., Manfreda, K. L., & Vehovar, V. (2015). Web survey methodology. Los Angeles: SAGE.

2022 Student Experience Survey
Small screen optimisation

5

Appendix 1160

Response by institution

2022 Student Experience Survey Methodological Report
Prepared by the Social Research Centre

2022 SES – Response by institution
University

Initialpopulation

Disqualified

Out-of scope

Optedout

FinalsampleResponses

2022
Response
Rate %

2021
Response
Rate %

2020
Response
Rate %

2019
Response
Rate %

Australian Catholic University

19,835

0

69

1,457

18,309

8,603

47.0

49.2

45.9

43.9

Avondale University

464

0

<5

40

422

210

49.8

53.4

56.0

58.2

Bond University

3,975

8

120

369

3,486

1,252

35.9

35.7

41.6

47.6

Central Queensland University

9,470

0

264

727

8,479

3,643

43.0

47.6

49.3

44.9

Charles Darwin University

5,344

48

123

395

4,826

2,094

43.4

44.6

43.2

46.8

Charles Sturt University

12,826

8

340

1,073

11,413

4,239

37.1

39.2

39.8

40.6

Curtin University

39,810

<5

632

2,969

36,20913,155

36.3

38.8

43.1

40.3

Deakin University

19,944

0

90

1,567

18,287

7,458

40.8

49.1

49.7

45.2

Edith Cowan University

14,432

0

451

1,034

12,947

5,366

41.4

42.1

48.0

46.4

Federation University Australia

10,188

0

219

512

9,457

3,215

34.0

44.3

45.8

45.5

Flinders University

19,427

<5

185

927

18,315

4,793

26.2

41.6

46.5

44.1

Griffith University

21,422

0

741

1,578

19,103

6,509

34.1

36.9

40.4

34.0

James Cook University

8,045

<5

72

431

7,542

2,197

29.1

40.9

48.8

46.7

La Trobe University

20,086

0

337

1,423

18,326

7,085

38.7

40.8

43.5

41.7

Macquarie University

25,029

0

555

2,132

22,342

8,079

36.2

44.2

48.2

47.4

Monash University

45,163

0

884

4,007

40,272

14,213

35.3

40.8

45.2

46.4

Murdoch University

5,688

0

157

454

5,077

1,876

37.0

38.8

42.4

38.7

Queensland University of Technology

22,805

6

600

1,428

20,777

7,027

33.8

43.5

48.3

33.0

RMIT University

34,948

<5

393

1,885

32,670

7,432

22.7

25.3

39.6

35.7

Southern Cross University

7,941

1

20

686

7,235

3,014

41.7

47.5

47.0

44.6

Swinburne University of Technology

16,997

0

439

1,124

15,434

6,482

42.0

45.6

50.9

44.6

The Australian National University

16,204

<5

78

554

15,572

4,951

31.8

33.4

41.4

34.7

The University of Adelaide

10,223

0

33

707

9,483

3,892

41.0

46.3

50.3

53.1

The University of Melbourne

27,202

0

80

2,132

24,99010,846

43.4

45.8

51.7

48.7

The University of Notre Dame Australia

7,931

30

119

423

7,389

2,559

34.6

43.4

47.3

47.4

The University of Queensland

26,496

0

584

1,888

24,024

7,670

31.9

34.3

39.4

43.1

University

Initialpopulation

Disqualified

Out-of scope

Optedout

FinalsampleResponses

2022
Response
Rate %

2021
Response
Rate %

2020
Response
Rate %

2019
Response
Rate %The University of South Australia

16,3020

The University of Sydney

27,743

0

229

950

15,123

5,784

38.2

37.1

42.5

38.6

620

2,366

24,757

7,634

30.8

40.4

33.1

29.8

The University of Western Australia

14,764

20

307

1,072

13,385

5,576

41.7

43.0

32.5

33.2

Torrens University

7,694

0

36

325

7,333

3,671

50.1

49.9

50.7

45.9

University of Canberra
University of Divinity

8,269

0

112

581

7,576

3,048

40.2

41.6

44.6

45.8

709

12

15

54

640

306

47.8

57.9

59.8

57.7

University of New England

7,740

<5

189

630

6,921

2,887

41.7

47.8

51.1

50.2

University of New South Wales

50,951

26

604

3,007

47,34016,940

35.8

41.6

42.0

46.6

University of Newcastle

25,469

0

381

1,880

23,208

7,331

31.6

40.2

36.1

45.4

University of Southern Queensland

15,106

0

407

1,132

13,567

5,866

43.2

42.8

55.9

53.1

University of Tasmania

13,169

0

323

972

11,874

5,290

44.6

47.0

46.3

50.6

University of Technology Sydney

21,808

0

399

1,628

19,781

6,489

32.8

37.4

35.6

43.8

University of the Sunshine Coast

12,706

0

222

714

11,770

5,163

43.9

54.3

52.7

52.8

University of Wollongong

18,394

0

88

1,499

16,807

6,300

37.5

43.5

50.6

49.0

Victoria University

11,578

0

276

1,042

10,260

3,613

35.2

43.4

43.8

41.9

Western Sydney University

17,751

0

224

1,352

16,175

6,001

37.1

38.0

34.9

42.4

Initial
population

Disqualified

Out ofscope

Optedout

FinalsampleResponses

2022
Response
Rate %

2021
Response
Rate %

2020
Response
Rate %

2019
Response
Rate %

398

0

28

40

330

98

29.7

29.2

n/a

n/a

641

<5

60

47

534

214

40.1

45.3

43.1

28.6

ACAP and NCPS

3,388

0

35

231

3,122

1,463

46.9

51.7

53

65.3

Adelaide Central School of Art

212

0

7

14

191

124

64.9

78.8

73.3

74.5

Adelaide College of Divinity

80

0

<5

10

68

36

52.9

50.8

62.6

n/a

Alphacrucis College

1,620

<5

72

138

1,410

546

38.7

41.5

44.5

49.8

Asia Pacific International College
Australasian College of Health andWellness
Australia Advance Education GroupPty Ltd
Australian Academy of Music andPerforming Arts
Australian College of Christian Studies

545

0

<5

22

522

231

44.3

34.1

n/a

n/a

255

<5

11

17

227

79

34.8

n/a

n/a

n/a

50

0

0

5

45

15

33.3

n/a

n/a

n/a

114

0

0

5

109

47

43.1

49.4

56.3

59

75

0

<5

<5

72

46

63.9

48.6

53

53.8

Australian College of Nursing

1,119

0

60

251

808

318

39.4

36.8

35.6

47.6

Australian College of Theology Limited

2,300

<5

76

177

2,047

1,161

56.7

56.0

57.4

65.8

Australian Institute of Business Pty Ltd

2,429

11

57

152

2,220

903

40.7

48.5

39.6

54.8

Australian Institute of Higher Education
Australian Institute of Management
Education & Training
Australian Institute of ProfessionalCounsellors
BBI - The Australian Institute of
Theological Education

1,292

0

55

94

1,143

456

39.9

40.6

n/a

n/a

755

6

9

78

668

317

47.5

35.1

47

54.8

606

<5

21

29

556

227

40.8

40.8

44.4

49.2

237

<5

13

15

209

93

44.5

46.1

42.2

56.1

Box Hill Institute

673

<5

16

41

616

286

46.4

47.9

41.9

43.7

Campion College Australia

139

0

<5

10

128

58

45.3

44.5

71.2

78.1

Canberra Institute of Technology

33

0

0

5

28

11

39.3

58.4

45.2

48.6

Chisholm Institute

200

<5

6

6

188

125

66.5

47.8

56.7

55.3

Christian Heritage College

628

0

12

41

575

278

48.3

47.6

47.1

56

NUHEI
Academies Australasia Polytechnic Pty
LimitedAcademy of Information Technology

Initial
population

Disqualified

Out ofscope

Optedout

FinalsampleResponses

2022
Response
Rate %

2021
Response
Rate %

2020
Response
Rate %

2019
Response
Rate %

CIC Higher Education

321

0

18

10

293

84

28.7

48.6

n/a

n/a

Collarts (Australian College of the Arts)

1,125

0

<5

81

1,040

470

45.2

49.3

48

47.6

Curtin College

794

0

23

37

734

272

37.1

39.1

40.5

n/a

Deakin College

1,552

0

89

69

1,394

447

32.1

47.1

47.3

n/a

Eastern College Australia

108

0

<5

12

95

52

54.7

49.6

47.1

63.5

Edith Cowan College

265

0

29

12

224

84

37.5

56.1

35.1

n/a

Elite Education Institute

37

5

<5

<5

31

<5

12.9

18.8

n/a

n/a

Endeavour College of Natural Health

3,379

<5

76

351

2,952

1,209

41.0

40.8

41.5

51

Engineering Institute of Technology

288

0

5

13

270

161

59.6

67.2

n/a

n/a

Equals International

35

0

0

<5

32

8

25.0

53.8

n/a

n/a

Excelsia College

870

0

32

36

802

340

42.4

54.7

64.3

67.3

Eynesbury College

144

0

<5

<5

142

43

30.3

65.6

64.8

n/a

Gestalt Therapy Brisbane

97

<5

9

15

73

37

50.7

n/a

n/a

n/a

Governance Institute of Australia

183

<5

15

13

155

75

48.4

47.0

n/a

n/a

Griffith College

1,128

0

42

40

1,046

321

30.7

44.0

23.7

n/a

Health Education & Training Institute

128

0

<5

13

113

36

31.9

39.4

37.5

n/a

Holmes Institute

5,301

0

374

313

4,614

1,547

33.5

26.0

35.6

34.3

Holmesglen Institute

1,108

0

15

68

1,025

366

35.7

46.7

34.9

44.8

Ikon Institute of Australia
Institute of Health & Management Pty
LtdInternational College of HotelManagement
International College of Management,
SydneyInternational Institute of Business andTechnology
ISN Psychology Pty Ltd

356

0

11

23

322

193

59.9

74.2

n/a

n/a

174

0

<5

5

165

71

43.0

35.6

n/a

n/a

185

0

<5

12

165

81

49.1

67.0

51.5

65

900

0

35

58

807

279

34.6

49.3

58.3

46.6

24

0

<5

<5

21

7

33.3

n/a

n/a

n/a

242

0

15

16

211

129

61.1

62.1

68.1

n/a

NUHEI

Jazz Music Institute

70

0

<5

7

61

26

42.6

43.8

34.4

28.8

Kaplan Business School

2,548

<5

36

109

2,403

928

38.6

44.9

43.6

53.2

Initial
population

Disqualified

Out ofscope

Optedout

FinalsampleResponses

2022
Response
Rate %

2021
Response
Rate %

2020
Response
Rate %

2019
Response
Rate %

Kaplan Higher Education Pty Ltd

2,794

10

69

349

2,376

765

32.2

32.1

37

46.3

Kent Institute Australia

1,118

0

57

63

998

341

34.2

37.4

32.2

n/a

King's Own Institute

2,848

0

215

149

2,484

1,116

44.9

46.4

53.8

71.4

La Trobe College Australia

651

0

29

23

599

246

41.1

38.6

35.5

n/a

LCI Melbourne

170

0

7

9

154

82

53.2

55.5

69.5

65.3

Le Cordon Bleu Australia

235

0

9

22

204

65

31.9

31.8

41.8

n/a

Leaders Institute

117

0

0

<5

115

74

64.3

60.7

n/a

n/a

Macleay College

256

0

5

10

241

85

35.3

43.2

36.3

53.6

Marcus Oldham College

125

0

0

9

116

77

66.4

57.3

83.5

88.8

Melbourne Institute of Technology

1,545

0

120

51

1,374

396

28.8

43.3

43.1

43.8

Melbourne Polytechnic
Montessori World Educational Institute(Australia)
Moore Theological College

813

0

5

46

762

269

35.3

41.0

41.5

44.9

72

<5

0

<5

70

34

48.6

53.2

n/a

n/a

352

0

<5

16

333

230

69.1

70.8

60.6

66.8

Morling College

120

0

10

8

102

49

48.0

52.5

55.3

n/a

Nan Tien Institute

51

0

<5

<5

45

30

66.7

61.0

57.7

72

National Art School
National Institute of Organisation
Dynamics Aust
Ozford Institute of Higher Education

543

0

<5

42

499

240

48.1

44.2

48.2

59.7

25

0

0

0

25

18

72.0

n/a

n/a

n/a

45

0

<5

<5

40

15

37.5

44.3

n/a

n/a

Performing Arts Education

38

0

0

<5

35

19

54.3

n/a

n/a

n/a

Perth Bible College

81

<5

<5

6

72

34

47.2

52.5

60

78.9

Photography Studies College(Melbourne)

139

0

<5

8

128

85

66.4

52.6

54.2

72.2

Polytechnic Institute Australia Pty Ltd

262

<5

14

11

237

72

30.4

22.6

n/a

n/a

SAE Institute

1,945

0

75

118

1,752

601

34.3

43.7

48.8

52.6

Sheridan College Inc.
South Australian Institute of Businessand Technology
SP Jain School of Management

60

0

<5

<5

55

43

78.2

n/a

n/a

n/a

472

0

19

22

431

186

43.2

49.9

39.7

n/a

138

0

<5

<5

135

78

57.8

79.7

47.6

49.3

Stott's College

1,450

0

24

92

1,334

520

39.0

40.1

42.2

36.1

NUHEI

Initial
population

Disqualified

Out ofscope

Optedout

FinalsampleResponses

2022
Response
Rate %

2021
Response
Rate %

2020
Response
Rate %

2019
Response
Rate %

Sydney College of Divinity
Sydney Institute of Business andTechnology
Tabor College of Higher Education

618

<5

14

60

544

229

42.1

41.4

41.1

40.9

245

0

15

6

224

101

45.1

54.8

37

n/a

672

0

16

35

621

315

50.7

53.3

52.7

54.7

TAFE NSW

2,122

0

93

156

1,873

839

44.8

49.1

41.9

45.2

TAFE Queensland

232

0

11

<5

217

87

40.1

41.2

44.4

52.2

TAFE South Australia
The Australian College of Physical
Education
The Australian Institute of Music

230

0

22

22

186

74

39.8

42.9

55.2

64.2

640

0

5

56

579

185

32.0

40.2

40.8

48.4

869

0

8

34

827

338

40.9

53.1

47.9

50.4

The Cairnmillar Institute
The Institute of International Studies(TIIS)The JMC Academy

392

<5

<5

26

362

202

55.8

52.2

57.6

57.2

63

8

<5

<5

59

20

33.9

n/a

n/a

n/a

2,074

<5

73

155

1,846

877

47.5

43.3

38.7

52.2

The MIECAT Institute

183

0

5

10

168

104

61.9

65.4

63.6

75.4

The Tax Institute Higher Education

166

<5

9

10

147

55

37.4

n/a

n/a

n/a

Think Education

373

0

<5

14

357

215

60.2

60.5

52.5

54.6

Universal Business School Sydney

968

0

12

46

910

343

37.7

36.6

30.9

28.1

UOW College

97

0

11

<5

85

37

43.5

44.7

29.2

39.5

UTS College

1,720

6

115

83

1,522

439

28.8

n/a

n/a

n/a

VIT (Victorian Institute of Technology)
Wentworth Institute of Higher
Education
Whitehouse Institute of Design,
Australia
William Angliss Institute

1,922

0

117

62

1,743

906

52.0

55.7

50.9

67.4

437

0

39

28

370

169

45.7

56.1

54.9

50.2

243

0

<5

16

225

146

64.9

62.5

62.6

67.8

591

0

23

38

530

154

29.1

44.4

41

47.1

NUHEI