Upholding Quality - Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching

Upholding quality through the Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) surveys.

On this page:

QILT are a suite of surveys for higher education that cover the student life cycle from commencement to employment:

  • The Student Experience Survey (SES) is a comprehensive survey completed by commencing and later-year students currently enrolled at Australian higher education institutions. Both undergraduate and postgraduate by coursework students participate in the surveys. The SES measures teaching and learning outcomes, and reports on multiple facets of the student experience.
  • The Graduate Outcomes Survey (GOS) is completed by graduates from Australian higher education institutions around 4 months after completing their course. The GOS provides information on the labour market outcomes and further study activities of graduates.
  • The Graduate Outcomes Survey – Longitudinal (GOS-L) supplements the GOS by measuring the medium-term employment outcomes of graduates, approximately three years after they have completed their course.
  • The Employer Satisfaction Survey (ESS) provides information about the quality of education, the generic skills, technical skills and work readiness of the graduate employed in their workplace.

The new ComparED website displays the QILT survey data, provides prospective students with relevant and transparent information about Australian higher education institutions from the perspective of current students and recent graduates.

The website supports the quality of learning and teaching in Australian higher education and ensures students have access to transparent and comparable information. The website helps students and their families make informed choices about their higher education study options by bringing together survey data from Australian higher education institutions about student’s experiences and graduate job outcomes.

With a few simple clicks, users can search for institutions and study areas of interest to them, and do side by side comparisons, including:

  • quality of the overall educational experience of current students
  • overall satisfaction of recent graduates
  • outcomes of students moving into full-time employment after graduation, and
  • the median salary received by recent graduates.

Note: Results from the Graduate Outcomes Survey - Longitudinal and the Employer Satisfaction Survey are published on the QILT website.

Background

In 2014-15, the Australian Government announced the Upholding Quality – Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching budget measure.

The Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) was established based on recommendations for the Development of Performance Measurements by the Advancing Quality in Higher Education Reference Group, chaired by Professor Ian O’Connor, Vice-Chancellor Griffith University. The report is available: Development of Performance Measures - Report of the Advancing Quality in Higher Education Reference Group

The Government established a Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching Working Group, to provide advice to the department on implementing the suite of surveys. The Working Group comprises representation from university executive staff, planning and management officials in universities, non-university higher education institutions, and business. It is chaired by Professor Barney Glover AO, Vice-Chancellor and President of Western Sydney University. Other members of the Working Group include:

  • Professor Richard James, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Undergraduate) and Deputy Provost of the University of Melbourne
  • Dr Michael Evans, Vice President Academic of Kaplan International Australia
  • Mr Bill Hamill, Chief Executive Officer of Rural Industries Skill Training
  • Dr Clare Hourigan, Director of Planning and Business Intelligence at the University of Queensland
  • Ms Jess Wilson, Executive Director of Policy at the Business Council of Australia (BCA), and
  • Ms Jenny Lambert, Director of Employment, Education and Training at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI).

The Working Group advises the department on the implementation of the suite of surveys, and the approach to lower the survey and reporting burden on providers and students, improve incentives for providers to focus on quality teaching, and enable Australia to internationally benchmark performance.

QILT is administered by the Social Research Centre (SRC) under contract to the Department of Education. This contract was awarded to SRC following a competitive tender process. The Social Research Centre is responsible for all aspects of survey administration, including selecting and contacting the students and graduates to be included in the surveys, as well as publishing results on the ComparED and QILT websites.

On 1 May 2017 the then Minister for Education, the Hon Simon Birmingham, announced at the Universities Australia 2017 Conference that QILT will be renamed. On 31 October 2019 the rebranded and student focused website, ComparED was released.

For more information please contact qilt@srcentre.com.au