Further Information on the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey.
Cover Letter
Dear Graduate,
Every year we ask all those who have recently completed a course here to take part in a survey to find out what happens to them after they leave the London School of Economics and Political Science. We are interested in any work and/or further study that you will be doing on 10 January 2011.
The questionnaire should only take a few minutes to complete - most of the questions just require you to tick a box with your answer. You will need your LSE student identifier, which can be found at the top of your LSE student ID card and will also have been emailed to you. Remember that 10th January is the date we are interested in so that we can compare everyone's information. You can fill in the questionnaire on-line at any time from now until 11th March 2011.
We've included some more details about how the survey works and what will happen to the information you provide can be found on the About the Survey sheet below.
Even though you have now completed your course, the LSE Careers is still available to help you with any career-related issues you may have. You are eligible for free use of the Careers Service, including careers advice appointments, for two years from the date of your graduation ceremony. For more information about our alumni services please visit www.lse.ac.uk/careers|.
Yours sincerely,
Iain McLoughlin
Acting Director of LSE Careers
About the survey
The survey we are asking you to take part in is a national survey of everyone who has recently qualified from any university or HE college in the UK. The information you provide will also be very useful to us at LSE to advise our current students about the opportunities that might be available to them.
Of those who obtained qualifications across the UK in 2008/9, 74.8% responded to the survey. Of these, 64% reported that they were working and a further 4.1% were working and studying. 19.5% were undertaking further study only. 7.5% of leavers were assumed to be unemployed. More results can be found on the HESA website|.
If we don't hear from you we will try to contact you again, possibly by phone, so please let us know if you change your address or phone number. If we can't get in touch with you at all, we may try to get information about what you were doing from someone else, either at the LSE or someone we can reach using the contact information you have previously provided. If you don't want us to do this, or you don't want to give us any information at all, please tell us. Below are details about what happens to your information after it is sent to us.
A follow-up survey is planned for three years time so that we can get even more information about the early careers of those with HE qualifications. You might be asked to take part in this follow-up survey as well, which will be carried out by a different organisation. The current survey may also be audited - that is, checked to make sure it has been carried out correctly. If you don't want to take part in the follow-up survey, or to be contacted during an audit, please let us know. You can also let us know that you do not want to take part in the follow-up survey by ticking the box at the end of the questionnaire.
What happens to your information
The information that you provide to LSE is incredibly useful in allowing us to analyse what happens to LSE graduates six months after they have graduated and produce a range of quantitative and qualitative data, which may be available to prospective applicants, current students and staff members.
For example,
• Quantitative data: includes statistics on graduate destinations by department or overall for LSE
• Qualitative data: includes lists of employers, job titles, salaries, further study institutions and course titles reported by graduates as part of the 2009/10 DLHE survey.
In line with the Data Protection Act 1998, these lists will be anonymous in order that your personal data (e.g. name, contact details, etc) is not disclosed to third parties.
If you have any concerns or queries contact:
Lucy Burrows
LSE Careers Service
Room W612, Tower 3
Clements Inn
London
WC2A 2AE
Telephone: (0044) (0)20 7107 5210
Email: l.burrows@lse.ac.uk|
We will also send coded information from this form to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). By returning this form, you are accepting that this will be linked to other information held about you as a student, including similar coded information you gave when you enrolled, and details of the qualification you gained. HESA will pass your record, or parts of it, to the following organisations that need the information to carry out their statutory functions connected with funding higher education.
• Department for Innovations, Universities and Skills (DIUS)
• Welsh Assembly Government (WAG)
• Scottish Executive (SE) [Scottish Government (SG)]
• Department for Employment and Learning, Northern Ireland (DEL(NI))
• Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)
• Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW)
• Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council (SFC)
• Training and Development Agency For Schools (TDA)
• Department of Health (DH)
• Research Councils (RCs)
HESA and the organisations listed above will use the information in your record mainly to produce statistics. This may result in information being published and released to other approved users, including academic researchers and commercial organisations. Your record will not be used in a way that could affect you personally. HESA and the organisations listed above will take precautions to reduce the risk of you being identified from the information once it is published and released.
Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you have the right to a copy of the information HESA holds about you. You will have to pay a small fee for this. If you have any concerns about your information being used for these purposes, please contact HESA.
HESA
95 Promenade
Cheltenham
GL50 1HZ
Website: www.hesa.ac.uk|