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Why should you participate?

The SES is your chance to have your say about what it’s like being a higher education student in Australia today. By sharing your experiences, you can assist institutions and the government to improve course offerings, student services and campus facilities.

How will the data be used?

Data collected through the QILT suite of surveys – including the SES - drives the ComparED website. Prospective students can use ComparED to explore and compare Australian higher education institutions and courses, based on the real-life experiences of current students and recent graduates.

Prize draw

You could win a prize by completing the SES. The earlier you complete the survey, the more chances you have to win.

Your privacy

The Social Research Centre respects your privacy and complies with the Australian Privacy Principles. Click below to view the full Research Information Privacy Policy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Please click on the headings below to reveal further information.

The Social Research Centre is commissioned as an agent of the Australian Government Department of Education (the department) under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 to conduct the QILT suite of surveys.
The survey takes approximately 10-15 minutes, depending on your answers and program of study.
All students invited to participate in the SES are initially approached via email. Some students may also receive an invitation via SMS or telephone call.

The aim of the SES is to give students the opportunity to talk about their experience of the institution they are enrolled in. The results of the research are used to help higher education providers and the government gain insight into students’ experiences. Further, results help to monitor and improve teaching and learning in Australia.

Taking part in the SES also assists the higher education sector and will assist future students to make choices about their study options so your participation is an important part of improving the quality of tertiary education in Australia.

The main SES data collection is conducted throughout the month of August. Another smaller collection is conducted in September.

Students of participating Australian higher education institutions are invited to complete the SES during their first and final year of study.

Higher education institutions provide the department with contact details of in-scope students for the purposes of conducting this research. In compliance with privacy laws, the department has only provided information about you to the Social Research Centre that is directly relevant to this research – all information is transmitted via a secure file exchange.

The Social Research Centre complies with the Australian Privacy Principles. All personal contact information such as name, email and phone number is removed from the final data. Only aggregated data is used in the research findings published on the QILT and ComparED websites.

For further information on our privacy policy, please see www.srcentre.com.au/research-participants#privacy.

If you have any questions about your participation in the survey or would like to make a time for an interviewer to call you, please call the Social Research Centre on 1800 055 818 (a free call).
In total there are four prize draws per collection open to participants. Detailed information regarding the prize draws, including the prize draw terms and conditions, and publication of winners can be found here: www.srcentre.com.au/sestcs.