Survey design services

Tender description

The Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited (‘HESA’) collects a range of data from approx. 260 higher education (HE) providers across the UK and is regarded as a global leader in HE data collection and dissemination. The requirement is for a contractor to undertake the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education survey. The Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) Survey is a survey of leavers from Higher Education (HE). It investigates the early career patterns of HE leavers by finding out about what they are doing on particular dates. The second stage of the survey, or Longitudinal Survey, to which this procurement relates, is a follow-up survey that looks at the destinations of leavers up to 3 and a half years after they left their HE Provider. This second stage invites all those who completed the Early Survey to take part in the follow-up. The total estimated value is 750 000 GBP (excl. VAT). HESA is undertaking a procurement exercise (in accordance with the Restricted process), to select a supplier to deliver the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education Longitudinal Survey. The survey process needs to commence in July 2016 with data being collected from graduates during Autumn/Winter 2016. HESA will require the contractor to: — Survey samples of graduates from the 2012/13 leaving cohorts in the December/January three and a half years after leaving higher education to find out about their career progression since graduation. — In order to make this happen, the contractor will: o Receive lists of graduates to be surveyed from HESA. It is proposed that these be in two parts: a structured random sample (approximately 70 000) plus a second list of all remaining graduates from the cohort (between 250 000 and 300 000). — Collect graduate contact details from approximately 170 higher education institutions — Use the draft questionnaire which will be provided, but undertake necessary design work and cognitive testing to finalise and produce versions for use with different contact methods, subject to mutual agreement and sign-off. — Provide Welsh versions of all survey instruments for use with graduates from Welsh institutions/those domiciled in Wales, who choose to complete the survey in the medium of Welsh. — Ensure survey is accessible to graduates with disabilities. — Use a range of contact and follow-up methods (online, postal and telephone etc.) as appropriate, to a specified timescale. — Establish a data protection regime and provide data protection support and advice as necessary to both institutions and graduates. — Provide a contact point for graduates with queries about the survey (email and telephone). — Record information on timing and method of response for each graduate and also record where responses are provided by a third-party on the graduate's behalf. — Code the data collected from the survey using coding frames agreed with HESA, including versions of SOC, SIC and JACS as appropriate. — Provide HESA with a complete coded and documented dataset and individual institutions with their subsets of that dataset. — Provide a final report including results of analysis of the data to assess data quality, robustness and identify any non-response bias. — Undertake necessary reporting to HESA and to a steering group. The requirement is for a contractor to undertake the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education survey. The procurement documents are available by emailing ldlhe-procurement@hesa.ac.uk Will bidders please note that this requirement is time-critical and this new contract needs to be in place no later than the end of June in order for the survey to commence by 1.8.2016. HESA intends to conduct this procurement by following the procedures laid down in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. In doing so, HESA is not to be taken as acknowledging that it is a contracting authority within the meaning of the Regulations, or as accepting any legal obligation to follow those procedures in the case of this or any other procurement.