All public, private and affiliated higher education institutions in Catalonia will be included in the sixth survey (2017) of the transition into work and employment outcomes of the graduate population carried out by AQU Catalunya, a survey and study undertaken once every three years (2001, 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2014) to gather information at programme level for the improvement and enhancement of courses of study being offered by universities in Catalonia.

The survey covers occupations and employability (employment/unemployment rate, time taken to find a first job, pathways into the labour market, field of work, branches of activity, etc.), occupational quality (degree-related job, duties and responsibilities, recruitment factors, contractual status, annual salary, job satisfaction, etc.) and graduate satisfaction with studies (skills acquired, usefulness in the work place, intention to retake the same degree again, mobility, etc.).

The five surveys carried out so far have produced more than 80,000 entries and as a result Catalonia now has one of the most extensive, complete and representative databases on the transition of its graduate population to the labour market in Europe.

The population of the 2017 survey will be 14% larger than that of the 2014 survey. New developments will include the participation, for the first time and on a pilot basis, institutions offering programmes leading to Bachelor-level awards in the Performing Arts and Visual Arts that come under the Government of Catalonia's Department of Education.

The graduating-year cohorts to be covered by the survey are: Bachelor-level students who completed their studies in 2013 (2010 for graduates in Medicine); graduates of programmes leading to higher awards in the Arts who completed their studies in 2013 and 2014; Master's graduates who completed their studies in 2012 and 2013; and graduates of doctoral degrees who defended a doctoral thesis in 2012 and 2013.

The reference population for the survey totals 62,611, with an estimated sample of more than 32,000.

The results and findings are expected to be presented in July 2017.