Graduate Success Benchmark ยท Study protocol v0.1
Are we preparing our graduates to practice, or to succeed?
A structured, prospectively designed study of how training providers in therapeutic and practitioner-based professions prepare graduates for sustainable professional practice. Participating programmes complete a 20-item institutional practice index and receive a Graduate Readiness Score, domain-level results and comparison with programmes of a similar type and level.
The index is self-reported and currently in its instrument-development phase. It is not an accreditation and should not be represented as evidence of graduate success.
- 20
- questions
- 5 to 10
- minutes
- 100
- point score
Five equally weighted domains
From enrolment to sustainable practice
- 01
Realistic expectations
Do prospective students understand the realities of the career they are entering?
- 02
Essential business foundations
Does training provide the foundations needed before qualifying, without expecting premature mastery?
- 03
Transition into practice
Does the provider bridge the gap between qualifying and building a viable practice?
- 04
Business development when it matters
Can graduates access meaningful business development when they are most likely to apply it?
- 05
Graduate outcomes and improvement
Does the provider find out what happens to graduates and use that evidence to improve?
Rationale
Being qualified is not the same as having an established practice
Qualification demonstrates attainment of professional competence. It does not in itself establish that a graduate can attract an appropriate client base, manage practice finances or reach their intended income. The training-transfer literature indicates that learning is applied when it is relevant, timely and supported in the workplace.
The benchmark therefore does not reward the accumulation of business content during training. It assesses whether a programme offers a coherent pathway: realistic information before enrolment, essential foundations during training, a defined transition at qualification and accessible development once graduates are in a position to apply it.