European Commission. (2021). Towards a European graduate tracking mechanism. Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union. 

This report is published and disseminated within the Member States and other EEA countries, as well as to the relevant EU agencies. It is discussed in relevant EU entities that relate to higher education, vocational education, data gathering, and evidence- based policymaking.  

It states that the European Commission and Member States need to make formal political decisions on; the issues of capacity building, the content, schedule, roll-out of the European Graduate Survey, EU-level data management and access issues, the governance model, and the funding of the EU-level graduate tracking.  

The open issues identified in this report should be discussed at the relevant level in the context of the new governance model. In particular, clarifying the role of Eurostat and national statistical offices is important for the further development of EU-level graduate tracking. High-quality data on the pathways of higher education and vocational education and training (VET) graduates after they finish their studies enable policy-makers and educational institutions to improve future teaching and learning outcomes, the employability of graduates, tackle skills gaps and mismatches, and ensure social inclusion in education. Furthermore, data on graduates that are comparable at EU level enable cross-country comparison, which in turn enables benchmarking, the identification of policy areas in need of attention, better targeting, and a higher efficiency of education investment.  

Find the report here.