Tax year 2021-22

LEO Graduate and Postgraduate Outcomes

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Introduction

Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO), Graduate and Postgraduate: Employment and earnings outcomes for those who graduated with a first degree (level 6), level 7 or level 8 qualification.  

This release updates previously published figures with the latest available data (2021/22 tax year). These are official statistics. For more information on what this means, please see the ‘Official statistics’ section at the end of this publication.  

 Employment and earnings outcomes given are for first degree graduates and postgraduates of English Higher Education Providers (Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), Alternative Providers (APs) and Further Education Colleges (FECs)), one, three, five and ten years after graduation (YAG), in the 2021/22 tax year. Earnings figures are reported for graduates who are in sustained employment only, rather than all graduates or those who are in further study as well as employment.  Comparisons to previous tax years from 2015/16 to 2020/21 are included, and unless otherwise stated, all earnings comparisons are in nominal terms. UK domiciled and International (EU and non-EU) domiciled graduate outcomes are given separately.  

The UK left the EU in January 2020. As 2021/22 is the second full tax year following exit from the EU, this may have affected the employment and earnings of graduates and postgraduates from the EU just as in the 2020/21 tax year, when compared to previous tax years. When comparing earnings and employment outcomes of international and UK domiciled graduates, it should be noted that non-EU outcomes and earnings are likely affected by post-study visa requirements. 

Comparisons are made between first degree graduates and postgraduate earnings and outcomes. It should be noted that first degree graduates who go on to study at postgraduate level are not a representative subset of the first-degree population, typically being the higher attaining graduates.


Headline facts and figures - 2021-22

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About this release

The LEO dataset links information about students, including: 

  • Personal characteristics such as sex, ethnic group and age 
  • Education, including schools, colleges and higher education provider attended, courses taken, and qualifications achieved 
  • Employment and income 
  • Benefits claimed 

 By combining these sources, we can track progress of higher education leavers into the labour market. Further information on the data included in the LEO dataset is provided in the accompanying methodology note, which also contains further information on data quality and match rates.   

The LEO dataset is generated each year using the latest available data, which means that each annual LEO dataset includes revisions to previous years in the time series as a result of changes in the latest available data and improved matching between data sources. When comparisons are made in this publication between earnings and employment outcomes in 2021/22 and previous years, we are comparing against previous years’ figures as they are in this latest annual LEO dataset rather than previously published figures. 

This publication looks at those who graduated with a first degree qualification (bachelor’s degree, or integrated masters degree) and those who graduated with a level 7 (masters) or level 8 (doctoral) postgraduate degree from higher education providers in England. Level 7 results are further split into taught and research study modes where group sizes allow for meaningful results. 

We include comparisons between first degree graduates and postgraduates. It must be noted that any difference between first degree and postgraduates cannot solely be attributed to the impact of having a postgraduate degree. This IFS report published in September 2020 (opens in a new tab) shows that first degree graduates who go on to study at postgraduate level are not a representative subset of the first degree population, typically being the higher attaining graduates. Specifically, it shows that more than 40% of individuals who obtained a first-class undergraduate degree go on to further study, compared with less than 30% of those with a 2:1 degree, and less than 20% of those who obtained a 2:2 or below in their undergraduate degree.   

Years after graduation (YAG) 

The time periods used in this publication are one, three, five and ten years after graduation, which refers to the first, third, fifth and tenth full tax year after graduation, respectively (or the 2019/20, 2017/18, 2015/16 and 2010/11 academic years of graduation respectively). For instance, for the 2019/20 graduation cohort, the figures one year after graduation refer to employment and earnings outcomes in the 2021/22 tax year. This approach was taken as graduates are unlikely to have been engaged in economic activity for the whole tax year that overlaps with the graduation date. The five years after graduation cohort (2015/16 academic year of graduation) has been used in several breakdowns to show comparisons between groups at one point, but the full range of cohorts is available in the EES table builder. 

Coverage 

This publication covers first degree graduates and postgraduates English Higher Education Providers. This includes Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and Further Education Colleges (FECs) for all time periods and Alternative Providers (APs) for the time periods for which data is available; designated APs were not required to return student level data to HESA prior to the 2014/15 academic year. 

Median earnings 

The median, rather than the mean, is used as the measure of average earnings outcomes. Median is the preferred measure as it is less affected by the skewed distribution of earnings and the relatively small numbers of very high earners. This means it is a better indication of typical earnings than the mean. 

Employment outcomes for UK domiciled graduates 

Employment and/or further study outcomes for UK domiciled graduates are calculated as a percentage of matched graduates, that is those who have been successfully matched to DWP’s Customer Information System (CIS) or a Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) further study record. A small proportion of graduates cannot be successfully matched, and these graduates are excluded from the calculations, as are matched graduates living overseas. Further explanation is provided in the accompanying methodology document. 

The employment outcomes in this publication are grouped into five categories. These are:  

  • Activity not captured - graduates who have been successfully matched to DWP’s CIS but do not have any employment, out-of-work benefits or further study records in the tax year of interest. 
  • No sustained destination - graduates who have an employment or out-of-work benefits record in the tax year of interest but were not classified as being in ‘sustained employment’ and do not have a further study record.  
  • Sustained employment, further study or both - graduates with a record of sustained employment or further study. This category includes all graduates in the ‘sustained employment with or without further study’ category as well as those with a further study record only

Of which there are subset groups:  

  • Sustained employment only - graduates who have a record of sustained employment but no record of further study. 
  • Sustained employment with or without further study - graduates with a record of sustained employment, regardless of whether they also have a record of further study or not. 

Tables in this publication also show the figures for ‘further study with or without sustained employment’, which is all graduates with a further study record regardless of whether they have a record of sustained employment or not. These figures are equivalent to the difference between the ‘sustained employment, further study or both’ and ‘sustained employment only’ categories. 

Further information on how we categorize these can be found in the ‘Employment Outcomes’ section of the methodology. 

There are a number of factors that can influence the employment and earnings outcomes of graduates beyond the subject and provider attended. The outcomes presented in this release are ‘raw’ outcomes. That is, they do not control for differences in the characteristics of students that might influence graduate employment outcomes. This should be borne in mind when making comparisons across subjects. 

For this publication we are using Department for Work and Pensions/His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (DWP/HMRC) and Student Loans Company (SLC) data to identify graduates who informed DWP/HMRC or SLC that they were not living in the UK for the majority of the tax year and remove them from our analysis. The purpose is to remove incomplete or missing earnings records and help improve the accuracy of the employment outcomes and earnings calculations presented. The percentage of overseas graduates is now included in the employment outcomes tables. (More information can be found in the methodology). 

Employment outcomes for international graduates 

Employment and/or further study outcomes for international graduates are calculated as a percentage of all graduates unless there is good reason to believe they are permanently living overseas. This is different to the UK domiciled graduates section of this release, where outcomes are calculated as a percentage of matched graduates (rather than all graduates). Match rates to DWP/HMRC and SLC data are much lower for international graduates than UK graduates, therefore including all graduates in the international calculations means we get a better indication of the proportion who have stayed in the UK to work or study after graduation. Further explanation is provided in the accompanying methodology document. 

Median earnings are calculated for international graduates classified as being in ‘sustained employment only’ in the UK. Therefore, the results only cover those who choose to stay and work in the UK. 

The results presented in this release therefore do not reflect the likelihood of an international graduate being in employment or achieving a certain level of earnings. Instead, they reflect the average outcome when an international graduate has remained in the UK.

UK domiciled - Overall figures

Coverage: UK first degree graduates, level 7 (taught and research) and level 8 postgraduates from English Higher Education providers. 

Employment outcomes  

First degree graduates and level 7 (taught) postgraduates had similar proportions in sustained employment only (78.3% and 77.9% respectively) and a similar proportion in further study with or without sustained employment (9.5% and 9.3% respectively), five years after graduation. Level 8 postgraduates had the highest proportion in sustained employment only (80.8%) and the lowest proportion in further study with or without sustained employment (4.0%). Level 7 (research) graduates had the highest proportion in further study with or without sustained employment (16.4%), five years after graduation. 

Figure 2 shows the proportion of UK domiciled graduates in sustained employment, further study or both, at five years after graduation, over the tax years 2015/16 to 2021/22.  

The percentage of graduates in sustained employment, further study or both five years after graduation was 87.8% for first degree graduates, 87.3% for level 7 (taught), 86.4% for level 7 (research) and 84.8% for level 8 postgraduates. The proportion has been relatively stable since 2015/16 for all qualifications levels.  

Over the whole time period, from 2015/16 and 2021/22, the percentage in sustained employment, further study or both at five years after graduation decreased by 0.6 percentage points (ppts) for first degree graduates and level 7 (taught) postgraduates. 

When making comparisons, it should be borne in mind that these figures relate not only to different tax years but also to different cohorts of graduates. 

Earnings  

Figure 3 shows that the median earnings of graduates at each qualification level increased with years after graduation. For each year after graduation, level 8 graduates had higher earnings than level 7 graduates (both taught and research) who had higher earnings than first degree graduates. Level 7 (research) graduates had higher earnings than level 7 (taught) graduates each year after graduation. 

Figure 3 also shows that between one and ten years after graduation, first degree graduates had the largest increase in median earnings: 

  • First degree earnings were £22,600 one year after graduation, increasing by £11,700 or 51.6% at ten years after graduation. 
  • Level 7 (taught) earnings were £28,100 one year after graduation, increasing by £10,200 or 36.4% at ten years after graduation. 
  • Level 7 (research) earnings were £29,900 one year after graduation increasing by £10,200 or 34.1% at ten years after graduation. 
  • Level 8 earnings were £35,800 one year after graduation increasing by £9,100 or 25.5% at ten years after graduation. 

There was an overall increase in median graduate earnings between the tax years in nominal terms. Between the 2015/16 and 2021/22 tax years, at five years after graduation:  

  • First degree graduate earnings increased from £25,600 to £29,900 (16.8% increase).  
  • Level 7 (taught) graduate earnings increased from £31,100 to £36,100 (16.2% increase). 
  • Level 7 (research) graduate earnings increased from £31,800 to £38,000 (19.2% increase). 
  • Level 8 graduate earnings increased from £36,600 to £41,200 (12.7% increase).  

Earnings in real terms are adjusted for inflation to better reflect what an individual can afford to buy with those earnings. Earnings are adjusted using the 2015/16 tax year as a base year, hence real earnings in this year are presented as equal to ‘nominal’ (unadjusted) earnings. To calculate real earnings for 2016/17 to 2021/22, nominal earnings are adjusted by dividing by the Consumer Price Index (CPIH) inflation rates for that year. See https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices (opens in a new tab) for more information.  

While average ‘nominal’ (unadjusted) earnings increased between the 2015/16 and 2021/22 tax years, the value of these earnings in terms of the goods and services that they can buy have not increased at the same rate and even decreased at the highest level of qualification. 

After adjusting for inflation (real terms), between the 2015/16 and 2021/22 tax years, at five years after graduation: 

  • First degree graduate earnings increased from £25,600 to £25,800 (0.7% increase) in real terms. 
  • Level 7 (taught) graduate earnings increased from £31,100 to £31,200 (0.14% increase) in real terms. 
  • Level 7 (research) graduate earnings increased from £31,800 to £32,700 (2.8% increase) in real terms. 
  • Level 8 graduate earnings decreased from £36,600 to £35,600 (2.8% decrease) in real terms. 

UK domiciled - Sex

Coverage: UK first degree graduates, level 7 (taught and research) and level 8 postgraduates from English Higher Education providers.  

Employment Outcomes  

Figure 5 shows that for all levels of study, the proportion of graduates in sustained employment, further study or both five years after graduation was higher for females than for males. This corresponds with males having a higher proportion than females in the ‘activity not captured’ category. 

This difference in outcomes between female and male first degree graduates is driven by the difference in the proportion going into further study (with or without sustained employment), which is 10.1% for females and 8.7% for males, a difference of 1.4%. In contrast, the difference in sustained employment only is only 0.4 % in favour of females. 

For postgraduates, conversely, the difference in outcomes between males and females is driven by the proportion going in to sustained employment only. For Level 7 (taught), Level 7 (research) and Level 8 postgraduates the gaps in favour of females are 1.6%, 1.3%, and 2.0% respectively, with much smaller gaps in the proportion going into further study with or without sustained employment. 

Earnings  

At every level of study, males had higher median earnings than females one, three, five and ten years after graduation. In the 2021/22 tax year at five years after graduation: 

  • First degree female graduate earnings were 12.2% lower than male 
  • Level 7 (taught) female graduate earnings were 16.1% lower than male 
  • Level 7 (research) female graduate earnings were 14.3% lower than male 
  • Level 8 female graduate earnings were 13.2% lower than male 

Some of these variations will be due to differences in the incidence of part-time work by sex. The LEO data is currently unable to distinguish between those who work full-time and those who work part-time and this should be borne in mind when comparing average earnings between the sexes

The trend in gender earnings in the 2021/22 tax year is similar across other tax years, with females earning less than male graduates at the same qualification level at all years after graduation. 

The rate at which earnings increased for females and males between 2015/16 and 2021/22 differs at different qualification levels. At five years after graduation: 

  • First degree female earnings increased from £24,200 to £28,500 (17.9%) and male earnings increased from £27,800 to £32,400 (16.5%) 
  • Level 7 (taught) female earnings increased from £28,900 to £34,300 (18.7%) and male earnings increased from £34,800 to £40,900 (17.6%) 
  • Level 7 (research) female earnings increased from £30,000 to £35,000 (16.8%) and male earnings increased from £33,300 to £40,900 (22.7%) 
  • Level 8 female earnings increased from £33,300 to £38,300 (15.1%) and male earnings increased from £39,200 to £44,200 (12.8%) 

There is also variation in the gap between female and male earnings, across tax years and at different qualification levels, with the largest proportional difference seen at level 7 (taught). At five years after graduation: 

  • Female first degree graduate earnings were 13.2% lower than male graduates in 2015/16 which decreased to 12.2% in 2021/22 
  • Female level 7 (taught) graduate earnings were 16.8% lower than male graduates in 2015/16 which decreased slightly to 16.1% in 2021/22 
  • Female level 7 (research) graduate earnings were 9.9% lower than male graduates in 2015/16 which increased to 14.3% in 2021/22 
  • Female level 8 graduate earnings were 15.0% lower than male graduates in 2015/16 which decreased to 13.2% in 2021/22

UK domiciled - Subject

Coverage: UK first degree graduates, level 7 (taught and research) and level 8 postgraduates from English Higher Education providers.  

We have included a tableproviding more granular breakdowns of subject areas (CAH3 codes - see methodology definitions section on ‘subject areas’). This covers all subject areas. However, a number of subjects will not have employment or earnings outcomes available due to the suppression rules applied.   

The results are not shown or discussed here in the interest of conciseness. The outputs are available to download under the ‘Additional supporting files’ section above.  

Due to the small numbers taking level 7 (research) degrees, these subject level breakdowns are not shown separately. Instead, outcomes and earnings for all level 7 courses (i.e. level 7 taught and level 7 research) are combined for each subject. In addition, Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) and Master of Business Administration (MBA) graduates have been separated out rather than including them in the relevant subject breakdowns.  

Due to small numbers, earnings of Celtic studies first degree and level 7 graduates were suppressed in the tables and excluded from all earnings comparisons by subject. Level 8 postgraduates are also not included here due to low numbers when broken down by subject. 

Employment outcomes 

Figure 8 shows that Nursing and midwifery had the highest proportion of first degree graduates in sustained employment, further study or both five years after graduation (93.1%). Combined and general studies had the lowest proportion of first degree graduates in sustained employment further study or both (80.4%) and the highest proportion of graduates classified as activity not captured (11.9%), which may indicate a higher proportion of graduates not currently in the UK. 

The proportion of first degree graduates in further study varies by subject, as figure 8 also shows. Five years after graduation, Pharmacology, toxicology and pharmacy had the highest proportion of graduates in further study (23.6%), followed by Veterinary sciences (22.3%) and Physics and astronomy (20.8%). The subjects with the lowest proportion of graduates in further study at five years after graduation were Computing (3.8%) and Creative arts and design (3.9%).   

Level 7 employment outcomes by subject can be found in the linked table here. The subject with the highest proportion of level 7 graduates in sustained employment, further study or both five years after graduation was Nursing and midwifery (92.3%). Looking at employment and further study separately, the subject with the highest proportion of level 7 graduates in sustained employment only was Architecture, building and planning (84.0%) while Psychology had the highest proportion in further study (18.7%). Philosophy and religious studies graduates had the lowest proportion in sustained employment, further study, or both (77.0%) and correspondingly the highest proportion classified as activity not captured (18.7%).

Earnings 

Figure 9 shows subjects ordered by median earnings, showing that for first degree graduates median earnings were highest for Medicine and dentistry (£52,600) and lowest for Performing arts (£22,600). Variability in the interquartile range (difference between lower and upper quartiles) of earnings can be seen between subjects, with Economics graduates having the largest range in earnings (a range of £30,300) and Sport and exercise science graduates having the smallest range (£11,000) 

Male graduate earnings were higher than females for many but not all subjects. Combined and general studies had the highest proportional gap between male and female earnings, with female graduates earning 28.6% less than male graduates. For Media, journalism and communications, female graduates earned 5.7% more than males. 

Figure 10 shows that for level 7 postgraduates, (excluding MBA postgraduates, as MBAs differ to other postgraduate courses in that they are typically taken by those who already have professional work experience), median earnings were highest for those who studied Economics (£52,900) and lowest for those who studied Performing arts (£25,200). 

Large variability in the interquartile range (difference between lower and upper quartile) of earnings can be seen between subjects, for example postgraduates (excluding MBA) who studied Medicine and dentistry had the largest interquartile range of £40,900, compared with the smallest range of £10,900 for PGCE postgraduates.   

Male earnings were higher than female earnings in all subjects for Level 7 graduates, with the largest proportional differences seen in Medicine and dentistry (29.7%) and Veterinary sciences (24.1%) graduates. The lowest proportional differences are seen in Chemistry (1.0%) and Performing arts (1.9%).

Figure 11 shows the change in first degree graduate earnings, at five years after graduation, between the 2015/16 and 2021/22 tax years. It shows Computing had the largest proportional increase in earnings, from £27,400 in 2015/16 to £34,700 in 2021/22 (26.3% increase). Medicine and dentistry had the smallest proportional increase in earnings over this period, from £47,200 in 2015/16 to £52,600 in 2021/22 (11.3% increase). 

Compared to the trend in nominal earnings, real term median earnings (nominal earnings adjusted for inflation) by subject increased at a significantly smaller rate between 2015/16 and 2021/22. Real term earnings of Computing graduates increased by just 8.9% between 2015/16 and 2021/22. Meanwhile, real term earnings for Medicine and dentistry graduates decreased by 4.0% between 2015/16 and 2021/22. Real term earnings also decreased for graduates of Sport and exercise sciences (3.4%), Education and teaching (3.4%) and Philosophy and religious studies (3.0%). Real term earnings of first degree graduates for all subjects are available in the linked table here.

Figure 12 shows that for level 7 postgraduates excluding MBA, Computing graduates had the largest proportional increase in earnings, from £35,500 in 2015/16 to £48,500 in 2021/22 (36.7% increase).  General, applied and forensic sciences saw the lowest increase in earnings from £26,600 to £29,600 (11.3% increase). 

However, in real terms computing graduates saw only a 17.9% increase, while real term earnings actually decreased for General, applied and forensic sciences, by 4.1%. See the linked table here for real term earnings of all level 7 postgraduate subjects.

Median earnings for level 7 postgraduates are substantially higher than first degree graduates in some subjects. For example, level 7 Business and management postgraduate median earnings were £47,400, which is £16,400 higher than first degree graduate earnings (£31,000), five years after graduation.  

Despite median earnings for level 7 postgraduates being higher in most subject areas, there are a small number of subjects where first degree graduates had higher median earnings. For example, Medicine and dentistry first degree graduates had median earnings of £52,600 five years after graduation, which was £3,300 more than those who completed a level 7 qualification in the same academic year.  Veterinary sciences first degree graduates had median earnings of £36,900 five years after graduation, which was £3,700 more than those who completed a level 7 qualification in the same academic year.

UK domiciled - Current region

Coverage: UK first degree graduates, level 7 (taught and research) and level 8 postgraduates from English Higher Education providers. Figures for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will not be representative of all graduates living in these regions as this publication only looks at those who studied at an English provider.  

Due to the small numbers taking level 7 (research) degrees, these regional level breakdowns are not shown separately. Instead, outcomes and earnings for all level 7 postgraduates (i.e. level 7 (taught) and level 7 (research)) are combined for each region.   

Employment Outcomes   

Figure 13 shows that first degree graduates living in the North East and East Midlands were most likely to be in sustained employment, further study or both at five years after graduation (89.2% and 88.9% respectively). Graduates living in Northern Ireland had the lowest proportion in sustained employment, further study or both (82.3%).  

For level 7 postgraduates, those living in the North East also had the highest proportion in sustained employment, further study or both at five years after graduation (90.3%). As with first degree graduates, level 7 postgraduates living in Northern Ireland had the lowest proportion in sustained employment, further study or both (79.5%).

Earnings  

As shown in Table 14, first degree graduates and level 7 postgraduates from English providers currently living in London had the highest median earnings five years after graduation (£35,000 and £42,000 respectively). Five areas had very similar low earnings for both first degree and for level 7 postgraduates; North East, North West, Yorkshire and The Humber, All regions in Wales and All regions in Northern Ireland.  Level 8 earnings were highest in London, at £48,500, and lowest in Scotland at £36,500. 

Looking at the difference in earnings between male and female graduates by English region, Figure 14 shows that: 

  • For first degree graduates, those living in the North West had the smallest percentage gender pay gap, with female graduates having median earnings 8.9% lower than male graduates. The North East, and Yorkshire and The Humber, were very similar at 9.0%. The English region with the largest gender gap was the South West, with female graduates having earnings 14.3% lower than males. Across all of the UK, graduates living in Scotland had the largest gender gap at 16.1%. 
  • For level 7 postgraduates, the North West was the region with the smallest gender gap, with female earnings 10.1% lower than males. The English region with largest gender gap for level 7 postgraduates was the South East with female earnings 20.3% lower than males. Across all of the UK, level 7 postgraduates living in Northern Ireland had the largest gender gap at 22.3%.

For first degree graduates, across all the tax years from 2015/16 to 2021/22, graduates living in London have had the highest earnings and graduates living in either the North East, North West or Yorkshire and The Humber had the lowest earnings amongst English regions. Graduates living in the lowest earning region earned 22.9% less than those living in London in 2021/22, increasing slightly from a gap of 22.8% in 2020/21 and from a gap of 21.3% in 2015/16. 

Figure 16 shows the change in median earnings between the 2015/16 and 2021/22 tax years. Of the English regions, for first degree graduates five years after graduation, the largest percentage increase in median earnings was seen for graduates living in South West and London (20.0% and 19.7% respectively). Earnings of graduates living in the East of England showed the smallest increase (14.8%).  

For level 7 postgraduates, across all the tax years from 2015/16 to 2021/22, postgraduates living in London had the highest earnings while postgraduates living in the North West, or South West had the lowest earnings amongst English regions. Level 7 postgraduates living in the lowest earning region earned 20.0% less than those living in London in 2021/22, unchanged from 2020/21 and increasing from18.8% in 2015/16. 

Between 2015/16 and 2021/22, the English regions with the largest increase in Level 7 median earnings was again London (19.5%) while East Midlands and North East had the lowest increase of the English regions (14.3% and 14.5% respectively).

To illustrate how regional differences vary by subject studied, figure 17 plots median earnings five years after graduation for the English region with the highest median earnings for first degree graduates (London) against one of the regions with the lowest (North East). Data for all other regions are available in the accompanying Excel tables in the ‘Additional supporting files’ section above.  

Figure 17 shows that for all subjects, earnings were higher for graduates currently living in London compared to those currently living in the North East. The smallest differences were in Architecture, building and planning (an increase of just £1,500, 4.4%), Pharmacology, toxicology and pharmacy (£800, 2.2%) and Medicine and dentistry (£400, 0.7%). The largest differences (in percentage terms) were in Mathematical sciences (£19,300, 65.4%), Physics and astronomy (£18,600, 58.0%).

UK domiciled - Ethnicity

Coverage: UK first degree graduates and level 7 (taught and research) from English Higher Education providers.  

Due to the small numbers taking level 7 (research) degrees, these ethnicity level breakdowns are not shown separately. Instead, outcomes and earnings for all level 7 postgraduates (i.e. level 7 (taught) and level 7 (research)) are combined for each ethnicity group. 

Due to small numbers when broken down by ethnicity, level 8 postgraduates are not included here. 

Employment Outcomes 

Figure 18 shows that, five years after graduation, UK first degree graduates from the Indian ethnic group had the highest proportion of graduates in sustained employment, further study or both five years after graduation (89.3%), 0.2 percentage points higher than White graduates (89.1%) which has been the highest in most previous tax years. Meanwhile, graduates from the Arab ethnic group had the lowest proportion (76.9%),  partly due to a larger percentage (8.4%) categorized as ‘activity not captured’ compared to 4.6% of graduates from the Indian ethnic group categorized as ‘activity not captured’.

Earnings 

Figure 19 shows that, five years after graduation, first degree graduates from the Chinese ethnic group had the highest median earnings (£34,700). For level 7 postgraduates those from the Indian ethnic group had the highest median earnings five years after graduation (£42,300).

UK domiciled - Age at start of study

Coverage: UK first degree graduates from English Higher Education providers.  

Employment Outcomes 

Table 20 shows that at three, five and ten years after graduation the age band with the highest percentage in sustained employment, further study or both was those who were under 21 at the start of their course. At one year after graduation, graduate age 35-44 at the start of their course had the highest percentage in sustained employment, further study or both. 

At one, three, five and ten years after graduation, those who were aged 55 or over at the start of their course were the least likely of the age groups to be in sustained employment, further study or both. Those who were in this age category would be at least 58 years old one year after graduation and at least 67 years old ten years after graduation. The 55 or older group is a very small proportion (0.5%) of the five years after graduation cohort with the vast majority aged under 21 (73.3%). 

Earnings 

Figure 21 shows that one and three years after graduation, the age band with the highest median earnings were those who were ‘35 to 44’ at the start of their course. At five and ten years after graduation those who were under 21 at the start of their course had the highest median earnings. 

All those aged 44 and under at the start of their course had an increase in median earnings between one and ten years after graduation. Median earnings increased the most between one and ten years after graduation for those aged under 21 at the start of their course (increasing by £13,900). Those aged 45 and over had a decrease in median earnings between one and ten years after graduation, which may be due to a higher incidence of part-time working in older age groups (see Graduate labour market statistics). 

The linked table here shows that for all age bands median earnings at five years after graduation increased between the 2015/16 and 2020/21 tax years. 

UK domiciled - Mode of study

Coverage: UK first degree graduates from English Higher Education providers.  

Employment Outcomes 

Figure 22 shows that, five years after graduation, graduates on sandwich courses had the highest percentage in sustained employment, further study or both (90.4%). Graduates who studied full-time courses had the second highest percentage (88.0%) and graduates who studied part-time courses had the lowest (84.4%). As shown in table 22, this trend was also seen at one, three and ten years after graduation.

Earnings 

Figure 23 shows that at one, three, five and ten years after graduation, graduates from sandwich courses earned more on average than graduates from other full-time courses. At one, three and five years after graduation, graduates who studied part-time earned more than graduates who studied full-time, although the difference between the two decreased with time, and by ten years after graduation those who studied full-time were generally earning more than those who studied part-time. Part of the reason for the differences in earnings is the different age distribution of graduates from part-time courses compared to their full-time counterparts. At five years after graduation, only 18.7% of part-time graduates in their cohort started their course before age 21, compared to 78.6% of full-time graduates.

UK domiciled - Free school meals (FSM)

Coverage: Young (under 21 at the start of the course) UK first degree graduates from English Higher Education providers. Due to the availability of data from the National Pupil Database (NPD), data for this characteristic is only available up to five years after graduation. 

Free school meals (FSM) eligibility is based on the school census records at any point between school years 6 and 11. For more information on how we calculate FSM eligibility, please see the methodology ‘Definitions’ section.  

Employment Outcomes 

Table 24 shows that at one, three and five years after graduation, graduates whose families claimed free school meals (FSM) were less likely to be in sustained employment, further study or both than graduates whose families did not claim FSM.  

Figure 24 illustrates the breakdown of those graduates in sustained employment, further study or both for the five years after graduation cohort. 

Earnings 

Figure 25 shows that median earnings of FSM eligible first-degree graduates were lower than non-FSM eligible graduates; they were £1,900 (8.8%) lower one year after graduation, £2,200 (8.3%) lower three years after graduation and £2,600 (8.5%) lower five years after graduation. This trend, of a smaller absolute gap in earnings between FSM eligible and non-FSM eligible graduates at one and three years after graduation and the largest gap at five years after graduation, has been seen in most previous tax years. Note that the ‘Not known’ category includes students from independent schools where data on Free School Meal status is not collected.  

The gap at five years after graduation has decreased on the previous year (from 11.3% in 2020/21 to 8.5% in 2021/22), and over the full time period of the 2015/16 to 2021/22 tax years (down from 12.9% in 2015/16). This is a result of the median earnings of FSM eligible graduates increasing more than those of non-FSM graduates. Median earnings for FSM eligible graduates increased by 22.6% between 2015/16 and 2021/22 (from £22,300 to £27,400) while median earnings for non-FSM eligible graduates increased by 16.8% (from £25,600 to £29,900).  

Earnings by FSM eligibility over the 2015/16 to 2021/22 tax years are available in the linked table here

UK domiciled - Higher Education (HE) participation of local area (POLAR)

Coverage: Young (under 21 at start of course) UK first degree graduates from English Higher Education providers.  

POLAR (participation of local areas) classifies local areas into quintiles based on the proportion of 18 year olds who enter higher education at age 18 or 19. Graduates from POLAR quintile 1 are from areas with the lowest rate of progression into higher education and graduates from POLAR quintile 5 are from areas with the highest rate of progression. POLAR is an indicator of the relative deprivation of a geographical area. For more information on POLAR, please see the methodology document. 

Employment Outcomes 

For one, three, five and ten years after graduation, the highest percentage of young graduates in sustained employment, further study or both are in POLAR quintiles 1, 2 and 3. This suggests that graduates from more deprived areas have better labour market participation outcomes, but note that the differences between quintiles are quite small, with a range of less than 2%. This unintuitive result is likely to be influenced by the ‘London effect’ on POLAR as highlighted in this POLAR FAQ document (opens in a new tab)

In brief, young people across London are more likely to access higher education than young people elsewhere in the UK. POLAR reflects this and therefore there are very few areas of London that are quintile 1 or 2. This does not mean that this area-based measure indicates that all young people in London are highly likely to enter higher education, just that a greater proportion will do so relative to other areas of the UK. Outcomes for graduates from London – including graduates from more deprived areas by other measures, who may have lower labour market participation outcomes - therefore contribute disproportionately to the overall national outcomes for quintiles 3, 4 and 5.  

Across the UK, and therefore within London too, there will be individuals living in areas with relatively high participation who may have other characteristics that are associated with lower access to higher education. Therefore, assessments of individuals should consider multiple aspects of their background.

Earnings 

At one, three, five and ten years after graduation, POLAR quintile 1 graduates had the lowest median earnings and POLAR quintile 5 graduates the highest earnings (excluding the POLAR quintile ‘Not known’ category). POLAR quintile 5 graduates also had the highest increase in earnings between one and ten years after graduation (£16,400 increase) while POLAR quintile 1 graduates had the lowest (£11,000 increase). 

UK domiciled - Prior Attainment

Coverage: Young (under 21 at start of course) UK first degree graduates from English Higher Education providers.  

This section uses UCAS points achieved at A level to define prior attainment. Three A/A* grades are equivalent to 360 points, while 180 points is equivalent to three D grades. A further explanation of prior attainment breakdowns, and a table of UCAS points and grade equivalents can be found in the methodology. 

Employment Outcomes 

At one, three and five years after graduation, the graduates with the highest prior attainment had the highest proportions in sustained employment, further study or both, with the largest proportions of further study also being seen in the highest prior attainment bands  

Earnings 

At one, three and five years after graduation, the prior attainment band with the highest median earnings was ‘4 As at A level or more’, and the band with the lowest median earnings was those who started their first degree with a BTEC qualification. 

The largest increases in earnings between one and five years after graduation were generally seen in the higher prior attainment bands while the lower attainment bands saw smaller increases. Excluding those in the ‘Other’ category, those who achieved exactly 360 UCAS points saw the largest percentage increase (44.9%), while those who achieved 1 or 2 A level passes had the smallest increase (17.5%).

UK domiciled - Home region

Coverage: Young (under 21 at the start of the course) UK domiciled first degree graduates from English Higher Education providers.   

Employment Outcomes 

Figure 30 shows that first degree graduates whose home region was London (excluding those whose home region is ‘Not known’) had the lowest percentage in sustained employment, further study or both across English regions at five after graduation. The remaining English regions saw relatively similar proportion of graduates in sustained employment, further study or both. This was also the case at one, three and ten years after graduation, as shown in Table 30.

Earnings 

Figure 31 shows that at five years after graduation (excluding the ‘Not known’ category), the highest earning female and highest earning male graduates were both originally from London, followed by the South East. In all English regions male median earnings are higher than female median earnings, and at five years after graduation the East of England had the largest gender pay gap, with female median earnings 12.8% less than that for males.

Figure 32 shows that at one year after graduation, graduates from the South East were the highest earners (excluding the ‘Not known’ category). At three, five and ten years after graduation, graduates from London were the highest earners (excluding the ‘Not known’ category). Graduates from London also saw the largest increase in median earnings between one and ten years after graduation (an increase of 82.0%). 

Graduates from the North West and Yorkshire and The Humber had the lowest median earnings one year after graduation with graduates from the North East having the lowest median earnings at three, five and ten years after graduation. Graduates from the North East saw the smallest change in median earnings between one and ten years after graduation (48.3%).

UK domiciled - Full cycle movement (home, study and current regions)

Coverage: Young (under 21 at the start of the course) UK domiciled first degree graduates from English Higher Education providers.   

This section looks at the graduate movement throughout the full cycle of study – before (home region), during (study region), and after (current region). This section summarizes whether or not graduates moved from their home region to attend higher education, and then where they reside one, three, five and ten years after graduation. 

One year after graduation, a large proportion (83.0%) are currently living in their original home region (39.0% of whom studied in this region and therefore never left, and 44.0% of whom studied elsewhere but have returned to their home region one year after graduation). Ten years after graduation, this proportion has reduced to 66.5%.  

International graduates - Overall figures

Coverage: International first degree graduates, level 7 (taught and research) and level 8 postgraduates from English Higher Education providers.  

In contrast to the UK domicile section of this release, which looks at matched graduates only, employment and/or further study outcomes for international graduates are calculated as a percentage of all graduates, excluding only those identified by DWP/HMRC or SLC as permanently living overseas. This removes graduates we have evidence are overseas, to improve the accuracy of outcomes calculations. 

As in other LEO releases (opens in a new tab), there is comparatively poor LEO coverage for international domiciled graduates compared to UK domiciled graduates (26.8% of EU and 61.1% of non-EU first degree graduates are unmatched in the five years after graduation cohort, compared to 0.9% of UK domiciled graduates). This is because LEO relies on graduates having been issued with a National Insurance number to match them to an employment record. However, international students who have no intention of working or claiming benefits in the UK are less likely to apply for a National Insurance number and so would not appear in the LEO data. For a more detailed explanation of this, see the methodology ‘Data and coverage' section.  

It is important to emphasise that the results presented in this release do not reflect the likelihood of an international graduate being in employment or achieving a certain level of earnings. Instead, they reflect the average outcome when an international graduate has remained in the UK.   

Employment Outcomes  

Figure 34 shows that at five years after graduation, the proportion of EU first degree, level 7 (research) and level 8 graduates in sustained employment, further study or both in the UK, was broadly similar: 41.1%, 42.3% and 40.9% respectively. Level 7 (taught) EU graduates had a comparatively lower proportion of 28.8%.  

Non-EU graduates had a lower proportion of graduates in sustained employment, further study or both compared with EU graduates with 15.1% of non-EU first degree graduates, 11.8% of level 7 (taught) postgraduates, 24.4% of Level 7 (research) postgraduates and 28.1% of level 8 postgraduates in sustained employment further study or both, five years after graduation. However, this may be a consequence of the higher proportion of unmatched non-EU graduates.

The proportion of EU graduates in sustained employment, further study or both, five years after graduation increased overall between 2015/16 and 2021/22 tax years across all qualification levels.  This can be seen in the linked table here. At five years after graduation, first degree EU graduates saw the largest increase from 33.3% in 2015/15 to 41.1% in 2021/22.  

However, for non-EU graduates there has been a reduction in the proportion of first degree, level 7 (taught) and level 7 (research) graduates in sustained employment, further study or both in the UK between the 2015/16 and 2021/22 tax years, five years after graduation. The largest percentage reduction was seen for level 7 (taught) graduates, moving from 18.9% in 2015/16 to 11.8% in 2021/22.

Earnings 

Figure 35 shows EU graduates had higher median earnings than UK graduates at all qualification levels, five years after graduation. But  the pattern in earnings between non-EU and UK graduates is less clear.  Generally, higher median earnings for EU and non-EU graduates, compared to UK-domiciled graduates, are likely a result of the minimum salary requirements for EU and non-EU workers to obtain UK visas.  

At five years after graduation: 

  • First degree EU graduate earnings were £35,800 and non-EU earnings were £38,000, 19.5% and 26.8% higher than UK graduates (£29,900) respectively. 
  • Level 7 (taught) EU graduate earnings were £40,900 and non-EU earnings were £36,900, 13.1% and 2.0% higher than UK earnings (£36,100) respectively.  
  • Level 7 (research) EU graduate earnings were £38,700 and non-EU earnings were £36,000, 1.9% higher and 5.3% lower than UK earnings (£38,000) respectively. 
  • Level 8 EU graduate earnings were £42,900 and non-EU graduate earnings were £41,600, 4.0% and 0.9% higher than UK earnings (£41,200). 

Non-EU domiciled first degree graduates had the largest increase in median earnings five years after graduation between 2015/16 and 2021/22 tax years, compared with UK and EU domiciled graduates. EU domiciled level 7 (taught), level 7 (research) and level 8 postgraduates had the largest increase in median earnings five years after graduation between 2015/16 and 2021/22 tax years compared with UK and non-EU domiciled graduates. This can be seen in the linked table here.  

At five years after graduation:  

  • Non-EU domiciled first degree graduate earnings increased from £28,500 in 2015/16 to £38,300 in 2021/22 (33.0%). EU domiciled graduate earnings increased from £28,500 to £35,800 (25.3%) over the same period, with UK domiciled graduate earnings increasing from £25,600 to £29,900 (16.8%). 
  • Non-EU domiciled level 7 (taught) graduate earnings increased from £30,000 in 2015/16 to £36,900 in 2021/22 (22.8%). EU domiciled graduate earnings increased from £33,300 to £40,900 (22.7%) over the same period, with UK domiciled graduate earnings increasing from £31,100 to £36,100 (16.2%) 
  • Non-EU domiciled level 7 (research) graduate earnings increased from £30,700 in 2015/16 to £36,000 in 2021/22 (16.9%). EU domiciled graduate earnings increased from £31,700 to £38,700 (22.2%) over the same period with UK domiciled graduate earnings increasing from £31,800 to £38,000 (19.2%) . 
  • Non-EU domiciled level 8 graduate earnings increased from £37,900 in 2015/16 to £41,600 in 2021/22 (9.8%). EU domiciled graduate earnings increased from £37,700 to £42,900 (13.8%) over the same period with UK domiciled graduate earnings increasing from £36,600 to £41,200 (12.7%).

International graduates - Domicile and sex

Coverage: International first degree, level 7 (taught and research) and level 8 graduates from English Higher Education providers.   

Employment Outcomes   

For each qualification level, at five years after graduation, EU domiciled female graduates were more likely to have remained in the UK in ‘sustained employment, further study or both’ than EU domiciled male graduates. Non-EU domiciled female graduates were also more likely to have remained in the UK in ‘sustained employment, further study or both’ than EU domiciled male graduates across all qualification levels except for level 7 (taught) where the percentage of non-EU male graduates in ‘sustained employment, further study or both’ was slightly higher than for females.  

Gender differences in the percentages of EU graduates in sustained employment, further study or both were bigger than the non-EU domiciled graduates.

Earnings  

Both male and female EU domiciled graduates earned more than male and female UK domiciled graduates respectively at all qualification levels, other than females in Level 7 (research).  

For non-EU domiciled first degree graduates, female and male graduates earn more than UK domiciled first degree female and male graduates respectively. For Level 7 (research), both male and female non-EU domiciled graduates had median earnings lower than UK-domiciled male and female graduates respectively. For level 7 (taught) and level 8, there was no clear pattern. 

The largest gender gaps in earnings, five years after graduation were for EU domiciled level 7 (research) and level 7 (taught) postgraduates, with females earning  22.7% and 22.6% less than males respectively. Between EU and non-EU domiciled graduates, EU domiciled graduates had the largest percentage gender pay gap across all qualification levels.  

International graduates - Country

Coverage: International first degree and level 7 postgraduates from English Higher Education providers.   

This section concentrates specifically on the 20 countries with the largest international graduate populations (graduates from English Higher Education providers only). The top 20 countries by graduate population were calculated from the 2021/22 tax year one year after graduation, which is the 2019/20 academic year graduate cohort. Most countries selected during this tax year are included in previous publication years, which means that it is possible to compare between years.

Employment Outcomes   

For both EU and Non-EU domiciled first degree graduates, the pattern of employment outcomes was highly variable between countries. This reflects variation in the percentage of graduates whose records were matched, as well as variation in the employment outcomes among those with matched records. When records are not matched, this indicates that the graduate is probably not resident in the UK. The five countries with the highest percentages of graduates in sustained employment, further study or both at 5 years after graduation were all EU countries; Romania, Poland, Lithuania, Bulgaria, and Italy. The five countries with the lowest percentages of graduates in sustained employment, further study or both were all non-EU countries; China, Korea (South), Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

For Level 7 graduates, Greece, Italy and Ireland were the top 3 countries with the highest percentages in sustained employment, further study or both. Thailand, China, Taiwan (province of China), and Saudi Arabia saw the largest proportions of unmatched graduates (each above 75%) and with the exception of Saudi Arabia, they also had the lowest percentage of graduates in sustained employment, further study or both (each below 10%).

Earnings 

For EU countries, there was some variability in the first degree median earnings five years after graduation; Germany had the highest median earnings (£39,800) and Poland had the lowest median earnings (£31,000). For the non-EU countries, there was a larger amount of variability in the median earnings. Singapore had the highest median earnings (£52,900) and Nigeria had the lowest median earnings (£33,800). This difference may in part be influenced by the subject mix of these graduates; for example, the percentage of graduates domiciled in Singapore who studied Medicine and Dentistry, the subject with the highest median earnings, was much higher than the percentage of graduates domiciled in Nigeria who studied this course.

Median earnings five years after graduation of Level 7 graduates varied considerably by country of domicile among those countries with the largest Level 7 graduate populations. Graduates from Germany had the highest median earnings of £46,400, while graduates from Vietnam had the lowest (£24,800). As well as having the highest median earnings, Germany also had the largest gender pay gap (36.8%). In contrast, female Level 7 graduates from Korea (South) and Saudi Arabia earned higher than Level 7 male graduates by 27.1% and 5.0%, respectively.

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Methodology

Find out how and why we collect, process and publish these statistics.

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