Calendar year 2023

Supply of skills for jobs in science and technology

Data guidance

Published

Description

This page describes the underlying data files for the ‘Supply of skills for jobs in science and technology’ ad-hoc official statistics release. This data is released under the terms of the Open Government License (opens in a new tab).

The publication methodology explains the definitions used and how estimates have been produced. It also provides information on the data sources, their coverage and quality.

Coverage

The data provided mostly relate to the UK labour market. The exception to this is the Education Pathways data, which are for people in employment in England across the 2016-17 to 2018-19 tax years and who have education records in the National Pupil Database for England. 

Full details of the coverage for each source are provided in the publication methodology.

For sources that are already published in detail elsewhere, the accompanying dashboard (opens in a new tab) may include more of the published information than is contained in this release.

File formats and conventions

The underlying data files are provided in comma separated value (csv) format.

Rounding and decimal places vary across the different files, based on conventions for the relevant sources and what is appropriate for the analysis that has been undertaken.

Data files

All data files associated with this releases are listed below with guidance on their content. To download any of these files, please visit our data catalogue.

UK STEM employment by industry

Filename
uk_science_technology_employment_by_industry2.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2023
Content

Employment data for occupation groups, based on ONS SOC (details of group definitions are available in the publication methodology), and industry groups defined by ONS based on SIC (see footnote):

  • Employment volumes presented in millions, to one decimal place. Data from Annual Population Survey July 2022 - June 2023, sourced from ONS NOMIS
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
employmentEmployment (millions)
groupOccupation group - Filter by occupation
industryIndustry - Filter by industry
Footnotes
  1.  STEM industries use the ONS industry classification as indicative figures but is not formally defined in this report (https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/adhocs/14189stemindustriesbysize).
  2. Not STEM includes Medicine and Health.

UK STEM employment growth

Filename
uk_employment_change_2013_to_2023.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2013 to 2023
Content

Employment volume and growth for occupation groups. Data from Annual Population Survey July 2022 - June 2023 and July 2012 - June 2013, sourced from ONS NOMIS:

  • Employment volumes presented in millions, to one decimal place
  • Details of group definitions are available in the publication methodology
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
employmentEmployment (millions)
groupGroup of occupations - Filter by occupation group
growth_since_2013Growth since 2013
Footnotes
  1. Data for 2021 onwards is based on SOC 2020, and data prior to 2021 is based on SOC 2010.
  2. Not STEM includes Medicine and Health.

UK STEM employment by occupation

Filename
uk_science_technology_employment_stem.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2023
Content

Employment data for each SOC Unit group (4 digit) from Annual Population Survey July 2022 - June 2023, sourced from ONS NOMIS:

  • Employment volumes, rounded to nearest 100
  • Female % of employment
  • Annual % growth from July 2021-June 2022 data
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
EmploymentEmployment
Employment_growthEmployment growth
Female_percentFemale percent
OccupationOccupation - Filter by occupation
Footnotes
  1. Not STEM includes Medicine and Health.

UK STEM employment projections scenarios

Filename
uk_science_technology_future_projections_scenarios.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2013 to 2030
Content

Unit for Future Skills employment projections of numbers of jobs for each year to 2030 in different scenarios, for groups of occupations. Based on the Skills Imperative 2035 Employment and Skills Projections.

Provided for Baseline, High growth, Population growth, and Technological growth scenarios.

Details of scenario and group definitions are available in the publication methodology.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
employment_projectionEmployment projection
groupGroup of occupations - Filter by occupation group
scenarioGrowth scenario - Filter by projection scenario
Footnotes
  1. Data for 2021 onwards is based on SOC 2020, and data prior to 2021 is based on SOC 2010.
  2. Not STEM includes Medicine and Health.
  3. Projections from the Skills Imperative 2035 are rebased for employment data from the Annual Population Survey, July 2022-June 2023.

England science and technology education pathways

Filename
england_science_technology_education_pathways.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2018-19
Content

Details of education pathways prior to early career employment in England in different SOC2010 occupations (or groups of occupations), using pooled employment data from 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19 tax years; where an employee appears more than once, we take the information from the latest tax year observed. Further details are available in the publication methodology.

The 'proportion' measure shows the share of employees for a group defined by selecting filters from:

  • breakdown: filtering the group variable to show individual occupations or STEM sub-groups
  • group: to select a specific STEM sub-group or specific individual occupation
  • pathway: to select employees whose highest qualification was attained in Higher Education, Further Education, an Apprenticeship, or at A/AS Level or GCSE level
  • stem_qual: whether the highest qualification was in a STEM subject
  • top_10_subjects: whether the qualification is in a top 10 subject area for early career workers, and which one

The 'all_occupations_proportion' measure is a comparator showing the share of employees for the group selected, but ignoring the occupation selection (defined by 'breakdown' and 'group').

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
all_occupations_proportionProportion across all occupations in England
breakdownType of breakdown - Filter by group or individual occupation
groupGroup of occupations - Filter by group of occupation
pathwayEducation pathway
proportionProportion within group of occupations
stem_qualSTEM qualification - Filter by STEM or Not STEM qualification pathway
top_10_subjectsTop 10 subject
Footnotes
  1. Employees are those aged 23-30 in the 2018-19 tax year included in the ASHE survey and linked to LEO.
  2. Education information is based on an employee's highest qualification in the 2018-19 tax year as identified in LEO.
  3. Subject is based on Sector Subject Area for the FE and Apprenticeship pathways and JACS classification for the HE pathway.
  4.  The STEM classification is based on the subject of the qualification.
  5. A Levels and GCSEs are undertaken as a bundle of qualifications and are therefor not allocated to a STEM category or subject.

England qualification levels for STEM employees

Filename
england_qualification_levels_stem1.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2018-19
Content

Data about highest qualifications prior to early career employment in England in STEM occupations, using pooled employment data from 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19 tax years; where an employee appears more than once, we take the information from the latest tax year observed. Further details are available in the publication methodology.

The 'stem_qualification' measure shows the share of people having a STEM-related qualification, within groups defined by level of highest qualification held and gender.

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
genderGender - Filter by gender
groupGroup of occupations - Filter by occupation group
highest_qualificationHighest level of qualification - Filter by highest level of qualification
stem_qualificationPercent with a STEM qualification
Footnotes
  1. Employees are those aged 23-30 in the 2018-19 tax year included in the ASHE survey and linked to LEO.

England GCSE and A Levels held by STEM employees

Filename
england_a_level_gcse_held_by_occupation.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2018-19
Content

Data about the share of early career employees in England in different SOC2010 occupations (or groups of occupations), using pooled employment data from 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19 tax years; where an employee appears more than once, we take the information from the latest tax year observed. Further details are available in the publication methodology.

The 'employee_share' measure shows the share of employees for a group defined by selecting filters from:

  • group: to select a specific STEM sub-group
  • qualification_type: A Level or GCSE
  • subject: either Any A Level or specific A Level or GCSE subject
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
employee_shareShare of employment
groupGroup of occupations - Filter by occupation group
qualification_typeType of qualification - Filter by type of qualification
subjectSubject - Filter by subject
Footnotes
  1. Employees are those aged 23-30 in the 2018-19 tax year included in the ASHE survey and linked to LEO.
  2. GCSE and A Level and information is based qualifications achieved up to the 2018-19 tax year as identified in LEO.

UK Skills Imperative 2035 employment projections by occupation

Filename
uk_science_technology_future_projections_occ.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2021 to 2035
Content

Skills Imperative 2035 Employment and Skills Projections of numbers of jobs for each year to 2035, provided for each SOC Unit Group (4 digit), based on the value for the relevant SOC Sub-major Group (2 digit).

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
jobsEmployment projection
occupation_nameOccupation name (SOC2020) - Filter by occupation name
Footnotes
  1. Not STEM includes Medicine and Health.

UK Skills Imperative 2035 employment projections by occupation group

Filename
uk_science_technology_future_projections_group.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2021 to 2035
Content

Skills Imperative 2035 Employment and Skills Projections of numbers of jobs for each year to 2035, provided for groups of occupations (details of group definitions are available in the publication methodology).

Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
group_nameOccupation group (SOC2020) - Filter by occupation group
jobsEmployment projection
Footnotes
  1. Not STEM includes Medicine and Health.