Graduate labour market statistics
Calendar year 2024

Description

This document describes the underlying data files included in the graduate labour market statistics. This data is released under the terms of the  Open Government License (opens in a new tab) (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/) and is intended to meet at least 3 stars for  Open Data (opens in a new tab) (https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/improving-the-transparency-and-accountability-of-government-and-its-services/supporting-pages/releasing-data-in-open-formats).

The publication methodology provides additional information on the generation and interpretation of figures and should be referenced together with the data. The methodology is available on the publication report.

Coverage

The graduate labour market statistics reports on the labour market outcomes of postgraduates, graduates and non-graduates. The statistics use the data collected via the Labour Force Survey (LFS) relating to individuals domiciled in England.

This release explores:

- Employment and earnings outcomes of graduates by their specific characteristics of sex, age group, ethnicity, disability status and degree class. Further breakdowns are available in the data downloads.
- Employment and earnings (nominal and real) outcomes of graduates, post graduates and non-graduates by their age group and sex.
- Proportion of graduates and non-graduates that work part time by their sex and age group.

File formats and conventions

- ‘c’ indicates that suppression has been applied to rates because of small sample sizes.
- ‘z’ indicates that there were no sample units in that sub category
- Employment rates are rounded to one decimal place.
- Median salaries are rounded to the nearest £500.
- Labour Force Survey (LFS) datasets are routinely reweighted in line with population estimates. In 2024, a reweighting was applied to the LFS, with 2024 (PWT24) population weights applied to quarterly data since Q1 2019, superseding the previous PWT23 population weights.

Data files

Employment rates by graduate type

Filename: employment_rates_by_graduate_type3_200724.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2007 to 2024
Content summary: Employment, high-skilled employment, inactivity and unemployment rates by graduate type (postgraduates, graduates and non-graduates) from 2007-2024.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name       |  Variable description
------------------  |  --------------------------------------------------------------
age_band            |  Age band - Select the Age band you are interested in
employment_rate     |  Employment rate
graduate_type       |  Graduate type - Select the Graduate type you are interested in
hs_employment_rate  |  High-skilled employment rate
inactivity_rate     |  Inactivity rate
unemployment_rate   |  Unemployment rate

Footnotes:

1. The sum of the employment, unemployment, and inactivity rates do not equal 100% because of rounding and the rates are based on average (mean) figures over four different calendar quarters from the Labour Force Survey.
2. Labour Force Survey data are routinely reweighted in line with population estimates, further details are in the methodology.
3. The high-skilled and medium/low-skilled employment rates are derived from the 2020 ONS Standard Occupation Classifications code, for further information refer to the methodology.
4. This release is classified as ‘official statistics in development’ due to sampling variability from low response rates, impacting the data quality as some figures are calculated using small sample sizes, for more information refer to the methodology.
5. The economic inactivity rate measures the proportion of people (aged 16-64) that are not involved in the labour market – they are neither working or actively seeking employment. Economic inactivity includes students, early retirees and the long-term sick.


Graduate breakdowns by employment rates

Filename: graduate_breakdowns_emp_rates2_2024.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2024
Content summary: Employment rates for graduates in 2024 by sex, ethnicity, disability, and degree class.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name            |  Variable description
-----------------------  |  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
employment_rate          |  Employment rate
graduate_breakdown       |  Graduate breakdown - Select the Graduate breakdown you are interested in
graduate_characteristic  |  Graduate characteristic - Select the Graduate characteristic you are interested in
hs_employment_rate       |  High-skilled employment rate
inactivity_rate          |  Inactivity rate
unemployment_rate        |  Unemployment rate

Footnotes:

1. The sum of the employment, unemployment, and inactivity rates do not equal 100% because of rounding and the rates are based on average (mean) figures over four different calendar quarters from the Labour Force Survey.
2. Labour Force Survey data are routinely reweighted in line with population estimates, further details are in the methodology.
3. The high-skilled and medium/low-skilled employment rates are derived from the 2020 ONS Standard Occupation Classifications code, for further information refer to the methodology.
4. This release is classified as ‘official statistics in development’ due to sampling variability from low response rates, impacting the data quality as some figures are calculated using small sample sizes, for more information refer to the methodology.
5. The economic inactivity rate measures the proportion of people (aged 16-64) that are not involved in the labour market – they are neither working or actively seeking employment. Economic inactivity includes students, early retirees and the long-term sick.


Skilled employment rates by graduate type

Filename: skilled_employment_rates_by_graduate_type2_2024.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2024
Content summary: Working age high-skilled and medium/low-skilled employment rates by graduate type (postgraduates, graduates and non-graduates) in 2024.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name        |  Variable description
-------------------  |  --------------------------------------------------------------
age_band             |  Age band - Select the Age band you are interested in
graduate_type        |  Graduate type - Select the Graduate type you are interested in
hs_employment_rate   |  High-skilled employment rate
mls_employment_rate  |  Medium/low skilled employment rate

Footnotes:

1. Labour Force Survey data are routinely reweighted in line with population estimates, further details are in the methodology.
2. The high-skilled and medium/low-skilled employment rates are derived from the 2020 ONS Standard Occupation Classifications code, for further information refer to the methodology.
3. This release is classified as ‘official statistics in development’ due to sampling variability from low response rates, impacting the data quality as some figures are calculated using small sample sizes, for more information refer to the methodology.


Graduate salary breakdowns

Filename: graduate_breakdowns_salaries3_2024.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2024
Content summary: Graduate nominal salaries for those of working age and the young population by sex and industry in 2024.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name   |  Variable description
--------------  |  -----------------------------------------------------------------------
graduate_group  |  Graduate age band - Select the Graduate age group you are interested in
industry        |  Industry - Select the Industry you are interested in
median          |  Median annual salary to the nearest (£500)
sex             |  Sex - Select the Gender you are interested in

Footnotes:

1. Labour Force Survey data are routinely reweighted in line with population estimates, further details are in the methodology.
2. This release is classified as ‘official statistics in development’ due to sampling variability from low response rates, impacting the data quality as some figures are calculated using small sample sizes, for more information refer to the methodology.
3. Median annualised salaries for graduates working in the agriculture, forestry and fishing, energy and water, and other services are more volatile due to small sample sizes in the Labour Force Survey. Information is not provided for the young population here due to small sample sizes.
4. Please use caution when making comparisons between salaries across graduate groups. The statistics presented do not control for external factors such as prior academic attainment, skills, experience, or geographic location which can influence salary.


Part time employment by age group and graduate type

Filename: pt_breakdowns_emp_rates_by_graduate_type3_200724.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2007 to 2024
Content summary: Proportion of workers in part-time employment by graduate type (postgraduates, graduates and non-graduates) and detailed age band in 2007-2024.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                    |  Variable description
-------------------------------  |  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
breakdown                        |  Charcteristic breakdowns - Select the characteristic breakdown you are interested in
employment_proportion_part_time  |  Proportion of part-time workers
graduate_type                    |  Graduate type - Select the Graduate type you are interested in

Footnotes:

1. Labour Force Survey data are routinely reweighted in line with population estimates, further details are in the methodology.
2. This release is classified as ‘official statistics in development’ due to sampling variability from low response rates, impacting the data quality as some figures are calculated using small sample sizes, for more information refer to the methodology.


Part time employment by graduate type

Filename: pt_employment_by_graduate_type3_200724.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2007 to 2024
Content summary: Proportion of workers in part-time employment by graduate type (postgraduates, graduates and non-graduates) in 2007-2024.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name                    |  Variable description
-------------------------------  |  --------------------------------------------------------------
age_band                         |  Age band - Select the Age group you are interested in
employment_proportion_part_time  |  Proportion of part-time workers
graduate_type                    |  Graduate type - Select the Graduate type you are interested in

Footnotes:

1. Labour Force Survey data are routinely reweighted in line with population estimates, further details are in the methodology.
2. This release is classified as ‘official statistics in development’ due to sampling variability from low response rates, impacting the data quality as some figures are calculated using small sample sizes, for more information refer to the methodology.


Yearly salaries by graduate type and sex

Filename: yearly_salaries_by_sex3_200724.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2007 to 2024
Content summary: Annual nominal and real salaries for the working age and young populations by graduate type (postgraduates, graduates and non-graduates) and sex in 2007-2024.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name  |  Variable description
-------------  |  --------------------------------------------------------------
age_band       |  Age band - Select the Age band you are interested in
graduate_type  |  Graduate type - Select the Graduate Type you are interested in
median         |  Median annual salary to the nearest £500
median_real    |  Median annual salary to the nearest £500 in real (2007) terms
sex            |  Sex - Select the Sex you are interested in

Footnotes:

1. Labour Force Survey data are routinely reweighted in line with population estimates, further details are in the methodology.
2. This release is classified as ‘official statistics in development’ due to sampling variability from low response rates, impacting the data quality as some figures are calculated using small sample sizes, for more information refer to the methodology.
3. Please use caution when making comparisons between salaries across graduate groups. The statistics presented do not control for external factors such as prior academic attainment, skills, experience, or geographic location which can influence salary.
