BIS has published official data from 2015 of the Graduate labour market statistics (GLMS). The report provides information on ‘graduate, postgraduate and non-graduate employment rates and earnings for England’.
Headline statistics are presented below:
Source: Gov website
It is clear that in 2015, both graduates and postgraduates had higher employment rates by over 15%, and in high-skilled positions, by a significant percentage of over 40% for graduates, and over 50% for postgraduates.
Furthermore, the median salary for graduates and postgraduates is notably higher than that of the non-graduate by a minimum of £10,000.
Some other notable conclusions from the report are:
- ‘Graduates and postgraduates were more protected from unemployment during the recession than non-graduates. Unemployment rates recovered to approximately pre-recession levels for all groups by 2015.
- Degree class appears to have more of an impact for the younger population than the working age population. Young graduates that achieved a first class degree earned, on average, £3,000 more than those who achieved an upper second. In turn, those young graduates that achieved an upper second in their degree earned £2,500 more than those who achieved a lower second or third in their degree.
- Black graduates had lower high skilled employment rates, higher unemployment rates, lower inactivity rates and lower median salaries than White graduates and Asian graduates.
- Male and female graduates had similar unemployment rates across the working age population, but the unemployment rate for young male graduates was 1.8 percentage points higher than for young female graduates. Male graduates had a higher employment rate and female graduates had a higher inactivity rate, across the working age population.’
