Description
Higher Education Graduate Outcomes Statistics: UK, 2020/21
This Statistical Bulletin is the annual first release of Graduate Outcomes survey data. These experimental statistics cover UK higher education providers (HEPs) including alternative providers (APs) and further education colleges (FECs) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Data is collected approximately 15 months after HE course completion.
The 2020/21 Graduate Outcomes cohort finished their qualifications in the second academic year affected by COVID-19. While Cohort A finished their qualifications during late summer and early autumn 2020, in a period of relatively loose restrictions, restrictions began to increase over the course of the academic year. Cohort B graduated into a period of short national lockdowns, followed by the start of the second national lockdown in January 2021. Cohort C likewise graduated in lockdown, but the progress of the vaccination programme led to a gradual easing of restrictions as spring progressed; by the time Cohort D, the largest Graduate Outcomes cohort, began to finish their qualifications in May 2021, most adults had been offered a first vaccine dose, and restrictions were gradually being phased out across the UK.
The circumstances under which 2020/21 graduates were surveyed were quite different. As surveying for Cohort A opened in December 2021, Omicron variant cases were rising and new guidance was being issued requiring masks in indoor spaces and encouraging people to work from home where possible, the new restrictions were considerably more lenient than those which were introduced a year previously. By the time the Cohort B survey period opened in March 2022, all legal restrictions had been lifted in England, and remaining restrictions were phased out in other nations over the next few months. Although COVID cases rose from the start of June to a summer peak in early July, no legal restrictions were in place during the survey periods for Cohorts C and D. An insight briefing provides further detail on analysis undertaken to explore the impact of the pandemic, and the conclusions identified.
This statistical bulletin has been produced by HESA in collaboration with statisticians from the Office for Students, the Department for Education, the Welsh Government, the Scottish Government and the Department for the Economy Northern Ireland. It has been released according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.
Resources
| Name | Format | Description | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Figure 10 - Graduate outcomes by subject area of degree and activity | CSV | Open resource | |
| Figure 11 - Standard industrial classification of graduates entering work in the UK by subject area of degree | ZIP | Open resource | |
| Figure 12 - Standard occupational classification of graduates entering work in the UK by subject area of degree | ZIP | Open resource | |
| Figure 13 - Percentage of graduates in full-time paid employment in the UK by salary band and personal characteristics | ZIP | Open resource | |
| Figure 14 - Weighted median salary of UK domiciled full-time graduates who obtained first degree qualifications and entered full-time paid employment in the UK by subject area of degree and skill marker | CSV | Open resource | |
| Figure 15 - UK domiciled graduates entering work in the UK by region of domicile, region of provider and region of work | CSV | Open resource | |
| Figure 16 - UK domiciled graduates entering work in the UK by region of domicile, region of provider and region of work | CSV | Open resource | |
| Figure 17 - Graduate reflections | CSV | Open resource | |
| Figure 18 - Graduate reflections on activities | CSV | Open resource | |
| Figure 1 - Graduate outcomes by activity | CSV | Open resource | |
| Figure 2 - Weighted median salaries of full-time graduates who obtained first degree qualifications and entered full-time paid employment in the UK | CSV | Open resource | |
| Figure 3 - Response rates to the Graduate Outcomes survey by domicile and mode of former study | CSV | Open resource | |
| Figure 4 - Graduate outcomes by activity and domicile | CSV | Open resource | |
| Figure 5 - Graduate outcomes by activity and personal characteristics | ZIP | Open resource | |
| Figure 6 - Outcomes of undergraduate UK domiciled full-time graduates by participation characteristics | CSV | Open resource | |
| Figure 7 - Employment basis of graduates working for an employer in the UK by level of qualification obtained | CSV | Open resource | |
| Figure 8 - Graduates running own business, self-employed/freelancing or developing a portfolio by domicile | CSV | Open resource | |
| Figure 9 - Graduate activity by classification of first degree | CSV | Open resource | |
| Graduate Outcomes 2020/21: Summary Statistics | HTML | Open resource | |
| Notes on this bulletin | HTML | Open resource | |
| Data intelligence | HTML | Open resource | |
| Definitions | HTML | Open resource |