Destinations and earnings of graduates after higher education
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Contents
- 1. Navigate toMain facts and figures section
- 2. Navigate toThings you need to know section
- 3. Navigate to Graduate destinations by ethnicity section
- 4. Navigate to Graduate destinations (further study or employment) by ethnicity section
- 5. Navigate to Average earnings of graduates by ethnicity section
- 6. Navigate toData sources section
- 7. Navigate toDownload the data section
1. Main facts and figures
- in the year ending 5 April 2019, 89.6% of white people were in sustained employment, further study, or both 1 year after graduating from a degree – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
- 89.5% of people from the Indian ethnic group were in sustained employment, further study, or both
- 67.2% of people from the black Caribbean ethnic group were in sustained employment 1 year after graduating – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups (for employment only)
- 34.1% of people from the Arab ethnic group were in further study, with or without employment, 1 year after graduating – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
- people from the Chinese ethnic group had the highest average earnings 1 year after graduating (£23,000), followed by people from the Indian ethnic group (£22,600)
- people from the mixed white and black Caribbean and Bangladeshi ethnic groups had the lowest average earnings 1 year after graduating (£19,000), followed by the Pakistani, black Caribbean and any other black background ethnic groups (£19,300)
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data shows what people did after finishing their degree, by ethnicity. It includes:
- people who graduated 1 year, 3 years, 5 years and 10 years ago (before the year to March 2019)
- the average (median) earnings of people in employment
The data shows destinations recorded in the 2018 to 2019 tax year for students who finished their further education the previous year. Destinations include:
- sustained employment or study (or both)
- a destination that was not sustained – this might include people who went into employment or further study but not continuously between October 2018 and March 2019
- activity not recorded
Earnings data is also shown for people who completed further education 1, 3, 5 and 10 academic years earlier. It does not include data for people in both sustained employment and further study.
Percentages are rounded to the nearest 0.1%. Earnings are rounded to the nearest £100.
Not included in the data
Some of the data labelled as ! in the tables and download file has been withheld. This is to minimise risk of disclosure and because the numbers are too small to be able to make any reliable conclusions.
The ethnic groups used in the data
Data is shown for the Asian, black, mixed and other ethnic groups used in the 2011 Census. Data for the White ethnic group is aggregated, which means figures are shown for the group as a whole.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for the data on this page.
The median earnings for each ethnic group is the middle point when the figures are ordered from lowest to highest.
You can read more about when we use the mean and median to work out averages.
In the data file
See Download the data for counts of students in each ethnic group for every year covered by this data.
3. Graduate destinations by ethnicity
| 1 Year After Graduation | 3 Years After Graduation | 5 Years After Graduation | 10 Years After Graduation | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | 1 Year After Graduation Sustained employment further study or both | 1 Year After Graduation No sustained destination | 1 Year After Graduation Activity not captured | 3 Years After Graduation Sustained employment further study or both | 3 Years After Graduation No sustained destination | 3 Years After Graduation Activity not captured | 5 Years After Graduation Sustained employment further study or both | 5 Years After Graduation No sustained destination | 5 Years After Graduation Activity not captured | 10 Years After Graduation Sustained employment further study or both | 10 Years After Graduation No sustained destination | 10 Years After Graduation Activity not captured |
| All | 88.8 | 7.2 | 4.0 | 87.7 | 6.2 | 6.1 | 86.7 | 5.6 | 7.7 | 84.9 | 4.5 | 10.5 |
| Bangladeshi | 88.4 | 8.5 | 3.1 | 87.5 | 8.1 | 4.5 | 84.7 | 7.9 | 7.5 | 82.1 | 6.7 | 11.2 |
| Chinese | 81.6 | 8.8 | 9.6 | 80.3 | 6.2 | 13.5 | 75.2 | 5.7 | 19.1 | 70.5 | 4.4 | 25.1 |
| Indian | 89.5 | 7.2 | 3.2 | 88.7 | 6.1 | 5.2 | 87.1 | 5.5 | 7.4 | 84.9 | 5.1 | 9.9 |
| Pakistani | 85.6 | 10.0 | 4.4 | 84.4 | 8.4 | 7.2 | 82.6 | 8.2 | 9.2 | 80.0 | 7.1 | 12.9 |
| Any Other Asian Background | 86.7 | 8.3 | 5.0 | 83.9 | 7.5 | 8.6 | 82.9 | 6.5 | 10.6 | 79.4 | 5.5 | 15.1 |
| Black African | 87.4 | 8.8 | 3.8 | 85.3 | 8.8 | 5.9 | 82.5 | 9.1 | 8.3 | 78.6 | 8.0 | 13.5 |
| Black Caribbean | 87.6 | 9.6 | 2.8 | 87.3 | 8.6 | 4.1 | 86.9 | 8.3 | 4.7 | 84.4 | 6.6 | 9.0 |
| Any Other Black Background | 86.1 | 10.4 | 3.6 | 84.6 | 8.7 | 6.8 | 78.4 | 10.7 | 10.9 | 79.6 | 8.4 | 12.0 |
| Mixed White And Asian | 86.2 | 8.4 | 5.4 | 84.7 | 7.7 | 7.6 | 83.4 | 6.6 | 10.0 | 83.5 | 4.7 | 11.8 |
| Mixed White And Black African | 84.4 | 10.0 | 5.6 | 82.5 | 8.9 | 8.6 | 80.8 | 6.4 | 12.7 | 76.6 | 7.1 | 16.3 |
| Mixed White And Black Caribbean | 87.4 | 9.3 | 3.3 | 86.7 | 7.7 | 5.6 | 86.6 | 6.8 | 6.6 | 85.0 | 5.9 | 9.1 |
| Any Other Mixed Ethnic Background | 84.7 | 10.0 | 5.3 | 82.6 | 8.2 | 9.2 | 81.4 | 7.7 | 10.9 | 79.6 | 6.5 | 13.8 |
| White | 89.6 | 6.6 | 3.8 | 88.6 | 5.6 | 5.8 | 87.7 | 5.0 | 7.2 | 86.1 | 4.1 | 9.9 |
| Arab | 81.3 | 12.0 | 6.7 | 74.8 | 11.9 | 13.4 | 78.9 | 7.0 | 14.1 | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality |
| Other | 83.0 | 11.1 | 5.9 | 81.2 | 9.7 | 9.1 | 78.3 | 8.8 | 12.9 | 76.3 | 7.5 | 16.2 |
| Unknown | 83.5 | 9.3 | 7.2 | 83.5 | 8.0 | 8.6 | 81.0 | 7.8 | 11.2 | 81.0 | 5.9 | 13.1 |
Download table data for ‘Graduate destinations by ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Graduate destinations by ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Destinations and earnings of graduates after higher education Graduate destinations by ethnicity Summary
The data shows that for the 2018 to 2019 tax year:
- 88.8% of people who graduated 1 year ago were in sustained employment, further study or both
- 7.2% of people who graduated 1 year ago had no sustained destination – the destination was unknown for 4.0%
- white people (89.6%) were the most likely out of all ethnic groups to be in sustained employment, further study or both 1 year after graduating
- people from the any other black background (10.4%), other (11.1%) and Arab (12.0%) ethnic groups were the most likely to have no sustained destination 1 year after graduating
- people from the white (6.6%), Indian (7.2%) and any other Asian (8.3%) ethnic groups were least likely to have no sustained destination 1 year after graduating
- people from the white (87.7%) and Indian (87.1%) ethnic groups were the most likely to be in sustained employment, further study, or both 5 years after graduating
- people from the any other black background (10.7%) and black African (9.1%) ethnic groups were the most likely to have no sustained destination 5 years after graduating
- the destination was unknown for 4.0% for people who graduated 1 year ago – it was 10.5% for people who graduated 10 years ago
4. Graduate destinations (further study or employment) by ethnicity
| 1 Year After Graduation | 3 Years After Graduation | 5 Years After Graduation | 10 Years After Graduation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | 1 Year After Graduation Sustained employment only (%) | 1 Year After Graduation Further study with or without sustained employment (%) | 3 Years After Graduation Sustained employment only (%) | 3 Years After Graduation Further study with or without sustained employment (%) | 5 Years After Graduation Sustained employment only (%) | 5 Years After Graduation Further study with or without sustained employment (%) | 10 Years After Graduation Sustained employment only (%) | 10 Years After Graduation Further study with or without sustained employment (%) |
| All | 64.2 | 24.6 | 72.5 | 15.2 | 76.1 | 10.6 | 79.2 | 5.7 |
| Bangladeshi | 62.8 | 25.6 | 74.2 | 13.2 | 77.4 | 7.2 | 77.8 | 4.3 |
| Chinese | 53.8 | 27.9 | 64.9 | 15.4 | 66.0 | 9.2 | 66.6 | 3.9 |
| Indian | 62.3 | 27.2 | 73.9 | 14.8 | 77.8 | 9.3 | 80.3 | 4.6 |
| Pakistani | 57.1 | 28.4 | 69.5 | 14.8 | 73.5 | 9.1 | 74.9 | 5.0 |
| Any Other Asian Background | 60.2 | 26.5 | 67.9 | 16.1 | 71.9 | 11.0 | 72.7 | 6.7 |
| Black African | 59.2 | 28.2 | 66.1 | 19.2 | 67.9 | 14.7 | 69.2 | 9.4 |
| Black Caribbean | 67.2 | 20.3 | 71.2 | 16.1 | 76.0 | 10.9 | 77.4 | 7.1 |
| Any Other Black Background | 61.5 | 24.5 | 65.6 | 18.9 | 65.8 | 12.6 | 72.8 | 6.8 |
| Mixed White And Asian | 60.4 | 25.8 | 69.7 | 14.9 | 72.1 | 11.3 | 76.9 | 6.5 |
| Mixed White And Black African | 61.5 | 22.9 | 67.4 | 15.2 | 69.5 | 11.4 | 69.7 | 6.9 |
| Mixed White And Black Caribbean | 65.9 | 21.4 | 72.0 | 14.7 | 76.7 | 9.9 | 78.3 | 6.7 |
| Any Other Mixed Ethnic Background | 59.0 | 25.7 | 66.8 | 15.8 | 69.0 | 12.4 | 73.3 | 6.3 |
| White | 65.6 | 24.0 | 73.7 | 15.0 | 77.3 | 10.4 | 80.4 | 5.6 |
| Arab | 47.2 | 34.1 | 56.2 | 18.6 | 60.9 | 18.0 | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality |
| Other | 56.6 | 26.4 | 64.4 | 16.8 | 66.4 | 11.9 | 69.7 | 6.6 |
| Unknown | 63.4 | 20.1 | 69.0 | 14.4 | 69.9 | 11.1 | 74.4 | 6.6 |
Download table data for ‘Graduate destinations (further study or employment) by ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Graduate destinations (further study or employment) by ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Destinations and earnings of graduates after higher education Graduate destinations (further study or employment) by ethnicity Summary
The data shows that for the 2018 to 2019 tax year:
- 64.2% of people who graduated 1 year ago were in sustained employment only, and 24.6% were in further study (with or without employment)
- black Caribbean people (67.2%) were the most likely out of all ethnic groups to be in sustained employment only, 1 year after graduation
- people from the Arab (47.2%), Chinese (53.8%) and other (56.6%) ethnic groups had the lowest percentages in sustained employment only, 1 year after graduation – these groups also had the highest percentages of people whose destinations were unknown
- people from the Arab (34.1%) and Pakistani (28.4%) ethnic groups were most likely to be in further study 1 year after graduation – Caribbean people (20.3%) were the least likely
- the percentage of people in ‘sustained employment only’ went up from 64.2% for those who graduated 1 year ago, to 79.2% for those who graduated 10 years ago
- the percentage of people in further study went down from 24.6% for those who graduated 1 year ago, to 5.7% for those who graduated 10 years ago
5. Average earnings of graduates by ethnicity
| Ethnicity | 1 Year After Graduation | 3 Years After Graduation | 5 Years After Graduation | 10 Years After Graduation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average (median) earnings (£) | Average (median) earnings (£) | Average (median) earnings (£) | Average (median) earnings (£) | |
| All | 20,800 | 24,500 | 27,400 | 31,100 |
| Bangladeshi | 19,000 | 23,700 | 25,900 | 28,800 |
| Chinese | 23,000 | 27,000 | 29,900 | 34,700 |
| Indian | 22,600 | 27,400 | 31,000 | 34,700 |
| Pakistani | 19,300 | 22,600 | 23,700 | 25,200 |
| Any Other Asian Background | 21,900 | 26,300 | 29,200 | 34,300 |
| Black African | 20,800 | 24,500 | 26,300 | 29,200 |
| Black Caribbean | 19,300 | 23,000 | 25,200 | 28,100 |
| Any Other Black Background | 19,300 | 23,000 | 25,600 | 29,600 |
| Mixed White And Asian | 21,500 | 26,300 | 29,200 | 35,800 |
| Mixed White And Black African | 20,100 | 24,500 | 27,400 | 29,600 |
| Mixed White And Black Caribbean | 19,000 | 23,000 | 25,600 | 29,200 |
| Any Other Mixed Ethnic Background | 20,400 | 24,800 | 28,100 | 32,100 |
| White | 20,800 | 24,500 | 27,400 | 31,400 |
| Arab | 20,800 | 24,500 | 30,300 | withheld to protect confidentiality |
| Other | 20,400 | 24,800 | 27,700 | 31,000 |
| Unknown | 21,900 | 24,100 | 27,000 | 29,200 |
Download table data for ‘Average earnings of graduates by ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Average earnings of graduates by ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Destinations and earnings of graduates after higher education Average earnings of graduates by ethnicity Summary
The data shows that for the 2018 to 2019 tax year:
- the average (median) salary of someone who graduated 1 year ago was £20,800
- the average salary was £24,500 for people who graduated 3 years ago, £27,400 for people who graduated 5 years ago, and £31,100 for people who graduated 10 years ago
- people from the Chinese ethnic group had the highest average earnings 1 year after graduating (£23,000)
- people from the mixed white and black Caribbean and Bangladeshi, ethnic groups (£19,000) had the lowest average earnings 1 year after graduating
- people from the Indian ethnic group had the highest average earnings 5 years after graduating ( £31,000)
- people from the Pakistani (£23,700) and black Caribbean (£25,200) ethnic groups had the lowest average earnings 5 years after graduating
6. Data sources
Source
Graduate outcomes (LEO): 2018 to 2019
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
Official statistics
Publisher
Department for Education
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
This data helps monitor the progress of higher education leavers into the labour market.
7. Download the data
Earnings of Graduates After Higher Education
- Spreadsheet
(csv)
55 KB
measure, time, time_type, academic year, years after graduation, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, earnings_quartile, value, value_type, denominator
Destinations of Graduates After Higher Education
- Spreadsheet
(csv)
130 KB
measure, time, time_type, academic year, years after graduation, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, destinations, value, value type, denominator