- 1. Navigate toMain facts and figures section
- 2. Navigate toThings you need to know section
- 3. Navigate to By ethnicity (graduate destinations) section
- 4. Navigate to By ethnicity (further study or employment) section
- 5. Navigate to By ethnicity (average earnings) section
- 6. Navigate toData sources section
- 7. Navigate toDownload the data section
1. Main facts and figures
- in the year ending April 2020, 89.4% of white people were in sustained employment, further study or both one year after graduating from a degree – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
- 88.3% of people from the Indian ethnic group were in sustained employment, further study, or both
- 65.3% of people from the black Caribbean ethnic group were in sustained employment without further study – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups for this outcome
- 34.1% of people from the Arab ethnic group were in further study, with or without employment – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups for this outcome
- people from the Chinese ethnic group had the highest average earnings one year after graduating (£24,200), followed by people from the Indian ethnic group (£23,800)
- people from the black ‘other’ ethnic group had the lowest average earnings one year after graduating (£19,400), followed by black Caribbean people (£19,800)
Further research:
According to a study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the effect of higher education on geographical mobility is weaker for ethnic minorities and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Graduates from black and Asian ethnic groups were much less likely than white graduates to have moved areas between their last year of secondary school (usually aged 16) and 27 years old. The ‘mobility premium’ in average earnings is bigger for graduates who move compared to those who do not. This is likely to translate into even larger differences later in life.
The 2023 State of the Nation report by the Social Mobility Commission identified that people from Chinese, mixed, Indian, black African and ‘other’ ethnic groups were more likely to obtain a university degree than white British and black Caribbean people from the same socioeconomic background. However, that doesn’t always translate to better occupational outcomes.
People from the Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnic groups had the highest proportion of downward occupational mobility, with occupational and educational mobility varying by generation. Second generation migrants had better chances of occupational and educational mobility than first generation migrants.
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, 3, 5, and 10 years ago (up to March 2020)
- the median earnings of graduates in employment
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 2019 and March 2020
- activity which was not recorded
Earnings data does not include people in both sustained employment and further study.
Percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Earnings are rounded to the nearest £100.
Not included in the data
Some of the data in the tables and download file has been withheld. This is to protect people’s confidentiality and because the numbers involved are too small to make reliable generalisations.
The ethnic groups used in the data
Data is shown for the ethnic groups used in the 2011 Census, with one exception – data is aggregated for all white graduates, 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
Download the data for counts of students in each ethnic group for every year covered by this data.
3. By ethnicity (graduate destinations)
| 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 | 88.4 | 7.9 | 3.7 | 88.0 | 6.8 | 5.2 | 86.8 | 6.2 | 7.0 | 84.3 | 5.4 | 10.3 |
| Bangladeshi | 87.3 | 10.0 | 2.7 | 86.9 | 9.0 | 4.1 | 84.6 | 9.3 | 6.0 | 81.4 | 8.6 | 10.0 |
| Chinese | 82.8 | 8.6 | 8.6 | 81.5 | 7.1 | 11.4 | 76.6 | 6.6 | 16.8 | 69.5 | 5.7 | 24.7 |
| Indian | 88.3 | 8.2 | 3.5 | 88.3 | 6.8 | 4.9 | 86.7 | 6.8 | 6.5 | 84.7 | 5.7 | 9.6 |
| Pakistani | 84.9 | 10.9 | 4.2 | 83.4 | 10.1 | 6.5 | 81.5 | 9.9 | 8.6 | 77.7 | 8.9 | 13.4 |
| Asian other | 86.5 | 8.6 | 4.9 | 85.1 | 8.3 | 6.7 | 81.0 | 8.8 | 10.3 | 77.9 | 7.0 | 15.0 |
| Black African | 86.2 | 10.5 | 3.3 | 84.4 | 10.5 | 5.1 | 82.1 | 9.9 | 7.9 | 77.1 | 9.4 | 13.5 |
| Black Caribbean | 85.0 | 11.8 | 3.1 | 85.6 | 10.4 | 4.0 | 85.8 | 9.5 | 4.7 | 84.4 | 8.0 | 7.5 |
| Black other | 84.7 | 10.3 | 5.0 | 81.7 | 12.7 | 5.6 | 78.2 | 11.0 | 10.8 | 79.1 | 9.9 | 11.0 |
| Mixed white and Asian | 85.7 | 9.0 | 5.3 | 86.1 | 6.9 | 7.0 | 85.0 | 6.9 | 8.2 | 81.6 | 6.3 | 12.1 |
| Mixed white and black African | 85.9 | 10.3 | 3.8 | 83.2 | 10.3 | 6.5 | 82.5 | 9.3 | 8.2 | 76.4 | 9.4 | 14.2 |
| Mixed white and black Caribbean | 86.1 | 10.3 | 3.6 | 86.3 | 9.2 | 4.6 | 86.2 | 7.4 | 6.4 | 84.8 | 6.6 | 8.6 |
| Mixed other | 83.2 | 10.9 | 5.9 | 83.3 | 9.9 | 6.9 | 82.1 | 8.2 | 9.7 | 79.1 | 7.3 | 13.6 |
| White | 89.4 | 7.1 | 3.5 | 89.1 | 5.9 | 4.9 | 88.0 | 5.4 | 6.6 | 85.7 | 4.7 | 9.6 |
| Other | 82.8 | 11.9 | 5.3 | 82.5 | 10.6 | 6.9 | 78.0 | 10.8 | 11.2 | 75.6 | 8.5 | 15.8 |
| Arab | 80.1 | 14.0 | 5.9 | 78.5 | 13.1 | 8.4 | 74.7 | 12.8 | 12.5 | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality |
| Unknown | 83.8 | 9.9 | 6.3 | 81.9 | 9.5 | 8.6 | 81.8 | 8.6 | 9.6 | 79.4 | 6.8 | 13.8 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity (graduate destinations)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity (graduate destinations)’ (CSV)
Summary of Work and study after higher education By ethnicity (graduate destinations) Summary
The data shows that, for tax year ending in April 2020:
- 88.4% of people who graduated one year before were in sustained employment, further study or both, and 7.9% of people had no sustained destination
- 89.4% of white people were in sustained employment, further study or both one year after graduating – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
- people from the Arab (14.0%) ethnic group were the most likely to have no sustained destination one year after graduating, and people from the Chinese (8.6%) and Asian ‘other’ (8.6%) groups were the least likely
- 5 years after graduating, people from the white (88.0%) and Indian (86.7%) ethnic groups were the most likely to be in sustained employment, further study, or both – people from the Arab (12.8%) and black ‘other’ (11.0%) ethnic groups were the most likely to have no sustained destination
4. By ethnicity (further study or employment)
| 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 employment | 3 years after graduation Sustained employment only | 3 years after graduation Further study with or without employment | 5 years after graduation Sustained employment only | 5 years after graduation Further study with or without employment | 10 years after graduation Sustained employment only | 10 years after graduation Further study with or without employment |
| All | 63.5 | 24.9 | 73.0 | 15.0 | 76.2 | 10.6 | 78.7 | 5.6 |
| Bangladeshi | 60.7 | 26.6 | 74.1 | 12.8 | 77.0 | 7.7 | 77.2 | 4.2 |
| Chinese | 53.0 | 29.8 | 66.5 | 15.0 | 67.7 | 8.9 | 65.1 | 4.5 |
| Indian | 62.0 | 26.3 | 73.0 | 15.3 | 76.7 | 10.0 | 79.8 | 4.9 |
| Pakistani | 54.2 | 30.8 | 68.5 | 14.9 | 71.9 | 9.6 | 72.9 | 4.8 |
| Asian other | 59.2 | 27.3 | 68.3 | 16.7 | 69.2 | 11.8 | 70.7 | 7.3 |
| Black African | 59.1 | 27.1 | 66.2 | 18.2 | 67.7 | 14.4 | 68.2 | 8.9 |
| Black Caribbean | 65.3 | 19.7 | 71.5 | 14.1 | 73.7 | 12.2 | 77.4 | 7.0 |
| Black other | 58.3 | 26.4 | 65.9 | 15.8 | 65.5 | 12.8 | 71.6 | 7.5 |
| Mixed white and Asian | 58.7 | 27.0 | 69.1 | 17.0 | 72.6 | 12.4 | 74.9 | 6.7 |
| Mixed white and black African | 60.9 | 25.0 | 67.5 | 15.7 | 71.2 | 11.3 | 68.2 | 8.3 |
| Mixed white and black Caribbean | 64.6 | 21.5 | 73.0 | 13.3 | 75.3 | 11.0 | 79.1 | 5.6 |
| Mixed other | 56.2 | 27.0 | 67.0 | 16.3 | 70.1 | 12.1 | 73.0 | 6.1 |
| White | 65.0 | 24.3 | 74.4 | 14.7 | 77.6 | 10.5 | 80.2 | 5.4 |
| Other | 56.6 | 26.2 | 66.2 | 16.3 | 67.4 | 10.7 | 68.6 | 7.0 |
| Arab | 46.0 | 34.1 | 58.8 | 19.7 | 60.7 | 14.0 | withheld to protect confidentiality | withheld to protect confidentiality |
| Unknown | 62.1 | 21.7 | 67.9 | 14.0 | 71.7 | 10.0 | 73.2 | 6.2 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity (further study or employment)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity (further study or employment)’ (CSV)
Summary of Work and study after higher education By ethnicity (further study or employment) Summary
The data shows that, for tax year ending in April 2020:
- 63.5% of people who graduated one year before were in ‘sustained employment only’, and 24.9% were in further study (with or without employment)
- black Caribbean people (65.3%) were the most likely out of all ethnic groups to be in ‘sustained employment only’ one year after graduating – people from the Pakistani (54.2%) and Chinese (53.0%) ethnic groups were the least likely
- people from the Arab (34.1%) and Pakistani (30.8%) ethnic groups were the most likely to be in further study one year after graduating, and black Caribbean people (19.7%) were the least likely
- 78.7% of people were in ‘sustained employment only’ 10 years after graduating, compared with 63.5% of people one year after graduating
- 5.6% of people were in further study 10 years after graduating, compared with 34.9% of people one year after graduating
5. By ethnicity (average earnings)
| 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 | 21,600 | 25,100 | 28,200 | 32,200 |
| Bangladeshi | 20,100 | 24,200 | 26,700 | 28,900 |
| Chinese | 24,200 | 27,800 | 30,600 | 36,500 |
| Indian | 23,800 | 27,800 | 31,500 | 35,300 |
| Pakistani | 20,100 | 23,100 | 24,900 | 25,600 |
| Asian other | 23,100 | 26,700 | 29,600 | 35,100 |
| Black African | 22,300 | 24,500 | 27,400 | 30,000 |
| Black Caribbean | 19,800 | 23,400 | 26,400 | 29,300 |
| Black other | 19,400 | 23,100 | 26,400 | 28,900 |
| Mixed white and Asian | 22,300 | 26,400 | 29,600 | 36,600 |
| Mixed white and black African | 20,900 | 24,500 | 28,200 | 31,100 |
| Mixed white and black Caribbean | 20,100 | 23,800 | 27,100 | 31,200 |
| Mixed other | 21,600 | 24,900 | 28,200 | 34,000 |
| White | 21,600 | 24,900 | 28,200 | 32,200 |
| Other | 21,600 | 25,600 | 29,600 | 33,300 |
| Arab | 21,600 | 25,300 | 26,700 | withheld to protect confidentiality |
| Unknown | 23,100 | 25,300 | 27,100 | 30,700 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity (average earnings)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity (average earnings)’ (CSV)
Summary of Work and study after higher education By ethnicity (average earnings) Summary
The data shows that, for tax year ending in April 2020:
- the median salary of people who graduated one year before was £21,600 – it was £25,100 for people who graduated 3 years ago, £28,200 for people who graduated 5 years ago, and £32,200 for people who graduated 10 years ago
- people from the Chinese ethnic group had the highest median earnings one year (£24,200) and 10 years (£36,500) after graduating
- people from the Indian and Chinese ethnic groups had the highest average earnings 3 years after graduating (both £27,800)
- people from the Indian ethnic group had the highest average earnings 5 years after graduating (£31,500)
- people from the black ‘other’ ethnic group had the lowest average earnings one year after graduating (£19,400)
- people from the black ‘other’ and Pakistani ethnic groups had the lowest average earnings 3 years after graduating (both £23,100)
- people from the Pakistani ethnic group had the lowest average earnings 5 years (£24,900) and 10 years (£25,600) after graduating
6. Data sources
Source
LEO Graduate and Postgraduate Outcomes: 2019 to 2020
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
measure, time, time_type, academic year, years after graduation, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, destination, value, value type, numerator, denominator
measure, time, time_type, academic year, years after graduation, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, earnings_quartile, value, value type, denominator