There is a new version of this page. View the latest version.
- 1. Navigate to Main facts and figures section
- 2. Navigate toBy ethnicity and qualification level section
- 3. Navigate toBy ethnicity and qualification level (men only) section
- 4. Navigate toBy ethnicity and qualification level (women only) section
- 5. Navigate to Methodology section
- 6. Navigate to Data sources section
- 7. Navigate to Download the data section
1. Main facts and figures
- overall, 86% of people aged 16 to 64 years with a level 4 qualification (like a degree) or above were in employment in 2017; this figure dropped to 83% for people with a level 3 qualification, 76% for those with a level 2 qualification, and 46% for those with no qualifications
- at most qualification levels, White people aged 16 to 64 years were more likely to be employed in 2017 than people from all other ethnic groups
- at every level of qualification, men in the White and Asian groups were more likely to be employed than women
Things you need to know
This analysis is based on the Annual Population Survey (APS), which is a ‘sample survey’. It collects information from a random sample of the population to make generalisations (reach 'findings') about the total population.
The commentary for this data includes only reliable, or ‘statistically significant’, findings. Findings are statistically significant when we can be confident that they can be repeated, and are reflective of the total population rather than just the survey sample.
Specifically, the statistical tests used mean we can be confident that if we carried out the same survey on different random samples of the population, 19 times out of 20 we would get similar findings.
As with all surveys, the estimates from the APS are subject to a degree of uncertainty as they are based on a sample of the population. The degree of uncertainty is greater when the number of respondents is small, so it will be highest for ethnic minority groups.
Smaller numbers of survey respondents from ethnic minority backgrounds mean that estimates for these ethnic groups are more unreliable than estimates for White people (which includes White British and White ethnic minorities).
Results taken from a low number of responses are more likely to be affected by statistical variation, so observed changes might not reflect real differences. As such, caution is needed when interpreting short-term trends in the data, especially for sub groups (for example, a specific ethnic group, age group and gender).
When looking at data for ‘All’ groups, any values based on fewer than 30 responses have been withheld, and when further breaking down the data by ethnicity, any values based on fewer than 100 responses have been withheld. This is to protect confidentiality or because the numbers involved are too small to draw any reliable conclusions.
Data is sourced from the APS to get additional detail such as information by local authority area. Some figures may differ slightly from reports published by the Department for Work and Pensions and the Office for National Statistics that also use the Labour Force Survey (LFS).
Changes were made to the LFS (and therefore the APS) ethnicity questions in January to March 2011, to bring them more in line with Census data collection on these topics. In April to June 2011 further changes were made to the ethnicity questions to bring them in line with Scottish Census data collection. As a result, there may be some inconsistencies with estimates from earlier than 2011.
The ethnic groupings used here are broad; there is no breakdown of data for the more specific ethnic groups each contains. Some of the specific ethnic groups have very different experiences to one another. For example, the Black ethnic group could include both recent migrants from Somalia and Black people born in Britain to British parents.
What the data measures
This data measures the percentage of 16 to 64 year olds not in full-time education who are employed. This is broken down by the highest level of qualification and ethnicity.
‘Employed’ means people who are economically active. This includes people who are:
- in paid work (as an employee or self-employed)
- temporarily away from their job
- on a government-supported training and employment programme
- doing unpaid family work
Qualification level refers to the highest qualification gained by an individual. It is broken down into 5 broad categories:
- level 4 or higher: higher national diploma (HND); degree; higher degree-level qualifications, or equivalent
- level 3: two or more A levels; advanced general national vocational qualification (GNVQ); national vocational qualification (NVQ) 2, 3 or higher; higher or advanced higher national qualifications (Scotland), or equivalent
- level 2: five or more GCSEs at grades A to C/9-4; intermediate GNVQ; NVQ 2; intermediate 2 national qualification (Scotland), or equivalent
- below level 2: fewer than 5 GCSEs at grades A to C/9-4; foundation GNVQ; NVQ 1; intermediate 1 national qualification (Scotland), or equivalent
- no qualifications
Trade apprenticeships are treated as being 50% NVQ level 2 and 50% NVQ level 3. This is in line with Office for National Statistics guidelines.
In the charts and tables, ‘other qualifications’ include:
- foreign qualifications
- some professional qualifications where the level of qualification is not clear
The ethnic categories used in this data
For this data, the number of people surveyed (the ‘sample size’) was too small to draw any firm conclusions about specific ethnic categories. Therefore, the data is broken down into the following 5 broad ethnic groups used in the 2011 Census:
- Asian
- Black
- Mixed
- White
- Other
2. By ethnicity and qualification level
| Highest qualification held | All | Asian | Black | Mixed | White | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 4 and above | 86% | 82% | 84% | 83% | 87% | 78% |
| Level 3 | 83% | 71% | 76% | 82% | 83% | 70% |
| Level 2 | 76% | 60% | 64% | 67% | 77% | 59% |
| Below Level 2 | 71% | 55% | 66% | 58% | 72% | 53% |
| Other qualifications | 76% | 67% | 66% | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 78% | 68% |
| No qualifications | 46% | 39% | 40% | 43% | 47% | 44% |
| All | 78% | 69% | 73% | 74% | 79% | 69% |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and qualification level’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and qualification level’ (CSV)
Summary of Employment by qualification level By ethnicity and qualification level Summary
This data shows that:
- overall, 86% of people aged 16 to 64 years with a level 4 qualification (such as a degree) or above were in employment in 2017; this figure dropped to 83% for people with a level 3 qualification, 76% for those with a level 2 qualification, and 46% for those with no qualifications
- at almost every qualification level, White people were more likely to be employed than people from most other ethnic groups
- among those with no qualifications, people from the Asian ethnic group were less likely than the White group to be employed
- although the chart and table show differences in employment between other ethnic groups at various qualification levels, sample sizes for these groups are small and any generalisations based on these results are very unreliable
3. By ethnicity and qualification level (men only)
| Highest qualification held | All | Asian | Black | Mixed | White | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | 83% | 82% | 80% | 77% | 83% | 78% |
| Level 4 and above | 90% | 91% | 90% | 86% | 90% | 85% |
| Level 3 | 86% | 80% | 84% | 84% | 87% | 77% |
| Level 2 | 81% | 71% | 63% | 70% | 82% | 60% |
| Below Level 2 | 79% | 74% | 73% | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 79% | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Other qualifications | 83% | 83% | 81% | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 83% | 80% |
| No qualifications | 55% | 63% | 49% | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 54% | 62% |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and qualification level (men only)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and qualification level (men only)’ (CSV)
Summary of Employment by qualification level By ethnicity and qualification level (men only) Summary
This data shows that:
- overall, 90% of men aged 16 to 64 years with a level 4 qualification (such as a degree) or above were in employment in 2017; this figure dropped to 86% for men with a level 3 qualification, 81% for those with a level 2 qualification, and 55% for those with no qualifications
- among those with level 4 qualifications or above, levels of employment were similar between men from the Asian (91%), White (90%), Black (90%), Mixed (86%) and Other (85%) ethnic groups
- among those with level 2 qualifications, men from the Asian, Black and Other ethnic groups were less likely to be employed than White men
- among those with no qualifications, men from the Asian ethnic group were more likely to be employed than men from the White group (at 63% and 54% respectively)
- although the chart and table show differences in employment between other ethnic groups at this and other qualification levels, sample sizes for these groups are small and any generalisations based on these results are very unreliable
4. By ethnicity and qualification level (women only)
| Highest qualification held | All | Asian | Black | Mixed | White | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | 73% | 56% | 67% | 71% | 75% | 60% |
| Level 4 and above | 83% | 73% | 79% | 81% | 84% | 72% |
| Level 3 | 78% | 63% | 70% | 81% | 80% | 63% |
| Level 2 | 71% | 49% | 65% | 65% | 72% | 58% |
| Below Level 2 | 63% | 40% | 59% | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 65% | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Other qualifications | 66% | 49% | 52% | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 71% | 53% |
| No qualifications | 36% | 19% | 34% | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 40% | 28% |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and qualification level (women only)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and qualification level (women only)’ (CSV)
Summary of Employment by qualification level By ethnicity and qualification level (women only) Summary
This data shows that:
- overall, 83% of women aged 16 to 64 years with a level 4 qualification (like a degree) or above were in employment in 2017; this figure dropped to 78% for women with a level 3 qualification, 71% for those with a level 2 qualification, and 36% for those with no qualifications
- at every qualification level, women from the Asian ethnic group were less likely to be employed than women from the White group
- at level 4 qualification or above, White women (84%) were more likely to be employed than women from the Other (72%), Asian (73%) and Black (79%) groups
- although the chart shows differences in employment between ethnic groups at other qualification levels, sample sizes for these groups are small and any generalisations based on these results are very unreliable
5. Methodology
The Annual Population Survey is a continuous household survey. Most people are interviewed in person first, and later by telephone. The sample is formed partly from waves 1 and 5 of the Labour Force Survey (in which selected addresses are contacted every 3 months) and partly from boost cases that are in the sample for 4 waves, spread one year apart.
Participants are randomly selected from the Royal Mail Postcode address File (PAF). The NHS communal accommodation list is also used and (in the case of remote parts of Scotland) telephone directories. All eligible individuals found at the selected address may be interviewed. Individuals are included in the dataset for this analysis if they respond themselves or if a family member responds on their behalf. The complex survey design has been taken into account when calculating confidence intervals.
Weighting:
The achieved sample of approximately 275,000 undergoes weighting which is structured at local authority level and uses age and sex dimensions.
Weighting is used to adjust the results of a survey to make them representative of the population and improve their accuracy.
For example, a survey which contains 25% females and 75% males will not accurately reflect the views of the general population, which we know is around 50% male and 50% female.
Statisticians rebalance or ‘weight’ the survey results to more accurately represent the general population. This helps to make them more reliable.
Survey weights are usually applied to make sure the survey sample has broadly the same gender, age, ethnic and geographic make up as the general population.
The Office for National Statistics population estimates and projections are used as the basis for this weighting process.
Confidence intervals:
Confidence intervals for each ethnic group are available if you download the data.
The APS is based on a sample of 16 to 64 year olds, rather than all 16 to 64 year olds in England, Wales and Scotland. This measure makes reliable estimates of the percentage of people in this age bracket who were employed, but it’s impossible to be 100% certain of the true percentage.
Based on the APS results, it’s estimated that 47% of White 16 to 64 year olds not in full-time education who had no educational qualifications were employed in 2017.
It is 95% certain, however, that somewhere between 46.2% and 48.0% of all White 16 to 64 year olds not in full-time education with no educational qualifications in England, Wales and Scotland were employed in 2017. In statistical terms, this is a 95% confidence interval. This means that if 100 random samples were taken, then 95 times out of 100 the estimate would fall in this range (that is, between the upper and lower confidence interval). But 5 times out of 100 it would fall outside this range.
The smaller the survey sample, the more uncertain the estimate and the wider the confidence interval. For example, fewer 16 to 64 year olds from the Asian ethnic group responded to the survey than their White counterparts, so we can be less certain about the estimate for the smaller group. This greater uncertainty is expressed by a wider confidence interval, for example of between 35.2% and 43.6% for Asians aged 16 to 64 not in full-time education with no educational qualifications in 2017.
Statistically significant findings have been determined where the 95% confidence intervals of an ethnic group do not overlap with the confidence interval for the group to which they are being compared.
Suppression rules and disclosure control
In data covering all ethnic groups together, estimates based on sample sizes of less than 30 have been suppressed. For data broken down by ethnic groups, estimates based on sample sizes under 100 have been suppressed.
‘Suppression’ means these figures have not been included in the data, to protect confidentiality and because the numbers involved are too small to draw any reliable conclusions.
Breaking the figures down by gender and the relatively smaller overall population of those who are unemployed reduces sample sizes further and makes the figures less reliable.
Data been suppressed at some qualification levels for the Mixed and Other groups because of the very small numbers.
Rounding
Estimates in the charts and tables are rounded to whole percentages. Estimates in the download file are rounded to 1 decimal place.
Quality and methodology information
6. Data sources
Source
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Office for National Statistics
Note on corrections or updates
Higher-level figures may differ from those published by the Department for Work and Pensions and the Office for National Statistics that use the Labour Force Survey.
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The Annual Population Survey (APS) is the largest ongoing household survey in the UK and covers a range of topics, including:
- personal characteristics
- labour market status
- work characteristics
- education
- health
The purpose of the APS is to provide information on important social and socio-economic variables at local levels, such as labour market estimates.
The published statistics also allow the government to monitor estimates on a range of issues between censuses.
7. Download the data
This file contains: ethnicity, time, gender, age, highest qualification level, value, denominator, numerator, sample size