Unemployment by qualification level
Published
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- 1. Navigate toMain facts and figures section
- 2. Navigate toThings you need to know section
- 3. Navigate to By ethnicity and qualification level section
- 4. Navigate to By ethnicity and qualification level (men only) section
- 5. Navigate to By ethnicity and qualification level (women only) section
- 6. Navigate toData sources section
- 7. Navigate toDownload the data section
1. Main facts and figures
- at almost every qualification level, White 16 to 64 year olds were the least likely to be unemployed in 2018 out of all ethnic groups
- 2% of White people with a degree (or other level 4 qualification or above) were unemployed, the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data measures the percentage of working age people (16 to 64 year olds) who are unemployed and not in full-time education. It shows rates of unemployment for each qualification level, which relates to someone’s highest qualification.
The qualification levels are:
- level 4 or above (degree level or equivalent)
- level 3 (2 or more A levels or equivalent)
- level 2 (5 or more GCSE passes at grades 4 to 9 or equivalent)
- below level 2 (fewer than 5 GCSE passes at grades 4 to 9 or equivalent)
- no qualifications
- other qualifications, including those from outside the UK and some professional qualifications where the level is not clear
A person of working age is counted as unemployed if they:
- do not have a job and have been actively seeking work in the past 4 weeks
- are available to start work in the next 2 weeks, or have found a job and are waiting to start it in the next 2 weeks
Percentages are rounded to whole numbers.
Not included in the data
The data does not include estimates based on fewer than:
- 30 survey respondents for data for all ethnic groups combined
- 100 survey respondents for data by ethnicity
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
Estimates are shown for the following 5 aggregated ethnic groups:
- Asian
- Black
- Mixed
- White
- Other
This is because the number of people surveyed was too small to make any reliable conclusions about any of the 18 ethnic groups.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for this data.
The Annual Population Survey updated its ethnicity questions in 2011. As a result, estimates from before and after 2011 may not be consistent, and data for individual ethnic groups in 2011 is not available.
The figures on this page are based on survey data. Find out more about:
- interpreting survey data, including how reliability is affected by the number of people surveyed
- how weighting is used to make survey data more representative of the general population
In the data file
See Download the data for:
- estimates rounded to 1 decimal place
- confidence intervals for each ethnic group – find out more about how we use confidence intervals to determine how reliable estimates are
- estimates for 2 ethnic groups, White and Other than White
3. By ethnicity and qualification level
| Highest qualification held | All | Asian | Black | Mixed | White | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | 3% | 4% | 6% | 5% | 3% | 5% |
| Level 4 and above | 2% | 4% | 6% | 4% | 2% | 5% |
| Level 3 | 3% | 5% | 7% | 8% | 3% | 7% |
| Level 2 | 4% | 6% | 7% | 4% | 3% | 3% |
| Below Level 2 | 5% | 6% | 8% | 5% | 4% | 6% |
| Other qualifications | 4% | 4% | 7% | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 3% | 5% |
| No qualifications | 4% | 2% | 4% | 7% | 4% | 3% |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and qualification level’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and qualification level’ (CSV)
Summary of Unemployment by qualification level By ethnicity and qualification level Summary
This data shows that:
- at almost every qualification level, White 16 to 64 year olds were the least likely to be unemployed in 2018 out of all ethnic groups
- 2% of White 16 to 64 year olds with a degree (or other level 4 qualification) or above were unemployed, the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups
- although the table and chart show other differences, some of the results are based on small numbers of people so caution should be taken when making generalisations
4. By ethnicity and qualification level (men only)
| Highest qualification held | All | Asian | Black | Mixed | White | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | 3% | 4% | 7% | 6% | 3% | 5% |
| Level 4 and above | 2% | 3% | 6% | 4% | 2% | 5% |
| Level 3 | 3% | 5% | 7% | 10% | 3% | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Level 2 | 4% | 6% | 7% | 3% | 4% | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Below Level 2 | 5% | 6% | 10% | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 5% | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Other qualifications | 4% | 3% | 7% | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 4% | 6% |
| No qualifications | 5% | 3% | 5% | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 5% | 4% |
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 Unemployment by qualification level By ethnicity and qualification level (men only) Summary
This data shows that:
- 2% of White men with a degree (or another level 4 qualification or above), and 3% of those with 2 or more A levels (or another level 3 qualification) were unemployed – these were the lowest rates out of all ethnic groups
- the biggest unemployment rate gap between men from different ethnic groups was among those with 2 or more A levels (or another level 3 qualification), where 3% of White men and 10% of those with Mixed ethnicity were unemployed
- although the table and chart show other differences, some of the results are based on small numbers of people so caution should be taken when making generalisations
5. By ethnicity and qualification level (women only)
| Highest qualification held | All | Asian | Black | Mixed | White | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | 3% | 5% | 6% | 4% | 3% | 4% |
| Level 4 and above | 2% | 4% | 6% | 3% | 2% | 5% |
| Level 3 | 3% | 5% | 7% | 6% | 3% | 8% |
| Level 2 | 4% | 6% | 6% | 5% | 3% | 2% |
| Below Level 2 | 4% | 7% | 7% | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 4% | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Other qualifications | 3% | 6% | 7% | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 3% | 4% |
| No qualifications | 3% | 2% | 3% | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 4% | 2% |
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 Unemployment by qualification level By ethnicity and qualification level (women only) Summary
This data shows that:
- at almost every qualification level, women from the White ethnic group were the least likely out of all ethnic groups to be unemployed
- among women with a degree (or another level 4 qualification), White women had the lowest unemployment rate (at 2%), and Black women had the highest (at 6%)
- 3% of White women with 2 or more A levels (or another level 3 qualification) were unemployed, compared with 7% of Black women and 5% of Asian women
- although the table and chart show other differences, some of the results are based on small numbers of people so caution should be taken when making generalisations
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 the following: measure, ethnicity, year, geography, gender, age, highest qualification held, value, numerator, denominator, confidence intervals (upper bound, lower bound)