The 2018/19 Graduate Outcomes survey was sent to graduates who qualified from their higher education course between August 2018 and July 2019. Surveying commenced in December 2019 for the first of four cohorts. Shortly after surveying began for the second cohort, the World Health Organisation declared the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. This meant that many graduates were completing the survey at various points during the pandemic. The Graduate Outcomes quality report details further information about survey alterations due to the pandemic.
The quality of data used in this release is not thought to be adversely affected by the pandemic. Results and trends emerging from the data this year do however reflect the circumstances under which it was collected. In particular, small changes around the activities of graduates are apparent (including an increase in the proportion of graduates unemployed and a drop in those taking time out to travel). Further details about the analysis we have undertaken to explore the impact of the pandemic on the 2018/19 Graduate Outcomes dataset is provided in an insight briefing: The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Graduate Outcomes 2018/19
Accompanying this release is a suite of supporting information in the form of a user guide. This contains guidance on the history and background to the survey, survey methodology and the Graduate Outcomes quality report.
All tables and charts include a link underneath allowing you to download the data you see on screen, including filters, and will also include a link to download the complete source data as a machine-readable csv file.
Sector overview
The following tables contain information on the activities of graduates of higher education.
Figure 5 - Graduate outcomes by activity and personal characteristics
Academic years 2017/18 to 2018/19
Show:
This is a large table and will take a moment to load...
Given that we are reporting on a subset of graduates from the total target population in this survey (i.e. those who responded to the survey – the sample), we cannot be completely certain that any statistics we create from that sample are exactly the same as the statistics we could have created if every single graduate in our target population had responded. A confidence interval gives us a statistical way to indicate a range of values within which we can be reasonably confident the ‘true’ (i.e. total population) value would fall. For Graduate Outcomes data, 95% confidence intervals are used which means that there is a 95% chance that the interval calculated from the sample covers the true value. The width of the confidence interval gives some idea about how precise an estimated value is: the wider the range from the stated percentage, the less the precision. More information on confidence intervals and survey weighting is available in the methodology statement.
The census point of the survey is at 15 months after graduation which means that many graduates may have undertaken other qualifications such as Master’s degrees during this period. At the point of the survey some may only just be completing those further qualifications. The interim study filter allows you to include or exclude graduates who are likely to have spent most of the 15 month period in full-time study from tables and charts. Whether you choose to include or exclude these graduates will depend on your intended use for the statistics. For example, if you are assessing the rates of unemployment of graduates it may not be fair to compare graduates who are likely to have spent most of the 15 months in the labour market with those who have only recently entered the labour market. In this example it may be more sensible to exclude graduates who have spent most of the 15 months in full-time study.
Table 9 - Graduate activities by level of qualification obtained and sex
Open data licence: CC-BY-4.0