Graduate unemployment under 6% for those with best degrees

15 August 2007

HESA's Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education 2005/06, published this week, reveals that levels of unemployment vary by degree classification. Graduates obtaining the lowest degree classifications are around two and a half times more likely to be unemployed six months after graduating than those obtaining firsts.

The publication, produced from the annual Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) Survey, reveals that 4.4% and 5.7% of students obtaining, through full-time study, first and upper second class honours respectively are "assumed to be unemployed"; that is those not in full-time study who reported themselves as unemployed and looking for employment, further study or training, or those due to start a job in the next month. In comparison, 8.1% of students were assumed to be unemployed when qualifying with a lower second, this rose to 11.3% for a third - a little over two and a half times the rate of those with a first and nearly twice the overall rate of 6.4%.

Leavers with degrees which are not subject to classification have the lowest unemployment rate, with just 3.5% of graduates assumed to be unemployed. These degrees include the subject areas of medicine and dentistry, and veterinary science. The latest data shows that just 0.2% of first degree qualifiers in medicine and dentistry were assumed to be unemployed, while the figure for their counterparts in veterinary science is 2.1%. It should be noted that medicine and dentistry is a quota controlled subject area.

The data in this analysis is based on responses from 188,330 UK and EU domiciled qualifiers who were awarded first degrees following full-time study in 2005/06 and whose post-university destination is known. Of these, first-class honours accounted for 12.3% of awards, upper seconds for 48.4%, lower seconds for 28.5%, thirds for 4.9% and unclassified degrees for 6.0%.

Since the 2004/05 DLHE survey, there has been a fall in the proportion of students assumed to be unemployed across all degree classifications as shown in the table below.

Table 1 Percentage of full-time, first degree students assumed to be unemployed by degree classification

Classification of degree	Percentage assumed to be unemployed 2004/05 (%)	Percentage assumed to be unemployed 2005/06 (%)
First	4.5	4.4
Upper second	5.9	5.7
Lower second	8.2	8.1
Third	11.5	11.3
Unclassified	3.9	3.5

Examination of UK full-time first degree domiciled graduates who are assumed to be unemployed revealed differences by gender. In 2005/06, 8.1% (8.5% in 2004/05) of 77,345 males and 5.1% (5.2%) of 104,140 females were assumed to be out of work six months after graduating.

Overall, of all full-time leavers who obtained their first degree and whose destination was known, 63.4% (63.2% in 2004/05) went into work only; this breaks down into 54.3% (54.5%) entering self-employment or full-time work, 8.0% (7.8%) working part-time only, and 1.0% (0.9%) doing voluntary work only. A further 8.4% (8.2%) combined work and further study, while 16.1% (16.0%) undertook further study only. Meanwhile, 6.4% (6.6%) were assumed to be unemployed and 4.6% (4.9%) were not available for employment. Finally, 1.2% (1.1%) were involved in other activities.

Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education 2005/06 is an annual publication available from HESA containing reports and analysis from the annual national DLHE survey and includes details on leavers entering employment, leavers undertaking further study plus a range of other activities. It provides a valuable resource for anyone interested or involved in HE research, policy, analysis or media related activities. An extract from one of the many tables within this publication, and on which this press release is based, is reproduced below:

Table 2 Destinations of leavers who obtained first degree qualifications through full-time study by class of first degree 2005/06

	Total first degrees	First class	Upper second	Lower second (#4)	Third class/Pass	Unclassified
Total of known destination	188330	23190	91095	53605	9155	11280
% known destination(#2)	76.9%	82.4%	78.7%	73.5%	68.2%	77.8%
Activity
Full-time paid work only (incl. self-employed)	102300	11245	48100	29745	4975	8240
Part-time paid work only	15150	1240	6870	5410	1040	590
Voluntary/unpaid work only	1960	260	1115	470	85	30
Work & further study	15845	2480	8030	3910	665	755
Further study only	30230	5740	16200	6530	815	950
Assumed to be unemployed	11995	1030	5175	4355	1040	395
Not available for employment	8665	980	4650	2435	360	240
Other	2180	220	955	745	175	85
Of those working (incl. work & further study):
Full-time paid work(#3)	108870	12310	51360	31295	5220	8680
Within the UK	104290	11720	49020	30070	4995	8485
Within other EU countries	2660	330	1315	760	145	110
Outside the EU	1835	255	985	450	75	70
Permanent or fixed-term longer than 12 months	72775	8905	34030	20355	3405	6080
Temporary or fixed-term of less than 12 months	17730	1775	9350	5115	785	700
Duration not known	18365	1630	7980	5820	1030	1900
Part-time paid work	19705	1865	9270	6615	1215	740
Self-employed/freelance	4400	730	2180	1095	235	160
Voluntary/unpaid work	2285	315	1300	535	95	35
Of those studying (incl. work & further study):
Type of qualification
Higher degree (research)	3510	1810	1475	165	25	35
Higher degree (taught)	14650	2905	7925	3210	360	250
Postgraduate diploma or certificate	10320	1165	5760	2760	270	365
First degree	1900	210	750	380	150	405
Other diploma or certificate	2855	295	1445	845	155	115
Professional qualification	8185	1270	4605	1850	250	210
Other qualification	2660	265	1325	745	160	165
Not aiming for a qualification	1995	295	950	475	120	155

Notes for Editors

Press enquiries should be directed to:

• Greg Wells
• HESA Press Officer
• 01242 211133
• [email protected]
• 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ.

When using this material please credit HESA's Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Institutions 2005/06.

All numbers in this press release are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5.

Notes to tables:

#2. Percentage of known destination excludes those who replied to the survey but explicitly refused to give information and is expressed as a percentage of all students from whom a destination of leavers record was expected.

#3. Students of unknown location of employment are included in total figures, but not in separate breakdowns. Unlike years prior to 2003/04, the UK domiciled students whose location of employment was given as unknown are not being assumed to have remained within the UK.

#4. Lower second class degree includes ‘undivided' second class honours.

Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education 2005/06 is available to purchase from HESA Customer Services as a combined book and CD-ROM for £50 plus £5.95 VAT. For more information telephone 01242 211155 or see our products page.

HESA advise you to take the data definitions below into account when examining the data.

Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education 2005/06

Definitions

The HESA Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) target population contains all United Kingdom (UK) and European Union (EU) domiciled students reported to HESA for the reporting period 1 August to 31 July as obtaining relevant qualifications and whose study was full-time or part-time (including sandwich students and those writing-up theses). Awards from dormant status are not included in the target population. The coverage differs from the population used in previous years for the First Destination Supplement (FDS) in a number of ways. Notably, those who obtained any of the relevant qualifications following part-time study are now included, together with those obtaining postgraduate diplomas and certificates (full-time or part-time).

Relevant qualifications for inclusion in the DLHE return are postgraduate degrees, postgraduate diplomas and certificates, Postgraduate Certificates in Education (PGCE), first degrees (excludes intercalated degrees), Diplomas of Higher Education (DipHE), Certificates of Higher Education (CertHE), Foundation Degrees, Higher National Diplomas (HND) or Higher National Certificates (HNC). The population for the DLHE return does not necessarily represent the full cohort graduating during the reporting period; examples of those excluded are professional qualifications (e.g. associate membership or membership of a body such as the Institute of Bankers) and undergraduate diplomas and certificates (other than Foundation Degrees, HND, DipHE, HNC and CertHE).

The reference dates for the 2005/06 DLHE return were 24 April 2006 (if the leaver obtained the qualification between 1 August 2005 and 31 December 2005) and 15 January 2007 (if the leaver obtained the qualification between 1 January 2006 and 31 July 2006).

The reference dates for the 2004/05 DLHE return were 15 April 2005 (if the leaver obtained the qualification between 1 August 2004 and 31 December 2004) and 16 January 2006 (if the leaver obtained the qualification between 1 January 2005 and 31 July 2005).

Rounding strategy

Due to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Human Rights Act 1998, HESA implements a strategy in published and released tabulations designed to prevent the disclosure of personal information about any individual. These tabulations are derived from the HESA non-statutory populations and may differ slightly from those published by related statutory bodies. This strategy involves rounding all numbers to the nearest 5. A summary of this strategy is as follows:

• 0, 1, 2 are rounded to 0
• All other numbers are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5.

So for example 3 is represented as 5, 22 is represented as 20, 3286 is represented as 3285 while 0, 20, 55, 3510 remain unchanged.

This rounding strategy is also applied to total figures; the consequence of which is that the sum of numbers in each row or column will rarely match the total shown precisely. Note that subject level data calculated by apportionment will also be rounded in accordance with this strategy.

Average values, proportions and FTE values prepared by HESA will not be affected by the above strategy, and will be calculated on precise raw numbers. However, percentages calculated on populations which contain 52 or fewer individuals will be suppressed and represented as '..' as will averages based on populations of 7 or fewer.

Level of qualification obtained

First degrees are first degrees, first degrees with eligibility to register to practice (doctor/dentist/veterinary surgeon), first degrees with qualified teacher status (QTS)/registration with the General Teaching Council (GTC), enhanced first degrees and first degrees obtained concurrently with diplomas.

Domicile - 2005/06

Domicile data is supplied to HESA in the form of postcodes (UK domiciled students) or country codes. Postcodes are mapped to counties, unitary authorities, government office regions and UK nations using the National Statistics Postcode Directory. Countries are mapped to geographical regions following consultation with the Department for Education and Skills. Where no data is supplied about the student's domicile, fee eligibility is used to determine whether domicile is European Union, including the UK, or not.

UK domiciled students are those whose normal residence is in the UK, including the Channel Islands and Isle of Man.

Of those students who are not UK domiciled, other EU students are those whose normal residence is in countries which were European Union members as at 1 December of the reporting period. Non-EU students are those whose normal residence prior to commencing their programme of study was outside the EU.

Classification of first degrees

The classification of an undergraduate degree indicates the qualification class that the student obtained. Certain qualifications obtained at first degree level are not subject to classification of award, notably medical and general degrees. These, together with ordinary degrees, have been included within the unclassified category. Third class honours, fourth class honours and the pass category have been aggregated. Lower second and undivided second class honours have been aggregated.

Mode of study

Full-time includes full-time and sandwich study, plus those writing-up theses following full-time study.

Employment categories

In the DLHE survey leavers are able to report separately what they are doing in relation to both employment and study and a matrix of possible outcomes is constructed. This matrix is used to define the key categories of outcomes such as employed and unemployed.

As leavers report separately what they are doing in relation to employment and further study, it is possible to be involved in either employment only, further study only or employment and further study. Therefore where the terms employment and further study are used, it is important to note that:

• Employment includes those in employment only, and those in both employment and further study
• Further study includes those in further study only, and those in both employment and further study.

Matrix of standard categories for publication from DLHE - 2005/06

Employment circumstances	Full-time study (1)	Part-time study (2)	Not in study (3)
Employed full-time in paid work (01)	D	D	A
Employed part-time in paid work (02)	D	D	B
Self-employed/freelance (03)	D	D	A
Voluntary work/other unpaid work (15)	D	D	C
Permanently unable to work/retired (16)	G	G	G
Temporarily sick or unable to work/looking after the home or family (17)	E	E	G
Taking time out in order to travel (10)	G	G	G
Due to start a job within the next month (11)	E	F	F
Unemployed and looking for employment, further study or training (12)	E	F	F
Not employed but NOT looking for employment, further study or training (13)	E	E	O
Something else (14)	E	E	O
Question not answered (XX)	X	X	X

The values in brackets refer to valid values recorded for Employment Circumstances (field 5) and Study Circumstances (field 6) in the DLHE record.

Publication categories

Full-time paid work	A
Part-time paid work	B
Voluntary/unpaid work only	C
Work & further study	D
Further study only	E
Assumed to be unemployed	F
Not available for employment	G
Other	O
Explicit refusal	X

Employment

Employment only includes those graduates who reported that they were in full-time paid work (including self-employed/freelance), part-time paid work, voluntary or unpaid work, and who were not also in study, training or research.

Full-time employment only includes those who reported that they were in full-time paid work (including self-employed/freelance) and who were not also in study, training or research.

Combination of work and further study includes those who reported that they were in full-time paid work (including self-employed/freelance), part-time paid work, voluntary or unpaid work, and who were also in full-time or part-time study, training or research.

Unemployment

Assumed to be unemployed includes those students who gave their employment circumstances as unemployed and looking for employment, further study or training, and who were also either in part-time study, training or research or not studying, plus those who were due to start a job within the next month and who were also either in part-time study, training or research or not studying.

Further study

Further study only includes those who gave their employment circumstances as temporarily sick or unable to work/looking after the home or family, not employed but not looking for employment, further study or training, or something else and who were also either in full-time or part-time study, training or research, plus those who were due to start a job within the next month or unemployed and looking for employment, further study or training and who were also in full-time study, training or research.

Age

Age is as at 31 July of the reporting period.

Subject areas

In 2002/03 a new subject classification was introduced called the Joint Academic Coding System (JACS). This subject classification looks similar to that previously published but has been devised in a different way. Therefore subject data is not comparable to that previously published.

Additionally, from 2002/03, a new procedure of apportionment has been introduced. Under apportionment, each headcount is, where necessary, divided in a way that in broad-brush terms reflects the pattern of a split programme. This is analogous to the use of FTE calculations, but should not be confused with them, since the splits used for apportionment are conventional rather than data-based.

For split programmes not involving an initial teacher training (ITT) component, the apportionment algorithm is as follows:

• 50%:50% for a balanced two-way split
• 66.667%:33.333% for a major/minor two-way split
• 33.333%:33.333%:33.333% for a balanced three-way split.

ITT students at undergraduate level who also have a specialism subject recorded (typically, secondary ITT students) are apportioned 50% to the ‘Education' subject area and the remaining 50% is further apportioned according to the algorithm for non-ITT students. Where no subject other than education is recorded, or where the student is on a PGCE course, apportionment is 100% to the ‘Education' subject area.

The 19 broad subject areas have been retained. Further details have been outlined in the HESA Student Circular 02/03 'Subject Areas and Related Issues'.

HESA has defined nineteen subject areas in terms of JACS codes for reporting information broken down by subject. The subject areas give a useful broad-brush picture, and are as consistent as is practicable with those previously defined in terms of HESACODE. The subject areas do not overlap, and cover the entire range of JACS Principal Subjects. Apart from the need to separate the ‘Mathematical sciences' and ‘Computer science' elements of Principal Subject G9, they are expressed entirely in terms of JACS Principal Subjects, and in many cases correspond closely to one or more JACS Subject Groups.

In response to requests from users of HESA data, the printed tables also show information for four supplementary subjects, three of which fall within single subject areas, and one, ‘Geography & environmental science', cuts across two areas.

Finally, there is an interest in having information about teachers in training. Since this is best presented on a headcount basis rather than an apportioned basis, the figures are not directly comparable with the apportioned figures in the ‘Education' subject area, and are tabulated separately to reduce the risk of misinterpretation.

Subject areas	JACS code
Medicine & dentistry	A
Subjects allied to medicine	B
Biological sciences	C
Veterinary science	D1/2
Agriculture & related subjects	D0/3/4/5/6/7/9
Physical sciences	F
Mathematical sciences	G0/1/2/3/90/91/99
Computer science	G4/5/6/7/92
Engineering & technology	H, J
Architecture, building & planning	K
Social studies	L
Law	M
Business & administrative studies	N
Mass communications & documentation	P
Languages	Q, R, T
Historical & philosophical studies	V
Creative arts & design	W
Education	X
Combined	Y
Supplementary subjects
Psychology	C8
Geography & environmental science	F8, L7
Economics & politics	L1/2
English	Q3

The University of Cambridge - 2005/06

The University of Cambridge has taken the opportunity of a new student record system to review the recording of student data. The Head of Planning and Resource Allocation at the University of Cambridge should be consulted about significant variances when comparing data for 2004/05 and 2005/06 or using 2005/06 data where there are particular sensitivities. These sensitivities include postgraduate research and postgraduate taught totals and 'other postgraduate' and 'other undergraduate' totals.

Ends