Graduate Outcomes 2020/21: Summary Statistics - Graduate salaries and work locations

 
What were the salaries of graduates?

Both historically and in this release, earnings data reported by HESA are in nominal terms. This means graduate earnings have not been adjusted for inflation to reflect the purchasing power of those earnings. Therefore, caution is advised when comparing salary data across years.

Figure 13 shows:

• At an overall level, the £24,000-£26,999 band contains the highest proportion of graduates in full-time paid UK employment at 21%, followed by the £27,000-£29,999 band with 14% of graduates.
• The proportion of females earning salaries of £29,999 or less tended to be higher than males, while the proportion of males earning salaries of £30,000 and above tended to be higher than females.
• A higher percentage of White graduates were earning salaries below £27,000 than graduates from ethnic minority backgrounds.
• A higher proportion of graduates with no known disability were earning salaries above £30,000 when compared with graduates with a known disability.

Figure 14 shows:

• Among 2020/21 graduates, those who studied mathematical sciences and computing saw the largest difference between high skilled and low skilled median salaries at £10,500 and £10,000 respectively. Conversely, graduates who studied agriculture, food and related studies saw the smallest difference between high skilled and low skilled median salaries at £3,000.
• For non-science subjects, graduates who studied education and teaching saw the largest difference between high and medium skilled median salary at £6,500.
• When considering all skill levels, combined and general studies had the highest median salary amongst non-science subjects, while medicine and dentistry had the greatest median salary amongst science subjects.

The DfE published analysis on Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) with new data on Graduate industry included from June 2023. Note that this data is based on the 2019/20 tax year.

 
Where were graduates employed?

Figure 15 presents information on the movement of UK students from home to study and on into work. It shows the number of graduates domiciled from a specified region and the flow of movements between that region and the rest of the UK. Figure 16 providers further detail on Figure 15, showing the specific regions that graduates move between.

Figure 16 shows:

• Graduates who were in UK work at the time of the 2020/21 survey were most likely to be working in the same region as that which they were domiciled from.
• In 2020/21, only 2% of graduates domiciled in England worked outside of their country of domicile. In contrast, 29% of Welsh domiciled graduates worked outside of Wales.
• The East of England had the lowest percentage of graduates who worked in the same region as that which they were domiciled from, at 52% among 2020/21 graduates. Conversely, Scotland and Northern Ireland were the regions with the highest percentage of graduates working in the region where they were domiciled, at 87% and 82% respectively.

More detailed information on graduates, including data by provider, can be found in the Graduate Outcomes open data repository.

• Summary
• Graduate activities and characteristics
• Activities by previous study characteristics
• Graduate salaries and work locations
• Graduate reflections on activities
• Notes