HESA’s Statistical First Release of DLHE 2014/15, published on the 30th June, shows a continuous increase in leavers’ employment rates since 2011/12. 72% of leavers from higher education were working six months after graduation, a 1% increase compared to the 2013/14 data. Only 5% of leavers were unemployed (unchanged from 2013/14). The rest of leavers were either in full-time or part-time further study, or engaged in other activities.

HESA’s Statistical First Release of DLHE 2014/15, published on the 30th June, shows a continuous increase in leavers’ employment rates since 2011/12. 72% of leavers from higher education were working six months after graduation, a 1% increase compared to the 2013/14 data. Only 5% of leavers were unemployed (unchanged from 2013/14). The rest of leavers were either in full-time or part-time further study, or engaged in other activities.

These findings echo what heads of careers and employability services in HEIs reported collectively in the AGCAS Graduate Labour Market Survey in early 2016.

Professional services

DLHE 2014/15 also reveals a tendency that most leavers worked in professional service sectors. Nearly two thirds of leavers’ jobs fall into five sectors:

• Human health and social work activities (20.3%)
• Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles 
   (13.9%)
• Education (12.1%)
• Professional, scientific and technical activities (12.0%)
• Information and communication (7.0%)

The proportion of full-time first degree leavers who work in the five service areas has increased slightly year by year since 2011/12. The same trend was observed in ‘Human health and social work activities’, ‘Education’, ‘Professional, scientific and technical activities’, and ‘Information and communication’. In contrast, a reverse trend is evident in ‘Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles’, ‘Accommodation and food service activities’, and ’Public administration and defence; compulsory social security’.

Correlation to job sectors

When leavers are broken down by degree disciplines, such as ‘Medicine and Dentistry’, ‘Subjects Allied to Medicine’ and educational disciplines, significant correlations appear between some sectors and disciplines. Nevertheless, most disciplines show weak or no correlation to certain job sectors. Students who studied in these disciplines have a wide range of career options and perhaps need more guidance and support in their career planning.

Further data analysis

As a professional body, AGCAS will provide more specific data analysis to decipher the DLHE data to support careers professionals in helping students make informed career decisions. This will include, via the AGCAS Research Officer and the Graduate Labour Market Sub-Committee, further analysis of 2014/15 international leavers’ destination data.

You can download AGCAS’s full analysis of the Statistical First Release for DLHE 2014/15 below.

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