Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) from Universities: 2019-20: Scotland

Earnings information for UK-domiciled first-degree graduates from Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Scotland.


Ethnicity

Table 4 shows the median total earnings for UK-domiciled first-degree graduates from Scottish HEIs five years after graduation split by ethnicity (detailed level). It shows that graduates from ‘Black, Black British or other black backgrounds’ have the lowest earnings, with £25,300 in 2019/20. Those of ‘Asian (Indian, Pakistani, or Bangladeshi) backgrounds’ earned £28,200, those of ‘White or White Scottish backgrounds’ earned £29,300, and those of ‘Mixed backgrounds’ earned £29,800.

Those from ‘other Asian backgrounds’ earned £27,500, those from ‘other white backgrounds’ earned £26,000, and those from ‘other ethnic backgrounds’ had the highest earnings of £31,500. Due to small cohort sizes, some ethnicities have been combined into a single ethnicity grouping (e.g. ‘Other black background’ was combined with ‘Black or Black British’). Grouping the ethnicities may obscure some of the underlying differences in earnings between the ethnicities which make up the groupings, however this approach was necessary to protect against disclosure issues given small cohort sizes.

Table 4: Median total earnings of graduates* from Scottish HEIs by ethnicity (detailed level) five years after graduation, 2019/20 tax year
Ethnicity (detailed level) HESA codes - see (2) Median total earnings (£)
Black, Black British, or other black background 21, 22, 29 25,300
Mixed background 41, 42, 43, 49 29,800
Asian (Indian, Pakistani, or Bangladeshi) background 31, 32, 33 28,200
White or White Scottish 10, 13 29,300
Other Asian background 34, 39 27,500
Other Ethnic background 50, 80 31,500
Other White background 14, 15, 19 26,000

*UK-domiciled first-degree graduates 2013/14.

(1) Hours worked are not taken into account.

(2) Graduates whose ethnicity information is not known have been excluded from the table.

See HESA’s website for HESA codes used and more details: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/collection/c13051/a/ethnic.

Table 5 shows the median total earnings for UK-domiciled first-degree graduates from Scottish HEIs five years after graduation split by sex and ethnicity (high-level). It shows that those from ‘non-white backgrounds’ earn less than those from ‘white backgrounds’ for both males and females. Males who graduated in 2013/14 from ‘white backgrounds’ were earning £31,100 in 2019/20 compared to £28,500 for male graduates from ‘non-white backgrounds’. Females who graduated in 2013/14 from ‘white backgrounds’ were earning £28,200 in 2019/20 compared to £27,600 for female graduates from ‘non-white backgrounds’.

Ethnicity is determined by the graduates’ own self-assessment. See ‘Methodology’ section for more information.

Table 5: Median total earnings of graduates* from Scottish HEIs by ethnicity (high-level) and sex five years after graduation, 2019/20 tax year
Median total earnings (£)
Ethnicity (high-level) Female graduates Male graduates All Graduates
All White backgrounds 28,200 31,100 29,300
All non-White backgrounds 27,600 28,500 28,200

*UK-domiciled first-degree graduates 2013/14.

(1) Hours worked are not taken into account.

(2) Graduates whose ethnicity information is not known have been excluded from the table.

See HESA’s website for more details: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/collection/c13051/a/ethnic.

Contact

Email: FHEstatistics@gov.scot

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