Statistics Publication Notice: Early Destinations of Students Qualifying from Scottish Higher Education Institutions 2010-11

Analysis of Findings

This section provides an analysis of the main findings from this year’s data. The information relates to the immediate destinations (six months after qualifying) of students gaining higher education (HE) qualifications from Scottish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) – such students will be referred to as qualifiers in the remainder of this release.

First destinations

Figure 2 shows the percentage of qualifiers engaged in further study or employment by level of qualification. Between 2006-07 and 2008-09, the percentage of qualifiers in employment, study or training, decreased from 91.3% to 88.4%. During this period unemployment levels rose (Table 2). These results may well be associated with the start of the UK recession, which began in the second quarter of 2008. Between 2008-09 and 2010-11, the percentage of qualifiers in employment, study or training, was relatively stable. There was a decrease of 0.5 percentage points over the year to 2008-09 (87.9%) followed by an increase of 0.7 percentage points over the year to 2010-11 (88.5%).

Figure 2: First destination of students qualifying from Scottish HEIs in further study, training or employment: 2003-04 to 2010-11

Reference: Table 2

With just over half (55.6%) of qualifiers engaged in permanent employment within the UK, this is the most common destination for qualifiers (Figure 3). A further 19.0% of qualifiers are engaged in further study or training activities and 8.9% were working under temporary contracts. The percentage of qualifiers who were believed to be unemployed was 5.9%.

Figure 3: First destination of students qualifying from Scottish HEIs by gender: 2010-11

Reference: Table 1

The pattern of destinations is broadly similar for male and female qualifiers. A slightly higher proportion of males were engaged in further study/training, overseas employment and unemployment, with a higher proportion of females seen in permanent or temporary employment in the UK.

Where there are differences between the genders, it should not be assumed that gender is the direct cause. Other, indirect effects related to gender, such as subject studied, may also impact on destinations of qualifiers. For example, those qualifying in the traditionally male dominated subject of Engineering and Technology show a lower than average percentage of qualifiers going into permanent UK employment (57.4%); while those qualifying in the traditionally female subject of Veterinary Science show a higher than average percentage of qualifiers going in to permanent employment (80.6%) (Table 3).

Factors associated with first destinations of qualifiers

The destination of a student after qualifying will be influenced by a number of factors including: the level of qualification achieved; the subject studied; where the qualifier was living prior to study (e.g. living overseas, in Scotland); whether they were in employment or not prior to/during study; how much time has passed since qualifying; and the wider labour market conditions at the time of qualification.

Level of qualification

Figure 4 shows the relationship between the qualifier’s first destination and the level of qualification obtained. Postgraduate qualifiers were more likely to be in permanent UK employment (60.4%) than other groups, while those with qualifications below degree level were more likely to be undertaking further study or training than other groups (33.2%).

Figure 4: First destination of students qualifying from Scottish HEIs by level of qualification obtained: 2010-11

Reference: Table 1

Intuitively, it might be expected that qualifiers with the highest level of qualifications would have the highest employment rates; however it is worth noting that the activities of students prior to, or during, study may also impact on employment prospects and will vary by qualification level. For example, many postgraduate qualifications are undertaken by those already in employment, perhaps to formalise their experience or to meet requirements of their employers. It could therefore be expected that a higher proportion of postgraduate qualifiers will return to their employment post-study. Similarly, sub-degree qualifications tend to be shorter in duration than first degree qualifications. This may make them more attractive to prospective students already in permanent employment, who are looking to study part-time or to attain qualifications desired/required by their employer.

It might also be expected that those with lower levels of qualifications are the most likely to go on to further study or training as they are likely to be at an earlier stage in their education career. There are also limited options for higher levels of study for those qualifying at postgraduate level.

Despite the relatively lower permanent employment rates of first degree qualifiers, it is worth bearing in mind that those with degree level qualifications display higher levels of employment in Scotland’s labour market than those without^[1]. It is also worth noting that at six months after graduation, some first degree qualifiers may not yet have started employment.

Subject of study

Figure 5: First destination of students qualifying from Scottish HEIs by subject area: 2010-11

Figure 5 presents the destinations of qualifiers by the subject of their qualification. Those with Science, Engineering and Technology qualifications were the most likely to be undertaking further study or training activities (24.9%) and were also slightly more likely than others to be unemployed (7.7%). Those with medical qualifications were the most likely to be in permanent UK employment (71.7%).

Reference: Table 3

Students achieving qualifications in Education and the Arts were the most likely group to enter into temporary UK employment (13.2%); this was mainly because of qualifiers from Education subjects, of whom 20.6% entered temporary employment. This may be related to the Teacher Induction Scheme – a national induction programme for newly qualified, Scottish trained teachers that guarantees a one-year teaching post in a Scottish local authority.

Other factors

The destination of qualifiers six months after graduation may also be influenced by the qualifier’s main residence. For example, it is possible that Scottish based students are more likely to be looking for employment within Scotland and therefore can attend interviews locally during their studies. This may not be an option for foreign based students if they are looking for employment in their home country, as they may have to wait until they have qualified and returned home before applying for jobs. We could therefore expect a longer period between qualifying and employment for the latter group of qualifiers, which may impact on figures captured 6 months after qualifying. The percentage of Scottish-based qualifiers in employment was 73.3%, compared with 69.5% for all qualifiers (Table 4 and Table 1).

Qualifiers in Employment

Graduate level employment

It is possible to divide occupations into those that are considered ‘graduate level’ and ‘non-graduate level’ occupations in the labour market^[2]. Figure 6 shows that overall, 73.7% of qualifiers in permanent UK employment were in graduate level jobs – with postgraduates the most likely (90.1%) to be in employed in such occupations in comparison with degree (69.2%) and sub-degree (55.2%) level qualifiers.

Figure 6: Graduate level occupations (of those in permanent employment) achieved by students qualifying from Scottish HEIs by level of qualification achieved: 2003-04 to 2010-11

Reference: Table 6

In 2005-06 and 2006-07, 80.9% of qualifiers in permanent UK employment were working in graduate level jobs. This percentage decreased year on year from 2006-07 until 2009-10, but increased marginally over the year to 2010-11.

However, the overall percentage of qualifiers in any level of permanent UK employment (which fell year on year from 2004-05 to 2008-09) rose marginally over the year to 2009-10 (by 0.4 percentage points) and rose agian (by 2.2 percentage points) over the year to 2010-11 (Table 2). This finding echoes recent analysis of the Annual Population Survey^[3] which suggests that since the onset of the recession, graduates have been less likely to find graduate level employment, but have remained less likely to be unemployed than those without degree level qualifications.

In addition, Table 6 suggests that there may have been a shift in the level of occupations postgraduate students are entering: the percentage in ‘associate professional and technical’ and ‘management’ jobs increased, while the percentage in ‘professional’ jobs decreased.

Location of Employment

Figure 7: Students qualifying from Scottish HEIs gaining permanent UK employment: proportion employed in Scotland by pre-study domicile and academic year: 2003-04 to 2010-11

Reference: Table 8a

Figure 7 shows the percentage of qualifiers in permanent employment who found employment within Scotland. For Scottish domiciled qualifiers, this percentage had remained relatively stable (at around 92%) from 2003-04 to 2008-09 but decreased over the year to 2009-10 and over the year to 20010-11 (88.6%). Since 2003-04, there has been an increasing trend in the percentage of EU domiciled qualifiers remaining in Scotland to work; in 2010-11 29.2% remained in Scotland, compared with 23.8% in 2003-04. Most of those who lived elsewhere in the UK before studying in Scotland, and found permanent work since qualifying, returned to parts of the UK other than Scotland for work (62.3.%). The percentage of this group who found permanent work in Scotland fell substantially between 2009-10 (34.0%) and 2010-11 (29.6%).