Bright jobs outlook for university graduates

​The latest data on higher education employment and earnings outcomes shows further improvements in the career prospects of graduates from the university.

The Government has recently released two key datasets on employment and earnings for higher education graduates.  They show good progress for the university’s graduates:

• 95.3% of the university’s UK graduates from full-time, first-degree programmes went on to employment or further study in 2017.  That is an increase from 94.4% last year, and is the university’s best result for at least a decade.  It is well above the England average for all universities of 94.4%.

• Taking the whole cohort graduating from all types of programmes in 2017, 95.7% went into employment or further study, up from 94.9% last year.

• 71.8% of all University of Gloucestershire graduates employed in the UK went into jobs categorised as “managerial or professional”.  That is an improvement of 11.1 percentage points over the past 3 years, and is the University’s best result for at least nine years.

• Out of the university’s 12 subject areas with reported data in the latest Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) release, 8 have a better employment or study rate than the sector average 1 year after graduation, 9 have a better rate 3 years after graduation, and 10 have a better rate 5 years after graduation.

• Graduates from the University’s Business School courses earn more on average than their peers graduating from similar courses elsewhere in the country 1, 3 and 5 years after they graduated.

• The average annual earnings of University of Gloucestershire graduates one year after they graduated have increased across all reported subjects compared with the same survey last year.

• 4% of the university’s graduates were unemployed in 2017, which is better than the university sector average of 5%.

• 343 (of 967) University of Gloucestershire full-time first-degree graduates took jobs in Gloucestershire, representing 35% of graduates.

 
These results come as the University’s Growth Hub took home the top award for ‘Outstanding Employer Engagement Strategy’ at the Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards 2018 last month.  They were released just weeks ahead of the opening of the university’s new multi-million pound Business School at the Oxstalls Campus in Gloucester, which will further increase the university’s close links with business and the employability support available for students. 

Stephen Marston, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Gloucestershire, said: 
“One of the things we stand for as a university is giving our students a breadth and richness of experience which prepares them for rewarding lives and successful careers.  That is why alongside excellent teaching and learning, we have put so much effort into building employability into our programmes and extending the range of opportunities for students to gain work-related skills and experience.  

“We work closely with employers to ensure that our students not only have the skills and qualifications, but also the wider experience, capability and confidence that employers look for when recruiting graduates.

“These results show we are making good progress in helping our students get good jobs when they graduate.  These days, with fees at over £9,000 a year, students and their parents expect that University will not just be a great experience in its own right, but will also lead to a great career.  The University of Gloucestershire is working hard to respond to those expectations, offering excellent support to our students to build their employability credentials.  We are proud of the progress we are making, as demonstrated in these latest results.

“The work we do to develop our students’ employability skills is central to our role in working with business partners to drive highly skilled, knowledge intensive innovation and growth in Gloucestershire, which is key to the future of our economy.  Winning the top prize in this year’s THELMA awards for our employer engagement programme was a brilliant recognition of the outstanding work of the Growth Hub.”

The Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey is run each year, with results published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency.  It surveys graduates from all universities six months after graduation.  It collects data on employment and further study outcomes, and the nature of the employment.  

The Government’s Longitudinal Education Outcomes dataset combines data from HMRC, Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Education and the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).  It tracks the employment status and earnings of graduates in all subject areas from all universities over a period of 1, 3 and 5 years after graduation.  

The University’s Growth Hub, based at the Oxstalls campus in Gloucester and initially funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, won the 2018 Times Higher Education Leadership and Management award for outstanding employer engagement.   Since opening in 2014 the Growth Hub has generated 13,655 work placements/internships for university students and has helped local businesses increase productivity and grow the economy in Gloucestershire, offering intensive support to over 900 high growth businesses to develop their business strategies.  

From September 2018 the Growth Hub will be fully integrated and co-located in the university’s brand new Business School opening at Oxstalls. With Growth Deal funding support from the Government, this will create a unique space bringing together businesses, students, staff and the full range of the university’s business support and economic development activities in one place.