Sta/Medr/14/2025: Graduate Outcomes, 2022/23

Main points

What are graduates doing?

Of graduates from Welsh higher education (HE) providers who responded to the 2022/23 Graduate Outcomes survey:

• 68% were in paid employment, 1% were doing voluntary or unpaid work, 7% were doing further studies and 11% were doing a combination of work and further studies.
• 6% were unemployed and 7% were doing another activity such as travelling, caring for someone, or retired.

Of graduates from Wales studying anywhere in the UK who responded to the 2022/23 Graduate Outcomes survey:

• 70% were in paid employment, 1% were doing voluntary or unpaid work, 6% were doing further studies and 11% were doing a combination of work and further studies.
• 4% were unemployed and 7% were doing another activity such as travelling, caring for someone, or retired.
• Full-time undergraduate respondents from the most deprived Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) quintile were less likely to be in full-time employment or full-time further studies, and more likely to be in part-time employment, than those from the least deprived WIMD quintile.
• 6% of full-time undergraduate respondents were unemployed; this was the same for all WIMD quintiles.

Where are graduates working?

Of graduates who responded to the 2022/23 Graduate Outcomes survey and said work was their most important activity:

• 88% of those from Wales who studied at a Welsh HE provider stayed in Wales to work.
• 20% of those who studied at a Welsh HE provider but were from the rest of the UK stayed in Wales to work.
• 43% of those from Wales but studied at a HE provider in the rest of the UK returned to Wales to work.

Graduate reflections

Of graduates from Welsh higher education providers who responded to the 2022/23 Graduate Outcomes survey:

• 84% agreed or strongly agreed that their current activity was meaningful.
• 69% agreed or strongly agreed that their current activity utilised the skills that they learnt during their studies.
• 75% agreed or strongly agreed that their current activity fits with their future plans.