Sta/Medr/11/2026: Graduate outcomes: higher education providers 2023/24

Main points

What were graduates doing?

Of graduates from Welsh higher education (HE) providers who responded to the 2023/24 Graduate Outcomes survey:

• 67% were in full-time, part-time or an unknown pattern of employment. 11% were undertaking a combination of work and further study.
• 6% were doing either full-time, part-time or an unknown pattern of further study only.
• 1% were doing voluntary or unpaid work, 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 2023/24 Graduate Outcomes survey:

• 69% were in full-time, part-time or an unknown pattern of employment. 12% were undertaking a combination of work and further study.
• 5% were doing either full-time, part-time or an unknown pattern of further study only.
• 1% were doing voluntary or unpaid work, 5% 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 employment and more likely to be undertaking another activity such as travel, caring for someone or retired, than those from the least deprived WIMD quintile.
• There was a 2 percentage point difference between the proportions of full-time undergraduate respondents who were unemployed from the most and least deprived quintiles. 8% of graduates from the most deprived quintile were unemployed, versus 6% from the least deprived quintile.

Where were graduates working?

Of graduates who responded to the 2023/24 Graduate Outcomes survey and said work was their most important activity:

• 45% of those from Wales but studied at a HE provider in the rest of the UK returned to Wales to work.
• 88% of those from Wales who studied at a Welsh HE provider stayed in Wales to work.
• 18% of those who studied at a Welsh HE provider but were from the rest of the UK stayed in Wales to work.

How did graduates reflect on their current activity?

Of graduates from Welsh higher education providers who responded to the 2023/24 Graduate Outcomes survey:

• 84% agreed or strongly agreed that their current activity was meaningful.
• 68% agreed or strongly agreed that their current activity utilised the skills that they learnt during their studies.
• 73% agreed or strongly agreed that their current activity fits with their future plans.