How graduate skills power their future success and the UK's economic growth

Last updated on Tuesday 26 May 2026 at 3:18pm

Our analysis of government data, including information on graduate earnings, shows that higher education gives graduates the skills to get good jobs and create economic growth.

Graduate skills and economic growth

How can we create economic growth?

The government’s industrial strategy aims to drive growth over the next decade by investing in growth eight sectors.

All eight of these sectors need high-level skills that graduates have. Currently, they all have a high proportion of graduates in the workforce, and if they are to grow, they’ll need even more graduates.

Our analysis also shows:

The most productive regions of the UK have the highest proportion of graduates in the workforce.

Growth sectors identified by the government in its industrial strategy require high levels of graduate skills across all regions and nations of the UK. The highest skilled growth sectors vary, with the creative sector prominent across nearly all regions and nations.

Graduate skills and jobs

Does going to university get you a better job?

We've analysed a range of data sources looking at employment and earnings outcomes of graduates, how these change after time, and how they compare to those who could have gone to university but didn’t.

Our analysis found:

By age 31, graduates earn on average a third more than non-graduates who could have gone to university.

Graduate earnings increase at a faster rate than those of non-graduates. Between the ages of 23 and 31, average earnings grow by 72% for graduates compared to 31% for non-graduates.

Graduates aged over 30 are more likely to be in work, and far less likely to be claiming benefits, than those without a degree.

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How graduate skills power their future success and the UK's economic growth

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Graduate skills and economic growth

Graduate skills and jobs

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How graduate skills power their future success and the UK's economic growth

On this page

Graduate skills and economic growth

Graduate skills and jobs

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