2007-8 Collection - Key Findings

Destinations of leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) Survey of UK and EU domiciled students 2007-8 Collection.

1. Survey Methodology and Response rates

• The DLHE survey is a statutory process in which Higher Education Institutions are required to collect data on behalf of HESA, to gather information on the most recent activities of graduates six months after their graduation, using two census dates in January and April.

• Information on employment status, further studies and the nature of these activities are collected using a standardized questionnaire designed and distributed by HESA.

• The Careers Service conducts this survey on behalf of the institution and contacted an overall target population of 3717 eligible graduates (first degree and postgraduates, diplomas and certificates, full and part time, UK and EU domiciled), of which 3151 responded, a response rate of 84.8%.

• The same response rate was achieved for the full time, first degree, UK domiciled cohort, also known as the EPI Cohort [1] the group used for comparison purposes in national league tables (84.5% = 1958 leavers from an eligible population of 2309).

• The University exceeded all the required response rates

• Explicit refusals to take part in the survey declined on last year with 33 graduates refusing to provide any destination information, compared to 57 last year

2. All UK and EU graduates

Employment mode

• 88.6% (2791 graduates) in employment (including full or part time, self employment and voluntary work) and/or further study, compared to 90.4% last year

• 4.8% (152) assumed to be unemployed, compared to 2.8% last year

Graduate Level Employment

• 74.2% of employed graduates are employed in “graduate level occupations”, compared to 77.3% last year

Employment Sectors
The top five employment sectors are:

• National Health Service
• Primary Education
• Secondary education
• Central and Local Government
• Social Work organizations

3.   Employment Performance Indicator Cohort

Employment Mode

• 87.4% (1711 graduates) were in employment (including full or part time, self employed and voluntary work) and/or further study, compared to 88.16% last year
• 5.9% (116) were unemployed and looking for employment or further study, compared to 3.5% last year

Graduate Level Employment

• 63.8% of employed graduates are employed in “graduate level” occupations. 
• 70.4% of leavers in full time employment were employed in graduate level employment.
• 32.3% of leavers in part time employment were employed in graduate level employment, reflecting the nature of employment often taken up by graduates who are also studying full time. 
• 72.0% of those in voluntary work were employed in graduate level employment.
• 94.1% of self employed graduates were employed in graduate level occupations.

Salary
The average (mean) salary amongst EPI respondents was £18,822, compared to £18,345 last year.

Unemployment
Unemployment has risen by 2.4% from 3.5% last year to 5.9%.

Gender
For both male and female graduates there was a similar rise in unemployment rates.  Male unemployment rose from 5.3% to 7.9%, while female graduate unemployment rates rose from 2.0% to 4.4%.

Ethnicity
It is difficult to draw any meaningful conclusions from the data, given the small number of students in some of the ethnic categories.

Disability
246 of the EPI graduates have reported a disability to the University.  65.4% (161) of these graduates were in employment.  8.5% (21) of those with a disability were unemployed compared to 6.6% (14) in 2007.

May 2009 - University of Hull Careers Service