Learning pays

Having a postgraduate or professional qualification could improve your chances in the job market compared to first degree graduates, according to Graduate Prospects' recent research.

Comparing the employment outcomes of graduates with first degrees, higher degrees/postgraduate qualifications, or other higher degrees (eg graduate membership of a professional institute, chartered accountancy), the study reveals that:

• Graduates between the working age of 21-60 with other higher degrees have the lowest unemployment rate at 2.6%, followed by those with higher degrees (2.9%) and first degrees (3.6%).
• Graduates with other higher degrees earn on average 27% more than their first degree counterparts, whilst higher degree graduates can command 17% more than first degree graduates.
• At age 21-30, 75% of first degree graduates and 82.8% of graduates in the others category are in professional or associate professional occupations, or working as managers & senior officials. By age 31-40, these figures rise to 89.2% and 91.4% respectively.

For more information about this study, go to:

• Graduate earnings from the Labour Force Survey
• Graduate employment from the Labour Force Survey

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