Self-employed graduates in the UK

Graduate Outcomes data provides detailed insights into those graduates who are working as freelancers or running their own business - the UK's latest generation of entrepreneurs

Following two decades of growth, in which the number of self-employed increased from 3.3 million people (12.0% of the labour force) in 2001 to 4.8 million (15.1% of the labour force) in 2017, the Covid pandemic brought about a sharp decline in self-employment - from a peak of 5.0 million at the end of 2019 to 4.2 million in early 2022.1,2

And although self-employment levels have started to rebound, they have struggled to reach their pre-pandemic peak, with Statista data suggesting that there were 4.38 million self-employed people in the UK as of January 2025.3

According to Graduate Outcomes data, 11.1% of first-degree, UK domiciled graduates were self-employed 15 months after graduation. By examining the demographics of this cohort (who graduated in 2021/22) of graduates who pursued self-employment, this article aims to illustrate how destination data reflects the early stages of graduate entrepreneurship in the UK.

For the purposes of the article, the cohort was split into two groups, freelancers and those who were running their own business.

Demographics of self-employed graduates in the UK 

Self-employed graduates were twice as likely to report that they were freelancers 15 months after graduation, with 7.5% saying this compared with 3.6% who said that they were running a business.

Graduates who indicated that they were running a business were of a slightly older age profile than freelancers, with a third (32.7%) indicating that they were 25 or older, compared with less than a quarter (23.8%) of freelancers. They were also more likely to be from an ethnic minority background.

Notably, with one in ten Black or Black British African graduates indicating that they were running a business and 6.4% saying that they were freelancers, these groups of graduates were overrepresented among both groups of self-employed graduates, given that just 5.8% of all first-degree, UK-domiciled graduates in this cohort indicated that they were Black or Black British African.

Asian or Asian British - Pakistani, Black or Black British Caribbean, and Mixed graduates were also overrepresented among both groups of self-employed graduates. Conversely, white graduates were underrepresented - significantly so among those running a business (given that 72.9% of first-degree, UK-domiciled graduates were white).

Ethnicity,Freelancers,Running business
Asian or Asian British - Bangladeshi,1.8,2.1
Asian or Asian British - Indian,3.4,4.2
Asian or Asian British - Pakistani,3.9,5.1
Black or Black British - African,6.4,9.9
Black or Black British - Caribbean,1.7,2.4
Chinese,0.6,0.7
Mixed,5.9,5.5
Other,2.2,2.8
Other Asian background,2.4,2.6
Other Black background,0.4,0.7
White,71.2,64.1

Male graduates were more likely to say that they were self-employed than their female counterparts. There was a 55.0% to 44.6% split in favour of male graduates among those running a business, whereas for freelancers 51.2% were male and 48.3% were female.

Meanwhile, freelancers (49.6%) were more likely to indicate that their parents had a higher education qualification than those running a business (44.8%), suggesting that they were more likely to be from an advantaged background.

Both freelancers and those running a business were most likely to say that they were domiciled in London, followed by the South East and North West of England. While those running a business were slightly more likely to be domiciled in London than freelancers, freelancers were more likely to report that they were domiciled in the South East. However, numbers were quite similar across the board.

Domicile,Freelancers,Running business
East Midlands,5.9,5.8
East of England,9.2,9.1
England region unknown,0.1,0.1
Guernsey Jersey and the Isle of Man,0.3,0.2
London,22.2,23.7
North East,2.6,2.4
North West,9.7,9.7
Northern Ireland,2.5,2.3
Scotland,7.2,7.4
South East,14.9,13.8
South West,7.6,6.9
Wales,4.0,4.1
West Midlands,8.3,8.8
Yorkshire and The Humber,5.8,5.6

Roles of self-employed graduates

There are a few clear differences between the type of work that freelancers and those running a business were doing 15 months after graduation.

,Freelancers,Running business
Arts design and media,28.8,19.8
Business HR and finance,2.8,2.9
Childcare health and education,3.0,1.8
Clerical secretarial and administrative,3.4,1.6
Education,8.2,3.8
Engineering,1.9,1.9
Health,8.6,5.6
IT,3.3,3.2
Legal social and welfare,1.9,1.6
Managers,6.5,22.9
Marketing PR and sales,5.3,7.0
Other professionals,4.3,3.9
Retail catering and customer service,4.1,6.3
Science,0.4,0.3
Skilled trades crafts and vocational work,5.2,7.2
Other occupations,4.9,6.3
Unknown,7.5,7.8

For instance, arts, design and media was far and away the most commonly reported occupation by freelancers, with nearly a third reporting this when surveyed. Many were working as photographers, audio-visual and broadcasting equipment operators, actors, entertainers and presenters, and artists.

Moreover, health professional (8.6%) was the second most common type of work reported, with therapy professionals and dental practitioners being the two most commonly reported roles related to health.

The top five occupations reported by freelancers were:

• Teaching professionals n.e.c. (not elsewhere classified)
• Photographers, audio-visual and broadcasting equipment operators
• Arts officers, producers and directors
• Actors, entertainers and presenters
• Graphic and multimedia designers.

Arts, design and media occupations were also common among those running a business,  but they were most likely to say that they were managers, with shopkeepers, owners and managers in retail and wholesale being particularly common among these graduates.

The top five occupations reported by those running a business were:

• Shopkeepers and owners - retail and wholesale
• Photographers, audio-visual and broadcasting equipment operators
• Managers and directors in retail and wholesale
• Chief executives and senior officials
• Artists.

Location of employment

The locations in which self-employed graduates were working was quite similar across the board, with London, the South East and the North West of England being the most commonly reported locations of employment among both groups of graduates.

Both groups of self-employed graduates were more likely to work in London than first-degree graduates overall, freelancers more so than those running a business.

Self-employed graduates 'doing meaningful work'

Most self-employed graduates indicated that they were working in meaningful roles, with 85.2% of freelancers and 88.5% of those running a business saying this when asked. They also reported that they were utilising the skills that they learned during their studies in their employment at similar rates, with two thirds of graduates in both groups reporting this.

Similarly, most freelancers (75.2%) and those running a business (81.1%) said that their current work fits within their plans for the future.

Notes

1. Trends in self-employment in the UK - Office for National Statistics, ONS, 2018.
2. Understanding changes in self-employment in the UK - Office for National Statistics, ONS, 2022.
3. UK self-employment figures 2025, Statista, 2025.

Written by

Micha-Shannon Smith

Assistant information analyst

Prospects