This year's What do graduates do? report looks at the experiences of graduates entering an increasingly competitive labour market
It combines detailed subject-by-subject data with expert insights from careers and employment professionals, exploring key themes such as work readiness, recruitment trends and the UK Skills Explorer tool.
What do graduates do? 2026/27 explores the employment and further study destinations of UK-domiciled graduates who completed their studies in 2023/24. Surveyed 15 months after graduation, this cohort entered a labour market shaped by economic uncertainty, slower recruitment activity and increased competition for opportunities. Despite these challenges, most graduates had successfully moved into employment or further study. Of the 181,965 UK-domiciled first-degree graduates who responded to the survey:
- The majority of graduates (54.8%) were in full-time work 15 months after graduating, while 13.1% were in part-time employment.
- Of those graduates in work, 70.9% were in professional-level employment, down from 71.9% last year.
- 8.5% of graduates in work were self-employed or actively working towards this goal.
- 6.1% of graduates were engaged in further study, while 11% were both working and studying.
- 6.8% were unemployed, slightly higher than the previous year's figure of 6.2%.
What's inside What do graduates do? 2026/27
The full report includes a labour market overview by Jisc's head of labour market intelligence Charlie Ball, and detailed data and analysis the following subject areas:
- Business and administrative studies
- Creative arts
- Humanities
- Science
- Social sciences
- Technology, engineering and maths.
In addition, the following expert insights add context and analysis, and discuss some of the ongoing challenges for the sector highlighted by the data:
- From student to professional: what data tells us about work readiness
- How careers services are adapting to match their cohort
- Graduate recruitment in 2026: competition, AI and work experience
- Interdisciplinary degrees and how they fit with the data
- How the UK Skills Explorer can support HE careers work
- Graduate Outcomes: strengthening graduate engagement, strengthening our data
About What do graduates do? 2026/27
What do graduates do? 2026/27 was published in October 2026 on Prospects Luminate. It examines first-degree graduate destinations 15 months after graduation. It was produced by Prospects in collaboration with Graduate Futures Institute.
The data is from the most recent edition of the Higher Education Statistics Agency's (HESA) Graduate Outcomes survey, which collected responses from those who graduated in 2023/24.
Prospects and HESA are part of Jisc.
Previous editions of What do graduates do?
- What do graduates do? 2025/26 (PDF, 6.4MB)
- What do graduates do? 2024/25 (PDF, 22MB)
- What do graduates do? 2023/24 (PDF, 10.7MB)
- What do graduates do? 2023 (PDF, 3.8MB)
- What do graduates do? 2021/22 (PDF, 15.04MB)
- What do graduates do? 2020/21 (PDF, 8.38MB)
- What do graduates do? 2018/19 (PDF, 4.6MB)
- What do graduates do? 2017/18 (PDF, 2.9MB)
- What do graduates do? 2016 (PDF, 2.1MB)
- What do graduates do? 2015 (PDF, 1.5MB)
- What do graduates do? 2014 (PDF, 11.9MB)
- What do graduates do? 2013 (PDF, 4.9MB)
What do graduates do? Scotland
Published in April 2024, What do graduates do? Scotland is Charlie Ball's comprehensive report on the Scottish labour market and outcomes for graduates from its universities, including a detailed analysis of the country's cities and regions.
What do graduates do? Wales
In October 2024, Prospects Luminate published What do graduates do? Wales, a detailed examination by Charlie Ball of the Welsh labour market on a region-by-region basis.
Testimonials for What do graduates do?
As a careers adviser and information specialist with 30 years' experience, I cannot rate What do graduates do? highly enough. It forms an essential part of my toolkit.
- Hilary Nickell, project manager at Career Companion.
With over 300,000 students graduating from a vast array of courses and institutions every year, the UK graduate market is complex. WDGD is a key resource to help employers build their student recruitment strategies.
- Stephen Isherwood, chief executive of the Institute of Student Employers (ISE).
What do graduates do? provides a concise and informative overview of UK graduate destinations by subject area and is an invaluable resource for supporting both learners thinking about progressing on to higher education as well as undergraduate students planning their next steps.
- Andrew Jones, deputy director and IAG specialist at Linking London.
What do graduates do? is an essential resource for higher education providers and employers. Heavily influencing aspects of our work, the publication not only informs best practice through the student pathway but also on attracting and supporting students from diverse background.
- Terry Manyeh, Educating ALL project lead.
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