A new report from AGCAS reviews the higher education outcomes of disabled graduates. Here, Claire Toogood, AGCAS research and insights manager, considers the data and provides four recommendations for action
This year's edition of What Happens Next? has an improved focus on graduate voice and intersectionality, giving a more comprehensive picture of the experiences of disabled graduates.
Disability employment gaps continue
As in previous reports within the What Happens Next? series, disabled graduates continued to experience a total employment gap. As a group, disabled graduates were less likely to be in employment 15 months after their studies than graduates with no known disability.
Total employment refers to the percentage of graduates reporting that they were in any form of employment in the Graduate Outcomes survey. This includes full-time work, part-time work, voluntary roles and employment with further study. The graduate disability employment gap is the difference between this calculated total employment percentage for disabled graduates, and for graduates with no known disability.
So, a gap of 4% means that an additional 4% of disabled graduates are not in any form of employment, when compared to graduates with no known disability. The graduate disability employment gap exists at all levels of qualification, and appears to be slightly increasing at first degree level, and slightly decreasing for postgraduate taught students, in recent years.
| The disability employment gap 15 months after graduation | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 |
|---|---|---|---|
| First degree | 3.10% | 3.40% | 4% |
| Postgraduate taught degree | 5.10% | 4.50% | 3.50% |
| Postgraduate research degree | 5.70% | 2.20% | 3.20% |
Listening to the graduate voice
A new feature of the research for 2025 was the inclusion of responses to the graduate voice questions from the Graduates Outcomes survey. Positively, despite lower levels of employment, we found that disabled graduates were as likely as graduates with no known disability to feel their graduate activity is meaningful. Findings like this are the reason we chose to explore the graduate voice questions, to understand not just the statistical outcomes, but also how those outcomes are perceived and understood by the graduates themselves. This reinforces something that is known but sometimes overlooked in reporting on graduate outcomes and league tables: full-time employment may not be the target for all graduates.
However, when responding to the other graduate voice questions, disabled graduates are less likely to agree that their current activity fits with their future plans, and when we looked at the extent to which disabled graduates felt they were using the learning from their studies we saw varied outcomes.
Autistic graduates showed markedly lower levels of agreement around the extent to which they were utilising their learning in their current activity, as did graduates with mental health conditions. In contrast, Deaf and hearing impaired graduates, and graduates with mobility or physical disabilities, or specific learning differences, were more likely to agree that they were using their learning in their current activity than graduates with no known disability.
Findings like these highlight the risk of considering disabled students and graduates as a homogenous group. While overall evaluations are useful, we also need to consider the range of groups and individuals within the What Happens Next? dataset to help develop a more nuanced understanding, that support inclusive practice as well as targeted support and interventions.
Findings like these highlight the risk of considering disabled students and graduates as a homogenous group.
Intersectional exploration of graduate outcomes
For the first time, the report evaluated ethnic background and gender alongside disability type to shine a spotlight on the notable challenges faced by some groups of graduates. We found that disabled graduates have lower rates of full-time employment than graduates with no known disability across all ethnic backgrounds. However, white disabled graduates are more likely to be in full-time employment than disabled graduates from all other ethnic backgrounds.
Disclosure also varied by ethnic background and gender. White graduates and graduates from Mixed ethnic backgrounds were notably more likely to have shared a disability with their university during their studies than Black or Asian graduates, or those from other or unknown ethnic backgrounds. The report also highlighted that male graduates are less likely to have shared a disability while at university than any other gender.
Across all genders, disabled graduates have lower rates of full-time employment than graduates with no known disability. Most notably, disabled graduates whose gender identity has changed since birth had full-time employment levels that were 14% lower than disabled graduates with an unchanged gender identity. When reviewing the data by both gender and disability type, we identified that autistic female graduates have an unemployment rate more than double that of female graduates with no known disability.
A call to action
What Happens Next? shares four recommendations to build better understanding of disabled graduates' outcomes and to better support disabled students and graduates during and after their time in higher education:
- Further work is needed to explore how to ensure that disabled graduates can access and secure activities and employment that help them work towards their future plans.
- All stakeholders should consider how to effectively and collaboratively support and resource appropriate higher education careers and employability activity, working towards reducing and ultimately eliminating employment gaps for disabled graduates.
- Further work is needed to explore intersectional disadvantage amongst disabled graduates. Those collecting, using and publishing institutional and sector data should review whether their approach and measures incorporate intersectional disadvantage.
- Further collaborative and research and data on the experiences and outcomes of autistic graduates are urgently needed. All such work must centre the voices of autistic students and graduates.
We also know that other characteristics like age and socio-economic background can affect graduate outcomes.1 This year's report marks a step towards better recognising and understanding the complexities of intersectional identities and centring the graduate voice, but there is more work that can and should be done.
AGCAS will continue to work with our members and provide support and resources, such as our recent positive action toolkit, to ensure those working in higher education careers and employability are able to be at the forefront of the delivery of these recommendations, to support equitable outcomes for all disabled graduates.
Notes
- The Opportunity Index, The Sutton Trust, 2025.
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