Source of data

WDGD provides information about the destinations of first-degree graduates and HND and Foundation Degree qualifiers, profiling how many leavers enter employment (and what type of employment), the numbers going on to further study, and how many are unemployed six months after graduation.

The publication aims to help those who are considering entering higher education, as well as teachers and advisers with responsibility for careers guidance, and parents concerned about their child’s future prospects.

This edition profiles the destinations of leavers from the 2005/06 academic year. To complement the data, there is an editorial for each subject area where the data is discussed and interpreted.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is a government agency, and collects national first destination information on first and higher degree graduates on an annual basis. The information for this report was collected through a questionnaire sent out in winter 2006/07 to all UK- and EU-domiciled students who graduated in the previous academic year. The results of this ‘Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education’ (DLHE) survey represent a snapshot of the employment status and types of work of graduates six months after they graduated.

The DLHE survey asks graduates what their current activity is, whether it be work, study, looking for work or even travelling. If employed, it asks for the job description and the kind of company the graduate works for so that we can get a comprehensive picture of where graduates are employed, and the kind of work that they are doing. It also helps us to get a picture of patterns of further study, and can tell us how many people graduated with different degrees, as well as the overall numbers graduating.

Since the data presents a snapshot survey of graduates shortly after they have received their qualification, it does not tell us what they will be doing further ahead in their careers. The survey does not ask for future career plans, and as a result cannot be used to answer questions about the intentions of new graduates, nor of their reasons for choosing some of the career options.

This year, as a result of increasing graduate numbers in both subjects, we have split the old section for ‘Art and Design’ in the paper copy of WDGD into two subject sections – Design, and Fine Art. This matches the online website, which already provides the two subjects as stand alone sections.

We have also reinstated a separate editorial section for Maths and IT, which has been separated from the section on Science.

Each subject has two sets of data. The first data set and pie chart look at what all those graduates who replied to the DLHE survey were doing six months after graduating. This is the place to look if you want to know, for example, how many people studied a subject, the gender balance and how many were working or unemployed.

The second section looks specifically at the types of work that UK-domiciled graduates (who said that they were working in the UK) were doing six months after graduating. These jobs are arranged into a standard classification devised by the Editorial Team. You will see illustrative examples of jobs that graduates from that subject were doing in 2006/07. These are shown to demonstrate the kinds of jobs and employers that graduates enter with the degrees in question. Some employers are not named directly, but are described in terms such as ‘Marketing Company’. Many graduates start work in small businesses whose names may not be familiar to readers, or which are so small that they only take on a few graduates a year. The names of these companies are not directly stated so that the anonymity of their employees can be respected.

…if you are a school pupil or student?

You might be thinking about going to university and may also have an idea of what subject you might like to study, or you may already be at university. By reviewing the information in WDGD, you will get a better understanding of the options open to you from studying a degree, HND/foundation degree, and of how a particular subject might impact on your future career prospects. Looking at the subject lists, you can find out how many of the graduates secure employment and what jobs they go on to do, which might give you some ideas. You can also find out how graduates from other subjects fare. There is also more general information about how to use your time at university to enhance your prospects and on the state of the job market.

…if you are a teacher or adviser offering careers guidance?

You can use WDGD as a basis for a wide range of guidance work including one-to-one guidance, tutor groups, career sessions for parents and higher education evenings and events.

…if you are a parent?

You can use WDGD to get a better understanding of the graduate labour market so you can help your child prepare for what's ahead. You can also review the subject level information to help your child make the best decision for them.

All of the information from the paper version can also be found on this website. In addition to the subjects found in the paper version, we also publish the data for four biomedical subjects - medicine, nursing, anatomy, physiology and pathology, and pharmacology, toxicology and pharmacy - and link to supplementary material, such as postgraduate destinations.

A useful supplementary source of information can be found in AGCAS Link-Up, a labour market information bulletin produced once a year by the careers advisers behind WDGD, as an aid for tutors in schools and colleges. This is available in photocopiable format on the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) website under 'Link-up'.