Cardiff graduates among the UK’s most employable

Cardiff University graduates remain some of the most employable and sought after by UK employers, according to new data.

The *2020/21 Graduate Outcomes survey results, found that 87% (up from 84% in 2019/20) of all Cardiff graduates working in the UK had secured high-skilled employment within 15 months of finishing their studies.

Published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), the survey also found that 95% of our graduates were in employment and/or further study or doing other activities such as travelling, 15 months after their course ended.

It means that Cardiff University remains Wales’s leading destination for graduates to gain the skills, knowledge and experience needed to secure high-skilled employment.

Cardiff University’s Pro Vice-Chancellor, Education and Student Experience, Claire Morgan said: “We know that the last few years, during and after the pandemic, placed huge and unprecedented challenges on this group of graduates.

“That’s why it is particularly pleasing and reassuring to know that a Cardiff University degree remains so highly sought after by employers - with the largest percentage ever of our students securing high-skilled work.

“However, we are not complacent. We are determined to ensure that future graduates continue to get the skills they need to flourish in employment.

“This means adapting our curriculum, providing more placements, nurturing excellent links with employers, as well as providing enterprise and entrepreneurship support to ensure our students get the skills they need for whatever path they choose once they graduate.”

The Graduate Outcomes survey is the biggest annual social survey in the UK.

Questions relate to employment, further study, graduate perspectives and well-being. Graduates are asked what they were doing in a particular week, called a census week, 15 months after they completed their course.

*Graduate Outcomes 2020/21 survey results published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). HESA open data is published under the (CC BY 4.0) licence.