Where do graduates from Wales study and work? – Darogan
Graduates talking in the sunset

Where do graduates from Wales study and work?

8 December 2023

Owain James

I’m often asked about where graduates end up working after they graduate, and how this differs depending on where they studied.

Thankfully, we have something of a breakdown courtesy of HESA. HESA’s data shows us the pattern of where graduates work 15 months after graduating and segments them according to the following categories:

“A. Stays in same region for study and finds work in same LAUA as original location of residence

B. Returns to the same LAUA for work as original location of residence, having left region/country for study

C. Stays in same region for study, but finds work in different LAUA (in the same region) to original location of residence

D. Returns to a different LAUA (of the same region) for work when compared with original location of residence, having moved region/country for study

E. Moved region/country for work, but did not move region for study

F. Moved region/country for study, but did not then move region/country again for work

G. Moved region/country for study and then moved region/country again for work (with the region/country being different to their original region/country of residence)”

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Here are the results for Wales:

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It’s worth comparing this data with the English regions, Scotland, and Northern Ireland (which you can do here).

You can draw different conclusions from the stats in this graphic, but perhaps the most obvious point to make is that the graduates least likely to work in Wales after graduating are those who study outside of Wales. But this graph is helpful in other ways:

Firstly, it gives us a better understand of how or ‘at what point’ people leave Wales for work after studying. For instance, if you compare the data for Scotland, the picture looks completely different. They barely have any ‘returners’ compared with Wales because so few leave Scotland for study because of the free tuition offer. However, they have a higher rate of graduates who leave Scotland for work after initially studying in Scotland (than Wales does). So this graph helps us understand at what point Wales is ‘losing’ graduates from Wales – but it also shows us the importance of things like policy in shaping graduate mobility trends.

The second reason I think this breakdown is helpful is because when we talk about ‘returners’ to Wales, this doesn’t necessarily mean coming back to the same place within Wales. This graph starts to suggest that there are layers to the brain drain – i.e. if people from Gwynedd return to Wales, but go to Cardiff, is this a win or not? They are not the same type of returners as someone coming back to Gwynedd, certainly. But unfortunately, without a more localised version of this data, we can’t see how different Local Authorities are impacted (i.e. who loses out most and benefits most), even if we can hazard a guess.

But there are limitations to this data:

  • This only provides a snapshot of graduates 15 months after graduating. What would the pattern look like 5 years on? 10 years on? Will there be less ‘leavers’ or more?
  • This data is for those who graduated in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Covid-19 and the rise in inflation could have a major impact on these stats, but we just don’t know yet!
  • It really only gives us a national picture. These stats from HESA, although incredibly insightful, don’t help us understand the situation at a more local level. For instance, what does the picture look like for Wales’ four economic regions? What about per Local Authority? HESA themselves are aware of this need, saying ‘we recognise that users will be interested in such statistics at an even more local level. Over the coming years therefore, we shall be examining the feasibility of conducting analysis into topics such as the ‘brain drain’ at the LAUA domain…’. I really hope that they do!