‘Education pathways: Equality gaps in earnings and employment’ analyses the earnings and employment status of over a million individuals from Key Stage 4 qualifications (e.g., GCSEs) to 16 years later, and found that graduates from top tier universities earned over £20,000 more than those who did no further study.

TASO commissioned State of Life and Mime to conduct the data analysis to inform the report ‘Education pathways: Equality gaps in earnings and employment’ .

Education pathways: Equality gaps in earnings and employment [PDF]

Graduates who undertook a higher education qualification at any type of provider are also much more likely to be employed – 84% compared to 65% for those with no known qualification beyond GCSE level.

The findings paint a complex picture, but a consistent finding is that equality gaps remain, with key under-represented groups of students facing persistent barriers to an equitable education pathway.

Difference in earnings and employment outcomes for disadvantaged or underrepresented groups:

    • There is an earnings premium for disadvantaged students with a higher education qualification.
    • However, a clear disadvantage earnings gap exists. Earnings are consistently higher among more advantaged students compared to free school meal eligible students.
    • Men earn more than women across the full range of education pathways. Gender gaps in earnings are large, and larger than equivalent free school meals, or ethnicity gaps.
    • The analysis of earnings by ethnicity tells a more mixed story, after controlling for attainment and other demographics, the higher education earnings premium education is higher for Asian, Mixed and Other graduates than for White graduates, but lower for Black graduates.