Department for the Economy publishes destinations of leavers from Northern Ireland higher education institutions

The Department for the Economy has today published a Statistical First Release (SFR) of Destinations of Leavers from Northern Ireland Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) six months after graduating, for the academic year 2014/15. A full detailed bulletin is due to be published on 25 August 2016. Below is a summary of the key points in the SFR:

Department for the Economy publishes destinations of leavers from Northern Ireland higher education institutions

Six months after leaving NI HEIs, 67.4% of full-time first degree leavers were in UK employment, 4.6% were in employment overseas (including Republic of Ireland), 6.1% were in both work and further study, 12.6% were in further study only, 3.1% were engaged in other activities and 6.3% were unemployed.

For Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (Narrow STEM) subject areas, 66.8% of full-time first degree leavers from NI HEIs were in employment only (either in the UK or overseas, excluding those in both work and further study) and 7.7% were unemployed.

In 2014/15, of those UK domiciled first degree leavers (both full-time and part-time) from NI HEIs reported as being in full-time paid employment in the UK, 67.0% disclosed their salary. The median salary reported (to the nearest £500) was £20,000; the mean salary was £20,500.

Of the UK domiciled leavers from NI HEIs in 2014/15 reported as being in employment in the UK, 89.8% of full-time first degree leavers remained in NI to take up employment and 10.2% went to Great Britain; similarly, the majority (89.3%) of full-time postgraduate leavers also remained in NI to take up employment, while 10.7% went to Great Britain.

The SFR will be available to download from the Department’s website at 9.30am 30 June 2016.

Notes to editors: 

1. The statistics presented in this bulletin are based on data collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). HESA is the official agency for the collection of information on publicly funded Higher Education (HE) institutions in the UK.

2. The HESA data presented in this bulletin relate to students at HE institutions in NI and do not include HE students at FE colleges in NI or GB, or at institutions in the Republic of Ireland.

3. HE students for the purpose of HESA's data collection are those students on courses for which the level of instruction is above that of level 3 of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) National Qualifications Framework (NQF) (for example, courses at the level of Certificate of HE and above).

4. The academic year runs from 1 August to 31 July.

5. Narrow STEM related courses include Biological sciences, Physical sciences, Mathematical sciences, Computer science and Engineering & technology.

6. For further information, please contact the DfE Press Office on 028 9052 9604.

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