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YOU ARE IN » Home page > News and information main menu > Graduate Market Trends > Graduate mobility (Autumn 08)

Graduate mobility ? who goes to work in each region? (Autumn 08)

• Summary
• Introduction
• North East
• North West
• Yorkshire and the Humber
• East Midlands
• West Midlands
• East
• London
• South East
• South West
• Wales
• Scotland
• Northern Ireland

Summary

This article, written by Charlie Ball (HECSU), is the next in a series looking at aspects of graduate employment by region of the UK. It re-examines some of the key questions from our 2005 article, ‘Who stays and who goes? Graduate retention under the microscope’.

This article looks at the UK-domiciled graduates from 2006 who were working in each region through the lens of their previous attachment to the area. Was their home domicile in the region? Did they take their degree there? Are some regions better at attracting those who have studied there than others?

Using data collected from graduates who completed their degrees in 2005/6 and were in employment six months after graduating, our analysis found that:

• Just under half of all graduates (46.8%) employed in a given region had also studied there and been domiciled there before starting employment.
• Education professionals were the most likely to have started work in a region in which they had both studied and been domiciled.
• Office workers or those in marketing and sales were the most likely to be returning to their region of domicile after studying elsewhere.
• Health professionals and those in the arts and design were the most likely to remain in the region they got their degree after moving away from home.
• Engineering professionals were the most likely to have moved to a region that they neither got their degree or were domiciled, with 28.8% of new engineers moving to a new region for their first job.

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Introduction

In this article, we examine the graduates who started work in the UK in 2006 by region in terms of their locations of domicile and of study, and look at their employment in that light.

The data used in this study comes from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)'s Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey from 2005/6, which polled graduates leaving university in 2006, and examined what they were doing six months after graduation. We have split the working populations into four groups:

1. Regional loyals

These are graduates who are domiciled in a region, went to study in the region, and remained to work in that region. Nearly half of employed graduates (46.8%) from 2006 working in the UK six months after graduating fell into this category. They were most likely to be working in healthcare, whilst 60.5% of graduates working as education professionals six months after graduating were in this category.

2. Regional returners

These are graduates domiciled in a region, who go elsewhere to study, and then return to their home region to work. Just under a quarter (23.7%) of working graduates fell into this category, and nearly half (46%) of graduates working in the East of England were from this group.

3. Regional stayers

These are graduates who travel away from their home region to study, and then stay in that study region to work. 13.7% of working graduates were in this category, over one in six of whom (17.4%) were working as health professionals. They were also more likely than other graduates to enter the arts and media.

4. Regional incomers

These are graduates who go to work in a region in which they neither studied nor were domiciled. They often come to a region for jobs which may be higher paid, in management, engineering, or business. They were the least likely to be in a non-graduate job. 13.6% of regional incomers were working in business and finance roles six months after graduating, whilst 28.8% of new entrants to engineering were in this category.

Figure 1 shows the breakdown of these four by region of employment

Figure 1. Graduates from 2005/6 who were working six months after graduation, by region and location of domicile and study.

London is the most popular destination for graduates, and takes 42% of graduates who went to work in a region where they were neither educated nor domiciled. But more graduates from Scotland stayed in the region to work after study, and the North West also saw a large number of ‘loyals’. Whilst London had the largest proportion of ‘stayers’, Yorkshire and the Humber followed with 14.5% of graduates choosing to stay in the region after graduating. 46% of graduates going to work in the East were those who were from the region, who had got a degree elsewhere and who had chosen to return to work; the region also had an unusually low proportion of ‘stayers’, which implies a labour market that is more accessible to those who know the region well.

We will now look at each region individually.

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North East

60.7% of graduates working in the region six months after graduating were Loyals, who had stayed in their home region to study and work. Popular roles for these graduates included nurses, doctors, pharmacists and teachers. 16.8% had returned to the region after gaining a degree elsewhere, and they were the most likely to be in administrative and office, social and welfare and education professions. 16.1% opted to stay in the region after gaining a degree there, despite hailing from elsewhere. They were much the most likely graduates to be in positions as health professionals and particularly as junior doctors. They were also more likely than other graduates in the region to be in business and finance, IT and the arts. Finally, 6.2% of graduates working in the region were neither domiciled there, nor had studied there. They were very much more likely than graduates with more connection to the region to be working in engineering, and also more likely to have come to the region to work in management.

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North West

Only London and the South East exceeded the North West in terms of the number of 2005/6 graduates who started their careers in the region. The proportion of graduates who were working in the region, had studied there and were originally domiciled there was 56.3%, and common jobs for North West Loyals included retail, primary teaching, childcare, nursing, and office work. 21% were Returners coming back to the region after completing study elsewhere in the UK. This group were most likely to be in retail or office jobs. A number of new probation officers also started work in the region in 2006, and 86.2% of them were Returners. 14.7% of employed graduates from 2005/6 working in the North West six months after graduating were Stayers, graduates originally from outside the region, but who decided to remain after completing their course in the North West. Much the largest group of graduate Stayers in the region were junior doctors, and Stayers made up more than half of all the new junior doctors starting work in the region.

8.1% of employed graduates were Incomers, who had lived and studied outside the region prior to starting work in the North West. Incomers were widely spread over many different types of job, but were much the most likely group of graduates to have started work in a role that required a degree, and the most likely to start a job in marketing, management, science, engineering, IT or the arts and media.

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Yorkshire and the Humber

Fewer than half of the graduates from 2005/6 employed in the region six months after graduation were Loyals, with 43.5% having both studied and been domiciled in the region before starting work. Yorkshire Loyals were likely to be in jobs as teachers, nurses, social workers and education support workers. 23.5% of graduates working in the region were Returners, with management and office work being more common areas for these graduates to enter. Almost as many graduates working in Yorkshire and the Humber, 23.4%, were Stayers, with health professions – particularly junior doctors and new dentists – a key area of employment. 9.5% of graduates from 2005/6 working in Yorkshire six months after graduating were Incomers, with neither domicile nor region of study in Yorkshire. Incomers to Yorkshire were more likey than other graduates to be working in management, health, business, engineering and the arts.

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East Midlands

38.9% of graduates from 2005/6 who were employed in the region were East Midlands Loyals. Like other Loyals, this group were likely to be in health or education positions. 30.3% of new graduates working in the region were Returners, and they were particularly found in roles in management, in business and finance, in childcare and in customer service. 18.3% were Stayers, with one in six of this group working in the region in a health profession. Management and retail were other key areas for these graduates. 12.5% were Incomers, with management, engineering, the armed forces and health being important destinations for this group.

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West Midlands

Loyals, who were domiciled and had studied in the West Midlands, made up 47.3% of those graduates who were working there six months after graduating. These graduates were likely to be in nursing, primary school teaching, retail management and social work. 31.4% of graduates working in the region six months after completing their course had returned to the region after studying elsewhere. Important jobs for these West Midlands Returners included primary teaching, sales assistants, advertising and general office work. 50 of the 55 graduate probation officers starting work in the region were Returners. A relatively small proportion, 10.9%, of graduates working in the region were Stayers – only Scotland, the East of England and Northern Ireland had smaller proportions of working graduates in this group. Again, the majority of junior doctors starting work in the region were Returners, and Returners made up a large proportion of the region’s new physiotherapists. 10.4% were Incomers, who were not originally domiciled in the region and had not studied there. This group were more likely than other graduates to be in management, mechanical or design engineering, marketing, business and finance or IT and were much less likely than other groups working in the region to be in a job that did not require a degree on graduating.

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East

The region has the smallest proportion of employed graduates in the ‘Loyals’ category, with only 26.7% of graduates from 2005/6 working in the region six months after graduating being both domiciled and having studied in the East of England. Loyals in the region were likely to be in nursing, childcare or social work.

Conversely, the region had the highest proportion of Returners, with nearly half (46%) the graduates employed there having returned to their region of domicile after getting a degree elsewhere. Retail, office work, teaching and childcare were all important occupations for this group, who were more likely than other graduates in the region to be employed in a job that did not require a degree six months after graduation. Only 5.2% of graduates in the region were Stayers, and 22.3% of this group were working in health professions six months after graduating. A large proportion (22.1%), exceeded only by London, of the graduates from 2005/6 working in the region were Incomers who were domiciled and had studied elsewhere. They were more likely than other graduates in the region to be employed as junior doctors, as managers and as software engineers and designers.

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London

The capital had the largest number of graduates going to work there, with 27,900 new graduates working in the region. 34.7% were domiciled and had studied in the city, and most graduates were employed as nurses, teachers and midwives; most sales assistants and office workers were also part of this group. 20.1% had returned to the city after studying elsewhere, and they were likely to be in office work, retail, advertising and recruitment roles. Another 12.3% stayed in London after studying at a London institution, with arts and media professions, junior doctors and sales assistants the most likely roles for this group. 33% of graduates working in the city were Incomers, who were not from the city and had not studied for their qualification there – much the largest proportion for any UK region. 21.5% of this group were in a business or finance role- particularly accountancy, management consultancy and financial analysis. Management, marketing and PR were also very important types of work for Incoming graduates from 2005/6 working in London six months after graduating.

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South East

Like London, the South-East’s proportion of graduates from 2005/6 who were working in the region six months after completing their degree and who had both studied in the region and were domiciled there prior to starting work, was relatively small, at 38.2%. This relatively low proportion is due to the large number of graduates coming to the region from elsewhere to start their careers. Those who did stay in the region having been domiciled there and studying in the South East were most likely to be in health, education and childcare posts. 31.7% of graduates employed in the region had returned to their home region after studying elsewhere, and this group were likely to be in office jobs, to be working in retail, to be employed as primary school teachers or to be working in advertising or marketing. 11.8% of graduates employed in the region were Stayers who remained in the South East after gaining their degree there. Unlike many other regions, junior doctors were not the most likely to be in this group. The most likely employment outcomes for South East Stayers were in retail, office work, health and education. 18.3% of graduates from 2005/6 were Incomers who had not studied and were not originally domiciled in the region before coming to work there. The majority of junior doctors coming to work in the region were in this category and office workers, software engineers and members of the armed forces were all important job outcomes for graduate Incomers to the South East.

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South West

40.8% of graduates from 2005/6 employed in the South West six months after graduating were domiciled and had studied in the region. The majority of new nurses, primary teachers, social workers and midwives in the region were in this Loyal category. 30.6% of employed 2005/6 graduates were Returners coming back to the region after studying elsewhere. Office work, retail, childcare and advertising were popular roles for this group, and the majority of new probation officers in the region were Returners. 14.3% were Stayers, remaining in the region after gaining their degree despite not being domiciled there originally. Although they did not dominate any one kind of job in the region, they were likely to be working as junior doctors, as retail and office workers, in IT and in business and finance. Almost the same proportion, 14.3%, of graduates from 2005/6 employed in the region six months after graduating , were Incomers who had not taken their degree at a South West university and were not originally domiciled there. This group included nearly half of the new junior doctors starting work in the region and also a higher proportion than the other employment groups of engineers, accountants and vets.

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Wales

60.2% of graduates from 2005/6 working in Wales six months after graduating were Welsh by domicile and had also been to a Welsh university. Over 90% of new primary school teachers and nurses starting work in Wales from this cohort were in this group, and this group were also more likely than other graduates starting their career in Wales to be in childcare, secondary teaching, further education teaching and the civil service. 19% were Returners, who had come back to Wales after studying elsewhere. Common jobs for Returners included retail, office work, childcare, pharmacists, and physiotherapy. 13.2% were Stayers, non-Welsh graduates who had studied there and stayed to work. Like many other regions, this group included a large proportion of Wales’ new junior doctors, and retail management, civil engineering and dentistry were also common options within the Welsh Stayer group. Only 7.7% of graduates from 2005/6 who started their careers in Wales were Incomers without domicile or place of study within Wales. The majority of new vets in Wales fell into this category, and healthcare, management and engineering were also strongly represented within this group of graduates.

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Scotland

Only London, the South East and the North West had more graduates from 2005/6 starting work than did Scotland. 83.9% of those who did start work in the region were Stayers, Scottish graduates who had also studied in Scotland. This is the largest single group under consideration in this article, larger than any of the groups going to work in London or the South East, and so dominant are Scottish Stayers that they made up the majority of most types of work of 2005/6 graduates employed in Scotland. Only 5.1% of graduates employed in Scotland were Returners coming back from study elsewhere. This is because of the relatively small number of Scotland-domiciled students who study outside Scotland; over half of those who did study elsewhere did return, but this number is small compared to the number who stayed in Scotland to study. 7.2% of graduates employed in Scotland were Stayers – non-Scots who had studied in Scotland and chose to stay to work. 29.9% of Stayers were in health professions, particularly medicine, and in fact, very nearly one in five (19.4%) of Scottish Stayers were in medicine. 3.8% of graduates from 2005/6 starting work in Scotland were Incomers who were neither Scottish nor had studied in Scotland. They were more likely than other graduates working in Scotland to be in engineering, finance and business, or the arts.

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Northern Ireland

83.2% of graduates from 2005/6 working in Northern Ireland six months after graduating were Loyals, and like Scotland, this group dominated most aspects of employment for graduates. Well over 90% of nurses and primary school teachers from this cohort who began work in Northern Ireland were Loyals. 14.9% were Northern Irish graduates returning after studying elsewhere in the UK, and retail, office work, childcare, accountancy, general management and advertising and marketing roles were more likely to be filled by Returners than by Loyals. Very few graduates came to work in Northern Ireland if they were not already domiciled there. Only 0.4% of graduates employed in the region were Stayers and 1.5% were Incomers. The numbers these represent are too low to effectively analyse the jobs these graduates were doing, but suggests that graduates from outside Northern Ireland are not attracted by the local labour market.