Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the standard time interval after graduation at which employment outcomes are measured for higher education leavers; whether that interval varies by subject area; and what assessment they have made of whether the 15-month Graduate Outcomes survey measurement point adequately captures career trajectories in subjects characterised by freelance, self-employed and portfolio working, including fine art, craft and design.

Higher education (HE) employment outcomes are measured at multiple points after graduation, including after 15 months in the Graduate Outcomes survey, and after 3, 5 and 10 years in the HE Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) publication data. Together these datasets provide evidence to inform policy. The HE LEO publication can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/leo-graduate-and-postgraduate-outcomes/2022-23.

The department recognises that employment trajectories differ by occupation and industry sector and takes the full range of data and evidence into account in its research and policy design.