Postgraduate education
Published:
18 December 2025
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Data on the percentage of 25 to 64 year olds in the UK who had a postgraduate degree from 2014 to 2024.
Summary main findings
From 2014 to 2024, the percentage of 25 to 64 year olds in the UK who had a postgraduate degree went up from 9% to 16%.
In the period from 2014 to 2024 combined, West Inner London had the highest percentage of 25 to 64 year olds with postgraduate degrees (32%), followed by East Inner London (25%). Southern Scotland (6.9%) and Lincolnshire (7.2%) had the lowest percentages.
By year
Visualisation
Percentage of 25 to 64 year olds who had a postgraduate degree (UK, 2014 to 2024)
Data
| Year | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 16.1 |
| 2023 | 16.2 |
| 2022 | 15.1 |
| 2021 | 14.2 |
| 2020 | 13.9 |
| 2019 | 13.1 |
| 2018 | 12.4 |
| 2017 | 12.1 |
| 2016 | 12.0 |
| 2015 | 10.9 |
| 2014 | 9.3 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
By area
Visualisation
Percentage of 25 to 64 year olds who had a postgraduate degree, by region (UK, 2014 to 2024 combined)
41 regions in the UK are ranked from the lowest to highest values. They are then divided into 5 equally-sized groups (‘quintiles’), from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest).
The lines either side of the dots represent confidence intervals – the range of values that the 'true' value for each region is highly likely to be within. In many cases the confidence intervals overlap. This suggests differences between specific regions may not be statistically significant.
The regional estimates have a large margin of error – do not rank or compare specific regions. See the composite indices for more precise estimates and to understand overall regional patterns.
Data
| Region | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire | 13.5 |
| Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire | 18.1 |
| Cheshire | 15.7 |
| Cornwall and Isles of Scilly | 9.7 |
| Cumbria | 10.2 |
| Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire | 10.2 |
| Devon | 11.3 |
| Dorset and Somerset | 10.9 |
| East Anglia | 11.3 |
| East Wales | 14.0 |
| East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire | 7.4 |
| Eastern Scotland | 15.0 |
| Essex | 9.4 |
| Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bath/Bristol area | 14.8 |
| Greater Manchester | 11.6 |
| Hampshire and Isle of Wight | 11.9 |
| Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire | 11.9 |
| Highlands and Islands | 8.6 |
| Inner London - East | 25.1 |
| Inner London - West | 32.0 |
| Kent | 10.3 |
| Lancashire | 10.0 |
| Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire | 10.2 |
| Lincolnshire | 7.2 |
| Merseyside | 10.3 |
| North Eastern Scotland | 14.6 |
| North Yorkshire | 14.2 |
| Northern Ireland | 9.8 |
| Northumberland, and Tyne and Wear | 10.5 |
| Outer London - East and North East | 15.5 |
| Outer London - South | 20.1 |
| Outer London - West and North West | 21.4 |
| Shropshire and Staffordshire | 9.5 |
| South Yorkshire | 12.3 |
| Southern Scotland | 6.9 |
| Surrey, East and West Sussex | 14.7 |
| Tees Valley and Durham | 8.2 |
| West Central Scotland | 12.3 |
| West Midlands | 10.6 |
| West Wales and The Valleys | 10.0 |
| West Yorkshire | 10.6 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
About the data
Data source
Office for National Statistics, Labour Force Survey (LFS)
Time period
- 2014 to 2024 (By year)
- 2014 to 2024 combined (By area)
Geographic area
UK
What the data measures
The data shows the percentage of 25 to 64 year olds in the UK with a postgraduate degree. A postgraduate degree is defined as any qualification above degree level. It is sometimes known as a ‘higher degree’.
Things you need to know
Data is weighted using LFS person weights.
Type of data
Survey data
Full report
Read more in State of the Nation 2025 on GOV.UK.
Download the data
Download full dataset (CSV, 12KB)
This file contains the following variables:
- Measure code
- Measure title
- Chart type
- Area code
- Area type
- Area name
- Primary split type
- Primary split value
- Secondary split type
- Secondary split value
- Tertiary split type
- Tertiary split value
- Time period
- Value
- Lower confidence interval
- Upper confidence interval
- Sample size
- Unit
Page history
Publication release date:
18 December 2025