Further training and qualifications
Published:
31 December 2025
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Data on the percentage of people aged 25 and 32 years with a university degree, by socio-economic background.
Summary main findings
Across all socio-economic backgrounds and cohorts, a higher percentage of people had degrees by age 32 than age 25. This was the case for people born every year between 1989 and 1992. While the differences are not statistically significant, this consistent pattern shows that people continue to gain qualifications well into their 30s.
Among people born in 1992:
- 22% of those from working class backgrounds had a degree by 25 years old – this went up to 32% by age 32 years
- 39% of those from intermediate backgrounds had a degree by 25 years old – this went up to 50% by age 32 years
- 64% of those from professional backgrounds had a degree by 25 years old – this went up to 73% by age 32 years
By socio-economic background
Visualisation
Percentage of people born in 1992 who had got a degree by 25 and 32 years old, by socio-economic background (UK, 2017 and 2024)
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Data
| Age | Working (%) | Intermediate (%) | Professional (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 21.7 | 39.4 | 63.9 |
| 32 | 32.3 | 50.4 | 72.7 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
By year of birth
Visualisation
Percentage of people born between 1989 and 1992 who had got a degree by 25 and 32 years old, by socio-economic background (UK, 2014 to 2017, and 2021 to 2024)
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Data
| Year of birth | Working (%) | Professional (%) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 32 | 25 | 32 | |
| 1992 | 21.7 | 32.3 | 63.9 | 72.7 |
| 1991 | 27.8 | 31.4 | 57.1 | 64.0 |
| 1990 | 26.4 | 36.2 | 55.1 | 72.9 |
| 1989 | 19.6 | 38.0 | 56.0 | 68.4 |
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
- 2017 and 2024 (By socio-economic background)
- 2014 to 2017, and 2021 to 2024 (By year of birth)
Geographic area
UK
What the data measures
The data shows the percentage of young people born in cohorts from 1989 to 1992 who had university degrees at:
- age 25 years (between 2014 and 2017)
- age 32 years (between 2021 and 2024)
Data is shown for the following socio-economic backgrounds:
- professional class (combining the higher and lower professional classes)
- intermediate class
- working class (combining the higher and lower working classes)
These are based on the National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC), set by the ONS.
Things you need to know
Data is weighted using LFS person weights.
The data compares 2 separate samples for each age point from surveys. It does not compare the same people at different time points.
The error bars show 95% confidence intervals. Read more about confidence intervals.
Results are not directly comparable to those produced last year due to a change in methodology.
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, 4KB)
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:
31 December 2025