Income returns to education
Published:
11 September 2024
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Data on the effect of different levels of education on the earnings of young people aged 25 to 29 years, by socio-economic background.
Summary main findings
Higher education levels among young people (25 to 29 year olds) are linked with higher earnings.
Young people with a higher degree – such as a master’s degree – earned 58% more than those from the same socio-economic background with no GCSEs. Young people with an undergraduate degree earned 48% more.
For people with all qualifications except higher degrees and GCSEs (or equivalent), earnings went up significantly between the 3 years to 2016 and the 3 years to 2022.
Earnings went up by:
- 16.0% for people with lower level qualifications
- 15.3% for people with further education qualifications
- 12.2% for people with undergraduate degrees
The earnings gap between young people with different education levels has stayed mostly the same. It has got smaller between young people with:
- undergraduate degrees and higher degrees
- GCSEs (and equivalent) and lower level qualifications
Young women earned significantly less than young men with the same qualifications and socio-economic background.
Young people from most ethnic minority groups earned around the same as White British young people with the same qualifications and socio-economic background. Young people from the Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic groups earned less.
Young people with a disability earned significantly less than those without a disability with the same qualifications. For young people with an undergraduate degree, those with a disability earned 86% of the earnings of those without a disability.
By education level
Visualisation
Percentage differences in hourly earnings of 25 to 29 year olds, relative to those with lower level (below GCSE grade 1 or equivalent), controlling for socio-economic background, sex and age (UK, 2020 to 2022 combined)
Data
| Highest qualification | Percentage difference relative to lower level (%) |
|---|---|
| Higher degree | 57.6 |
| First degree | 47.9 |
| Further education below degree | 29.1 |
| A level and equivalent | 15.6 |
| O level, GCSE and equivalent | 3.3 |
| Lower level (below CSE grade 1) | 0.0 |
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By year
Visualisation
Hourly earnings of 25 to 29 year olds, adjusted for inflation, by highest qualification controlling for socio-economic background, sex and age (UK, 2014 to 2022, 3-year rolling averages)
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Data
| Year | Lower level (below CSE grade 1) (£) | O level, GCSE and equivalent (£) | A level and equivalent (£) | Further education below degree (£) | First degree (£) | Higher degree (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 to 2022 | 10.50 | 10.85 | 12.14 | 13.56 | 15.53 | 16.55 |
| 2019 to 2021 | 9.89 | 11.00 | 11.83 | 12.90 | 15.35 | 16.19 |
| 2018 to 2020 | 9.75 | 10.95 | 11.66 | 12.42 | 15.14 | 16.67 |
| 2017 to 2019 | 9.79 | 11.11 | 11.53 | 12.35 | 14.72 | 15.91 |
| 2016 to 2018 | 9.86 | 10.65 | 11.37 | 12.10 | 14.31 | 15.92 |
| 2015 to 2017 | 9.39 | 10.66 | 11.12 | 12.12 | 13.98 | 15.87 |
| 2014 to 2016 | 9.05 | 10.49 | 10.96 | 11.76 | 13.84 | 16.38 |
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For the full download file, see Download the data.
By sex
Visualisation
Mean hourly earnings of 25 to 29 year olds, by educational level and sex, controlling for socio-economic background and age (UK, 2014 to 2022 combined)
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Data
| Highest qualification | Men (£) | Women (£) |
|---|---|---|
| Higher degree | 16.17 | 14.46 |
| First degree | 14.70 | 13.04 |
| Further education below degree | 13.00 | 10.58 |
| A level and equivalent | 12.09 | 9.69 |
| O level, GCSE and equivalent | 10.97 | 9.49 |
| Lower level (below CSE grade 1) | 9.59 | 8.74 |
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For the full download file, see Download the data.
By ethnicity
Visualisation
Mean hourly earnings of 25 to 29 year olds, by educational level and ethnicity, controlling for socio-economic background and age (UK, 2014 to 2022 combined)
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Data
| Ethnicity | Degree (£) | No degree (£) |
|---|---|---|
| Bangladeshi | 11.84 | 8.88 |
| Chinese | 14.03 | 10.53 |
| Indian | 14.00 | 10.51 |
| Pakistani | 12.70 | 9.53 |
| Black African | 14.05 | 10.54 |
| Black Caribbean | 13.95 | 10.46 |
| Mixed | 13.89 | 10.42 |
| White British | 14.07 | 10.56 |
| White other | 13.88 | 10.42 |
| Other | 13.31 | 9.99 |
Download
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By disability status
Visualisation
Mean hourly earnings of 25 to 29 year olds, by educational level and disability status, controlling for socio-economic background and age (UK, 2014 to 2022 combined)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data
| Highest qualification | Disabled (£) | Not disabled (£) |
|---|---|---|
| Higher degree | 15.18 | 15.28 |
| First degree | 12.02 | 14.01 |
| Further education below degree | 10.10 | 12.06 |
| A level and equivalent | 10.20 | 10.99 |
| O level, GCSE and equivalent | 8.71 | 10.53 |
| Lower level (below CSE grade 1) | 9.18 | 9.23 |
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
- 2020 to 2022 combined (By education level)
- 2014 to 2022, 3-year rolling averages (By year)
- 2014 to 2022 combined (By sex, ethnicity and disability status)
Geographic area
UK
What the data measures
The data shows the effect of different levels of education on the earnings of young people aged 25 to 29 years in the UK.
Things you need to know
This year’s estimates are not directly comparable to those in last year’s report. This is due to changes to the methodology and the inflation base year to 2022. Data is weighted using LFS person weights.
For data by education level, the percentages shown are the differences in income for men aged 27 from lower working class backgrounds by level of qualification, compared with similar men with lower level qualifications (below GCSE grade 1 or equivalent). Data from 2020 to 2022 is combined to get more accurate estimates.
For data by year, ethnicity and disability, the estimates shown are the hourly earnings of 27-year-old men from a lower working-class background. Data by year is combined into 3-year averages (for example, 2020 to 2022). Data by ethnicity and disability is combined from 2014 to 2022.
For data by sex, the estimates shown are the hourly earnings of 27-year-old men and women from a lower working-class background. Data from 2014 to 2022 is combined.
The error bars show 95% confidence intervals. Read more about confidence intervals.
Type of data
Survey data
Full report
Read more in State of the Nation 2024 on GOV.UK.
Download the data
Download full dataset (CSV, 25KB)
This file contains the following variables:
- Indicator code
- Indicator name
- Area type
- Area code
- Area name
- Time period
- Socio-economic background
- Age
- Sex
- Category type
- Category
- Category type2
- Category2
- Value
- Sample size
- Lower confidence interval
- Upper confidence interval
- Standard error
- Unit
- Value note
Page history
Publication release date:
11 September 2024