Graduate Jobs

Lord McNicol of West Kilbride Excerpts

Tuesday 6th January 2026 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord McNicol of West Kilbride]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the decline in graduate jobs and the extent to which it is a long-term trend that requires intervention.

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Baroness Sherlock) (Lab)]

My Lords, while the employment rate remains higher for graduates than for non-graduates, we recognise that there are challenges faced by young people leaving university. We are delivering for graduates by investing £1 billion in sector skills packages to create hundreds of thousands of jobs, by launching the jobs and careers service so that everyone can access quality careers advice and by delivering the youth guarantee so that 16 to 24 year-olds, including graduates, have the best support to enter work.

[Lord McNicol of West Kilbride (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for her Answer and agree with many of the points she has made. For a number of decades now, Governments of all shades have encouraged school leavers to go to university. I did not. I attended one of the old technical colleges, Dundee Institute of Technology, where I got an HND in building management. With the structural changes in employment opportunities for young people that we are now seeing, can we not do more to ensure that careers advice and the likes of technical education are better tailored for the generations of the future and the skills they will need in the new world of work?