Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her department is taking to ensure that universities provide transparent data on graduate employment outcomes to help students make informed decisions about higher education pathways.

Although Higher Education (HE) providers are autonomous of government, the department recognises that student choice requires access to high-quality and graduate outcome information. The department continues to work with the Office for Students (OfS), UCAS and sector partners to improve the quality, accessibility and visibility of graduate outcome information, as set out in the Post-16 Skills White Paper.

Discover Uni, operated by the UK HE funding and regulatory bodies, provides comprehensive courses, student and graduate outcomes, and earnings information via Graduate Outcomes and Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) Data. LEO provides a unique data source rarely available internationally linking education, employment, earnings or benefits records, valuable evidence on educational pathways and labour market outcomes supporting the focus on aligning education pathways with priority occupations and addressing skills shortages.

The OfS regulatory framework requires providers to comply with Competition and Markets Authority guidance on consumer protection, including providing prospective students with accurate destination information.