Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of graduate earning outcomes in the UK relative to other OECD countries.

The department works with the OECD to support their publications on education.

The OECD’s ‘Education at a glance 2025’ shows that the earnings of graduate workers relative to secondary-educated workers in the UK is close to the OECD average. In particular, the report shows that the UK has a first degree graduate earnings premium of 37% among working age individuals, compared to 39% for the OECD average. In addition, table A4.5 presents the earnings differences in absolute terms. The publication can be found here: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/education-at-a-glance-2025_1c0d9c79-en.

Variations by field of study are explored further in the following OECD report: https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2021/01/how-does-earnings-advantage-from-tertiary-education-vary-by-field-of-study_60f20424/8a4b8f7a-en.pdf.