Government statistics cited by the Universities Minister this week disguise the extent of graduate over-qualification in the UK according to the CIPD and the Edge Foundation.

Universities Minister Jo Johnson said in a speech on Wednesday 9th September at the Universities UK Annual Conference that “official statistics show that in fact only 20% of recent graduates did not find a graduate level job within 3 years of leaving college.” The Minister went on to suggest that statistics from new CIPD research showing that about 58% of UK graduates were in non-graduate jobs exaggerated the problem.

However analysis by both the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development and independent education charity the Edge Foundation, finds that the Higher Education Statistics Agency figures cited by the Minister are misleading and not relevant to the debate about graduate over-qualification.

David Harbourne, Acting Chief Executive of the Edge Foundation, commented: “The same official statistics cited by the Universities Minister show that, after accounting for non-working graduates, around half of all 2011 graduates failed to get a graduate-level job within three and a half years of completing their degree. And this is an average figure: for people with arts, humanities and social science degrees, the situation is significantly worse. The uncomfortable truth is that vast numbers of graduates struggle to get onto the professional career ladder when they leave university.

“In addition many of these ‘graduate level’ jobs in the official statistics can be accessed by people without degrees, who have vocational qualifications or who have worked their way up via an apprenticeship.

Young people, parents and teachers need much better information about job prospects and we need more investment in further and vocational education and training opportunities.”

Peter Cheese, Chief Executive of the CIPD commented: “We stand by our recent research report Over-qualification and skills mismatch in the graduate labour market which shines a light on the extent of graduate over-qualification in the UK labour market and received widespread support for the issues raised. It shows that around 58% of UK graduates are in non-graduate jobs, a very high proportion by international standards, and that if you compare graduates to non-graduates doing the same job in the majority of instances there is no resultant change to the skills requirement for that role. Simply increasing the qualification level of individuals going into a job doesn’t typically result in the skills required to do the job being enhanced – in many cases that skills premium, if it exists at all, is simply wasted.

“This situation is unsustainable given that the Government estimates that about 45% of student loans will not be repaid. The CIPD is therefore calling for a broader review of education funding, and the advice and guidance given to young people, to ensure the system is delivering the right returns all types of leaders, students, employers and the economy. We would be keen to work with government on this and have a measured debate on these issues which are crucial if we’re to get a better balance between academic and vocational qualifications and develop a world class apprenticeship system.”