To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on research projects undertaken by the Institute of Fiscal Studies on behalf of her Department on labour market returns by degree subject in each year since 2022.
Answered on
7 January 2025
Since 2022, the department has commissioned one research project, undertaken by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), that includes evidence about labour market returns to undergraduate degrees by degree subject. This is described below.
In 2023, the department put out to open tender a research project called, ‘Developing an earnings metric to assess the quality of higher education (HE) provision’. The IFS bid for and were awarded this project. This project included modelling of graduate earnings by degree subject and HE provider. Its purpose was to produce a report advising on options for how graduate earnings could be used by the Office for Students as part of their regulatory activity. This work began in November 2023 and the report was delivered to the department in September 2024. The report has not yet been published but will be in the future.