Graduates see salary advantage narrow

Research published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals that the pay gap between degree-educated employees and those with GCSEs or A-levels is closing.

Between October and December last year, a fifth (20 per cent) of employees with the minimum of a university degree were earning less than someone holding A-levels or equivalent qualifications.

And about one employee in six (15 per cent) with at least a degree was also earning less than the average of someone educated to GCSE level.

The figures were based on employees aged between 22 and 64, as most people have completed full-time education by this point.

Overall, graduates still tend to earn more than their colleagues who finished their education earlier, but the pay gap was smaller in 2010 than it was in 1993.

On average, degree-educated employees were earning 85 per cent more at the end of last year than those who were educated to GCSE level.

But in 1993, they were earning 95 per cent more.

Workers that hold A-levels or equivalent qualifications were earning 15 per cent more than those with GCSEs last year, down from 18 per cent more in 1993.

The statistics shows that at the same time, the percentage of people in the UK who have degrees has doubled from 12 per cent in 1993 to 25 per cent in 2010.

Fewer workers have no formal qualifications, the research shows, down to 11 per cent in 2010 from 25 per cent in 1993.

This is likely to have been driven by the numbers of people aged 50-64 in 1993 who were less likely to have stayed on at school to gain formal qualifications in the education system at the time, the ONS said.

The research also shows that the typical hourly pay for employees with GCSEs in the final quarter of last year was £8.68, rising to £10 for those with A-levels or equivalent qualifications, and £16.10 for those with the minimum of a degree.