Levels of Highest Qualification held by Working Age Adults, 2008

Statistics on qualification levels include data for Wales and all other UK countries for the period up to the end of December 2008. The latest bulletin provides further information on the Headline Statistics previously released on 30th July 2009.

The key points for 2008 are:

• Overall, qualification levels in Wales increased in 2008, continuing the general increase seen in recent years. There was a 2 percentage point increase for the proportions of adults with level 2 or above and for level 3 or above and 1 percentage point increase for level 4 or above.
• An estimated 14 per cent of working age adults in Wales reported having no qualifications, 1 percentage point lower than in 2007.
• 70 per cent of working age adults in Wales held at least level 2 qualifications. The proportion holding degree-level qualifications (NQF levels 4 or above) was 28 per cent.
• 56 percent of persons with no qualifications (who are not in full-time education) are either ILO unemployed or economically inactive. This compares to 25 per cent across the populations as a whole.
• Income increases with level of qualification held. Employees with levels 7-8 earn on average 87 per cent more a week than employees qualified to level 3 or below and more than double the amount earned by persons with no qualifications.
• In general, qualification levels in Wales were lower than in England, Scotland and the UK as a whole, but higher than in Northern Ireland.

Estimates for 2007 and the first two quarters of 2008 have been affected by a problem whereby apprenticeships have been under-reported relative to previous years. Because of sample size issues, it is difficult to make an accurate assessment of what the level 2 or above and level 3 or above rates should have been. We can only give broad estimates of this, but our analysis for 2007 indicates that the level 2 or above, and level 3 or above rates may have been around 0.5 and 0.3 percentage points higher, respectively. The effect will vary across groups. It will be smaller among women, but larger among men. The understatement of level 2 or above qualifications will have had the effect of small overstatements in the proportions qualified to below level 2 and with no qualifications.

Further information can be found on the StatsWales website.

Contact

Tel: 029 2082 5378
E-mail: post16ed.stats@wales.gsi.gov.uk

Next update

October 2010 (provisional - to be confirmed on the 'Due Out Soon' page)