Employment I am confident about getting the job I want after graduation I have skills and experience that employers want I already have a lot of work experience I have taken part in activities to develop my skills for employment Strongly disagree Moderately disagree Neutral Moderately agree Strongly agree Figure 17: Breakdown of responses to Employment theme questions The Employment score measures applicants’ confidence in their graduate employment prospects together with their employability skills and experience. Up 2 from 2023 64 The employment theme score has increased by two points this year, partly due to increased confidence, however there are demographic differences across these scores. This year, 40% strongly agree that they are confident about getting the job they want, compared with 34% last year. This may be driven by better opportunities for work experience among this cohort. This year’s applicants have higher levels of perceived work experience (52% v 47% in 2023) and are slightly more likely to have taken on paid work (70% v 68%). International applicants score notably higher across all questions than UK applicants. Among UK applicants, those from AB socioeconomic groups are the most confident in their job prospects. When it comes to getting the job they want after graduation, those who have done paid work have a similar level of confidence than those who have not, even though they agree more strongly with the other three statements in this theme. Against each of the statements, male applicants scored themselves higher than female applicants did. 8% 20% 26% 39% 6% 10% 21% 23% 7% 40% 14% 19% 21% 31% 14% 10% 18% 27% 39% 6% Unite Students | Applicant Index Report 32 INTRODUCTION THEMATIC ANALYSIS EMPLOYMENT METHODOLOGY TOPICAL ISSUES BACK TO THEMES