The Futuretrack Stage 5 research was conducted in summer and autumn 2019, but as the research team analysed the data collected and began to write the Stage 5 report, employment and social life more broadly were disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. This presented unprecedented challenges to employers and employees as the cohort of graduates who had entered the labour market in the wake of the 2008-9 financial crisis, around ten years after graduation, mainly moved beyond early careers to settled professional employment or self-employment and reached the family-building stage of their lives - over a quarter having already become parents. As we analysed the responses and particularly, the interview accounts given by those we had spoken to, we were aware that respondents ranged from those likely to be at the front line of essential services in healthcare and other areas, to those who had recently become self-employed or who were in precarious employment, or working in sectors where the restrictions were already leading employers to make staff redundant and rationalise their activities in a way likely to increase the vulnerability of employees. it seemed essential to go back to respondents to investigate the impact of these restrictions and economic trends, and allow them to update their accounts of their career development and perceptions of the options available to them.

Futuretrack Stage 4: transitions into employment, further study and other outcomes (2012)

The Stage 4 research report examines graduates' experiences of the labour market and further study five and a half years after they first applied to higher education.

Survey closes Friday 2nd March

We are now in the last week of the survey, so if you haven’t yet taken part, we invite you to do so NOW, before it is too late! You could win one of our cash prizes, but more importantly, you will be contributing to building a full picture of the labour market and a deeper understanding of the relationship between higher education and employment.

We’ve had an impressive response rate so far, but we want to be as representative as possible. Please pass this message on to anyone you know who is eligible to take the survey – remember, it is open to all who applied to full-time higher education through UCAS in the academic year 2005/06.

Remember, you can find us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for up-to-date news and discussions about the issues that matter to you.

Click here to complete the survey