More than half of recent graduates in Scotland are working in non-graduate jobs.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed that 56% of graduates across the country who left full-time education in the last five years were working in a non-graduate role in 2017. Non-graduate roles are those that do not require knowledge and skills developed through higher education. Examples can include receptionists, sales assistants, many types of factory workers, care workers and home carers.

While recent university leavers might not expect to go straight into a graduate role, the picture is not much better for longer-term graduates. In Scotland, 40% of all working-age graduates who left university more than five years ago are working in non-graduate jobs.

It means that in total, more than 413,500 graduates living across the country are estimated to be working in jobs that don’t require their level of education.

Across the UK, 47 per cent of recent graduates and 37 per cent of non-recent graduates were working in non-graduate jobs in 2017. It means around 4.6 million people up and down the country are over-qualified for their job.