The effect of graduate earnings on 16-year-olds’ subject choices

This project will look at the effects of giving information to 15-16-year-old students about the earnings of university graduates from different subjects. Around 4,000 students will participate in the project, from a total of 48 schools. 

The researchers will conduct a randomised control trial of an intervention in which Year 11 students are given a one-hour information session about the relationship between university subject and labour market outcomes. Students will then be encouraged to use the Internet to explore the evidence further. During the intervention, the intervention group will also receive information on graduate earnings, but the control group will not.

The study aims to measure the impact of the intervention on both preferences and actual choices of subjects. Students will be given questionnaires at three stages: before the intervention, immediately afterwards, and then at the start of Year 12 (the first year of sixth form). The researchers will also carry out qualitative interviews with the students and school staff.