02A more detailed look at the movement of students and graduates
The data above suggests that universities play an important role in the movements of people to and from Derby. This section explores the migration patterns of students and graduates into and out of the city using two data sets from the Higher Education Statistics Authority (HESA). The first looks at admissions (for all students at university in 2014/15), and the second is based on a survey of graduates six months after graduation (for leavers in 2013/14 and 2014/15). Unlike the ONS data used above, it covers the whole of the UK and includes students who came from abroad.
Box 1: Higher education institutions in Derby
This analysis covers Derby’s two universities: University of Derby and the University of Nottingham campus in Derby. The University of Nottingham campus is located at the Royal Derby Hospital and it is home to the School of Health Sciences and the School of Medicine.
In the academic year 2014/15 there were 14,045 students enrolled at these two universities: 97 per cent at the University of Derby and 3 per cent at the University of Nottingham.
Movements to university3
Almost half of all students at university in Derby are from the East Midlands
Derby’s universities mainly attract students from its own region. In 2014 and 2015, 47 per cent of all students at university were from the East Midlands, with 13 per cent from Derby and 34 per cent from elsewhere in the region (Figure 8). The next largest share was from the West Midlands with 16 per cent of all students in Derby coming from this region. 8 per cent of all students were from abroad; 46 per cent of this group were from the EU.
Figure 8: Origins of Derby’s university students, 2014/15
Looking specifically at cities, Figure 9 shows which UK cities university students in Derby have moved from and highlights the regional pull of Derby’s universities. 10 per cent of students who moved to Derby to study were originally from Nottingham. Derby’s universities also attracted students from London: 5 per cent of those students who moved to Derby to study were from the capital.
Figure 9: Origin cities of those who come to university in Derby, 2014/15
University of Derby is more regionally focused than the University of Nottingham
If we look at the origins of students by institutions, as shown in Figures 10 and 11, the two Derby universities show different pulls. The University of Derby attracted students mostly from its region: 46 per cent of its students were from the East Midlands and 13 per cent were from Derby itself. The second largest share, 16 per cent, came from the West Midlands and 8 per cent came from abroad. In contrast, the University of Nottingham had a broader and more international pull: 30 per cent of students at the University of Nottingham came from the Greater South East – this includes London, East and South East. Interestingly, the second largest share of students, 23 per cent, was of those from outside the UK. 22 per cent of students at the University of Nottingham came from the East Midlands, but only 2 per cent were from Derby itself.
Figure 10: Origins of students at University of Derby, 2014/15
Figure 11: Origins of students at University of Nottingham, 2014/15
However, there are some differences in the retention rates of the two universities. At 41 per cent, the proportion of graduates staying in Derby after graduation was higher for the University of Nottingham than for the University of Derby, whose retention rate was 21 per cent. The high retention rate of the University of Nottingham campus is unusual for Russell Group Universities and might have to do with the type of subjects taught at this campus.
When we take into consideration the different sizes of the two different campuses, the contribution of the University of Derby to the city’s graduate pool is much larger than the University of Nottingham’s contribution. In fact 94 per cent of all students retained in Derby are from the University of Derby. Further nuance can be seen by splitting those who remained in Derby after graduation into two groups: those who grew up, studied and worked in Derby, and those who came in to study and stayed for work.
As shown in Figure 15, 42 per cent of all retained students from the University of Derby were originally from Derby.
In comparison, 33 per cent of those retained by the University of Nottingham were originally from the city.
This means that for the University of Derby the retention rate was more strongly driven by its regional pull than was the case for the University of Nottingham, where two thirds of all students retained were not from Derby.
More than a third of all young people in Derby who went to a UK university stayed and studied in Derby
When we look at where Derby students decided to study, the data shows that 32 per cent stayed in Derby. The majority of the students who moved to study elsewhere did not go very far: 36 per cent of those who moved remained in the East Midlands and 20 per cent moved to Yorkshire and the Humber (Figure 12). If we look at the cities they moved to, 22 per cent of these movers went to study in Nottingham and 13 per cent in Sheffield (Figure 13).
Figure 12: Destination regions of those moving away from Derby for university, 2014/15
Figure 13: UK cities which Derby’s students move to for university, 2014/15
Overall, for the academic year 2014/15 there were 7,645 more students who moved into Derby to study than left Derby to study elsewhere. This was the 30th largest net inflow of all UK cities.
Movements of new graduates post-university
Derby retained a fifth of its students on graduation
As a city, Derby retained 22 per cent of its graduates in the 2014-2015 period, the 25th highest rate among UK cities, as shown in Figure 14. The cities with the highest rates were London and Manchester, keeping 77 and 51 per cent of their graduates, respectively.
Figure 14: Retention rates of each UK city, 2013/14 – 2014/15
However, there are some differences in the retention rates of the two universities. At 41 per cent, the proportion of graduates staying in Derby after graduation was higher for the University of Nottingham than for the University of Derby, whose retention rate was 21 per cent. The high retention rate of the University of Nottingham campus is unusual for Russell Group Universities and might have to do with the type of subjects taught at this campus.
When we take into consideration the different sizes of the two different campuses, the contribution of the University of Derby to the city’s graduate pool is much larger than the University of Nottingham’s contribution. In fact 94 per cent of all students retained in Derby are from the University of Derby. Further nuance can be seen by splitting those who remained in Derby after graduation into two groups: those who grew up, studied and worked in Derby, and those who came in to study and stayed for work.
As shown in Figure 15, 42 per cent of all retained students from the University of Derby were originally from Derby.
In comparison, 33 per cent of those retained by the University of Nottingham were originally from the city.
This means that for the University of Derby the retention rate was more strongly driven by its regional pull than was the case for the University of Nottingham, where two thirds of all students retained were not from Derby.
Figure 15: Proportion of all retained students from Derby and from elsewhere, 2013/14 – 2014/15
Nottingham was the most popular city destination for Derby’s graduates.
Within 6 months of graduation Nottingham was the most common employment destination for Derby graduates – 15 per cent of Derby’s graduates who moved were working in this city. The next most common cities to move to were London and Birmingham, with 6 per cent of graduates each. Other popular cities were Leicester and Sheffield (see Figure 16).
Figure 16: Destinations of Derby’s graduates who move to other cities for work, 2013/14 – 2014/15
Another component of graduate migration comprises of those attracted into Derby after graduation to work. While graduate retention figures tend to get a lot of attention, the ability of a city to attract in new graduates from elsewhere is an important part of increasing the number of degree holders in a city.
Again, there are two groups within this cohort: those that grew up in Derby, moved away to study and then returned for work, and those that moved in for work but had not lived in the city previously.
Looking firstly at the returners, of the students who moved away from Derby to study, 37 per cent returned for work. This was the 38th highest rate of return of all UK cities. The highest rates were in London and Manchester, with 74 and 58 per cent respectively.
Turning to those who moved in for work, Derby was relatively attractive to new graduates who had not lived in Derby before. The number of new graduates attracted in for work that had no previous connection to Derby was equivalent to 46 per cent of the graduate workforce, the 24th highest among UK cities.
Derby gained graduates overall
Combining this data on student and new graduate moves shows that overall Derby experienced a graduate gain. Between 2013 and 2015, 1,040 graduates who responded to the survey had left Derby to go to university elsewhere, whilst 2,070 respondents, who did not grow up in Derby, were employed in the city after graduation. Figure 17 shows the size of this graduate gain. In absolute terms, this places Derby as the 18th highest gainer of graduates when compared with other UK cities. London gained 42,000 of the graduates who responded and Manchester gained 4,700.
Figure 17: Comparing students lost and graduates gained by Derby, 2013/14 – 2014/15
This finding may not appear to square with the earlier finding about the net outflow of young graduates from Derby. This is because there is one final cohort of students: the bouncers. These students move into Derby to study and leave straight after graduation. Of all the students who moved to Derby to study, 85 per cent bounced, the 15th highest rate among UK cities with a university campus.
This cohort causes a lot of noise in the data. By excluding them and comparing the number of (would be) graduates in Derby before university with the number of graduates in the city after graduation, the graduate gain figure can be calculated. As Figure 18 shows, the graduate gain was much lower than the number of bouncers, driving the outflow of young graduates shown earlier.
Figure 18: The bouncers and the graduate gain, 2013/14 – 2014/15
