28 November 2018 
Matt Sisson, Projects and Membership Manager
We’re treated to another of those reports this week that shows that having a degree leads to higher earnings later in life. This one is courtesy of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and paid for by the Department for Education. It’s the second of a series of four reports that use the LEO dataset to try and provide information on the ‘value added’ of specific courses at specific HEIs. It finds that by the ripe old age of 29 the average man earns 25% more than their non degree-wielding counterpart, and for an average woman the benefit is more than 50%.
The OfS welcomes the findings, while David Kernohan at Wonkhe, has cast his discerning eye over the methodology, and has found the analysis wanting. “I’ve always held the position that this is interesting research data, but it is not useful for policy making or application decision making”, he writes. “But Sam Gyimah feels it is “better than nothing” for both those use cases. It isn’t – it is actively unhelpful”.
