London Economics

London Economics were commissioned by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills to undertake an econometric analysis of the returns to higher education qualifications. The analysis involved the forensic replication of some previous research in the area using information from the Labour Force Survey. The focus of the analysis was on the assessment of the earnings premiums associated with different levels of undergraduate and postgraduate higher education qualifications disaggregated by subject of study and various other personal and socioeconomic characteristics, as well as the estimation of lifetime earnings premiums and the individual and Exchequer rates of return associated with these different qualifications.