New research*, has found that almost two-thirds (65%) of UK employers say that educational qualifications are becoming less important when hiring. 

In light of this sentiment, only 14% of UK job postings on the Indeed platform mention any educational qualifications. This stands in contrast to the US hiring market, where almost 50% of job postings state educational requirements. 

That suggests a cultural difference in how job postings are drafted, with UK employers seemingly more likely to assume rather than explicitly state qualifications in some professions. But there is also evidence that some highly technical occupations are moving towards greater skills-based hiring. 

Value of degree falling in many sectors

Although 61% of UK employers say that they often look at university degrees when screening candidates, only 5% of job postings explicitly mention a degree requirement. 

More than half (52%) of sectors have lower degree requirements now than they did six years ago, including a number of high-skill, technical occupations. Some of these jobs are on the UK skilled worker visa list, showing that for businesses hiring for these roles, there’s an incentive to move to skills-based hiring. 

Jobs in mathematics have seen a 7% decline in degree requirements between the first half of 2018 and 2024; while social science and information design & documentation occupations have seen around a 3% decline. 

On the other hand, job postings today are more likely to contain education requirements in dental occupations (5% increase), civil engineering (5%), therapy (4%), veterinary (4%), and scientific research and development (3%) than six years ago. Most of these may be considered regulated professions, where a shift from degree-based to skills-based hiring is legally restricted.

Jack Kennedy, Senior UK Economist at Indeed, commented: “Our research demonstrates a shift away from measuring a candidate’s suitability for a role purely based on their educational qualifications. 

Despite this, it is also important to consider that employers often implicitly expect education levels without mentioning them in job postings. To ensure the right candidates feel targeted by the posting, it might be useful to spell out whether a degree is actually needed or if it may be replaced by adequate experience. 

“Whether education requirements are implied or not, with labour supply remaining tight in certain sectors of the UK economy, a move to skills-first hiring may be a wise move for employers needing to extend candidate pools. People considering the next steps in their education should be reassured that while educational qualifications are important in some industries, there are many roles that take into account a range of skills and experience alongside education to measure suitability for a job.” 

*Figures from Indeed research