Census results on education, labour market and travel to work

Around one in three adults in Scotland (1.5 million) have degree level qualifications or above - up 334,200 since 2011 – according to new census statistics from National Records of Scotland.

The latest report from Scotland’s Census 2022 showed larger increases for females than males since the last census. In 2022 35.1% of females aged 16 and over had a degree level qualification or above. This is up from 27.1% in 2011. The percentage of males aged 16 and over with degrees or above increased from 25.0% to 29.6% over the same period. 

The results showed significant regional variation with half of all adults (50.0%) in the City of Edinburgh council area having a degree or above. East Renfrewshire (44.6%) and East Dunbartonshire (42.9%) had the next highest percentages, while West Dunbartonshire was the council area with the lowest percentage (21.7%). 

Occupation data shows that more than half of workers in professional (55.3%) and associate professional (50.3%) jobs were female. However females make up 40.0% of workers in managerial and senior roles despite more females having a degree at almost all ages.

Almost a third (31.6%) of workers worked from home at the time of the census, with the number trebling to 800,500, from 259,600 in 2011. This is an increase of 540,900 (208.4%).  

National Records of Scotland Director of Census Statistics, Jon Wroth-Smith, said: 

“Census data presents a fascinating picture of how Scotland’s people, and their day to day lives, are changing. Since 2011 we have seen a large increase in the number of adults with degree level qualifications or above. In particular, more than a third of females across Scotland now have a degree or above, compared to 27.1% in 2011.

“The increase in home working was largely driven by changes in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Some changes in response to the pandemic were temporary. Others are likely to be longer lasting. There were limited Covid related restrictions in place in March 2022, outside of health and social care settings.” 

Survey data from the Office for National Statistics shows that the percentage of people working from home or hybrid working across Great Britain has been relatively similar over the last two years since Scotland’s Census.

The number of people driving a car or van to work decreased by 180,600. But this remained the most common way of travelling to work (1,163,700 people). Just under half (45.9%) of all workers drove to work in a car or van in March 2022. Excluding people who work from home, around two thirds (67.1%) of people who travelled to work drove a car or van. This is an increase from 62.8% in 2011.

This is the sixth of seven reports on different topics from the census to be released. The seventh report will include information on health, disability and unpaid care and will be published on October 3. Multivariate census outputs – the ability to combine data from different topic areas – will be available later in the year. 

The full report can be found on the Scotland’s Census website and the data tables which include breakdowns by local authority and other geographies can be accessed from the data tab on the home page.