There are currently 55,310 undergraduates studying design in the UK, most of whom are British students.
Just over half of designers now hold a degree, though only 37% of consultancies and in-house teams say this is essential for new recruits. For those design businesses that are involved in design education, lecturing or offering internships or work placements are the most common forms of involvement. Designers themselves take a laidback attitude towards formal training, with only 13% having taken formal courses recently, compared with higher numbers of software professionals, media professionals and artists.
Download a PDF factsheet full of facts and stats on education, training and skills in UK design industry
Student numbers, qualification levels and requirements
How many design studies students are there in the UK?
According to the Higher Education Standards Agency, there are currently 55,310 undergraduates on design studies courses in the UK.1
49,100 are from the UK (89%), 2,505 are from the EU excluding the UK (5%) and 3,705 are from outside of the EU (7%).
What percentage of designers hold a degree?
According to Labour Force Survey data2, 51% of designers hold a degree. This is a 10% increase since 2003, when 41% of designers held a degree.
What is the minimum education qualification that design consultancies and in-house design teams require of new recruits?
Almost four in 10 design consultancies and in-house design teams expect their new recruits to have completed an undergraduate degree.
- Higher degree 1%
- Undergraduate degree 37%
- Higher National Diploma 9%
- A levels or equivalent 1%
- GCSE levels or equivalent 7%
- Require no qualifications 32%
Of those businesses that did recruit, just over 40% recruited designers from college or university.
- College or university 43%
- Other design consultancies 30%
- Freelance designers 15%
- In-house design teams 14%
- Elsewhere 17%
How satisfied are employers with the quality of their graduate recruits?
Levels of satisfaction with graduate recruits is high.
- Completely satisfied 56%
- Quite satisfied 39%
- Not very satisfied/not satisfied at all 5%
How satisfied were employers with the quality of their experienced hires?
Just over three quarters of employers were completely satisfied with the quality of their experienced hires.
- Completely satisfied 76%
- Quite satisfied 22%
- Not very satisfied 2%
Involvement in design education
What percentage of design businesses are involved in design education?
18% of design businesses are involved in design education in the UK. There has been little change in this figure since 2005, when 18% of design businesses said that they were involved in design education.
Of those that are involved in design education, what form does this involvement take?
The most common form of involvement in design education is through providing work placements, internships or apprenticeships.
What do design businesses say are the barriers to getting involved in design education?
Lack of time is the main barrier to being involved in design education for design businesses.
- Don’t have time 34%
- Never been asked 29%
- Not interested 22%
How many design businesses are willing to provide design training opportunities?
60% of design businesses are willing to provide some form of training opportunities.
- Work placements for college/university students 40%
- Work placements for school students 31%
- Graduate internships 17%
- Apprenticeships 12%
- Not willing to provide placements 40%
What do design businesses say are the barriers to providing training placements?
A significant proportion of design businesses say there are no barriers to providing training placements.
- No barriers to providing training placements 40%
- Can’t spare staff to oversee trainees 28%
- Lack of physical space/equipment 20%
- Can’t afford to pay/support them 11%
Skills development and training
What skills do design businesses want their employees to develop?
Almost half of design businesses want their employees to develop their design IT and software skills.
- Design IT/software 48%
- Business awareness 12%
- Basic technical design skills (e.g drawing) 5%
- Creativity 4%
- Project management 4%
- Managing customer relations 3%
- Communicating design ideas 2%
- Understanding client needs 1%
- Teamwork skills 1%
- None 15%
- Other 24%
What percentage of designers have undertaken training over the last three months?
According to Labour Force Survey data5, 13% of designers have undertaken training in the last 13 weeks. This is low compared to the professions listed below:
individuals undertaking training in the last 13 weeks
- Artists 15%
- Media professionals 20%
- Software professionals 23%
- Architects 33%
- Civil engineers 33%
What types of CPD training do design businesses say their staff undertake?
Designers undertake a wide variety of informal training.
- Informal mentoring 31%
- Computer-based learning 30%
- External courses 24%
- Attending events, conferences, networks 23%
- Internal courses 6%
- Formal training from other designers 6%
- Other 39%
What do design businesses say are the barriers to undertaking CPD?
Cost and lack of time are the main barriers for designers to undertaking training.
- Cost 31%
- Lack of time 26%
- Unavailability of suitable courses 5%
- None 40%
What proportion of training costs do design businesses pay for?
The majority of design businesses pay for all training costs.
- All of it 65%
- Part of it 9%
- None 20%
How do designers find appropriate training and development support?
The internet is the main source of information for designers seeking information on training and development.
- Search the internet 65%
- Recommendations from colleagues 26%
- Trade press 18%
- Marketing material from providers 16%
- Design or business membership organisations 5%
Where have business owners4 received advice or information for running their business over the last 12 months?
A significant proportion of business owners have not received any advice or information on running their business over the last 12 months. For those that have, government data sources have been a key source of information.
- Business Link/Business Eye/Business Gateway 23%
- Accountant or bookkeeper 10%
- Family or friends 10%
- Other business owners 8%
- Bank 7%
- Design peers 6%
- Have not received any advice or information 40%
- Other 7%