The Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth implements for the second consecutive year the National Graduate Tracking Survey...
Improving the link between higher education and the labour market has been a strategic priority of the Department of Higher Education (DHE) of the Cyprus Ministry of Education, Sport, and Youth. To address this goal, the DHE received funding from the Recovery and Resilience Facility for the project ’Development of a national graduate tracking mechanism and design and implementation of an employers’ skills survey’.
This 5-year project (2022-26) aims at establishing a comprehensive national graduate tracking mechanism to collect and analyse graduate outcomes from all higher education institutions in Cyprus. The project also ensures Cyprus’s participation in two waves of the European graduate tracking survey (EUROGRADUATE 2022 and 2026), and the design and implementation of a national employers’ skills survey to evaluate employers’ current and future skill needs. By providing high-quality longitudinal national data, these surveys aim to identify and address skill gaps, enhance graduates’ employability, and improve the responsiveness of Cyprus’s education and training system to labour market needs.
The first two cycles of the graduate tracking survey and EUROGRADUATE were successfully completed in 2024. The first cycle’s national findings report is already available on the project website, with the second cycle’s report scheduled for January 2025. The first cycle of the national employers’ skills survey is ongoing, with the findings report expected in spring 2025.
Preliminary findings
The first cycle of Cyprus’s national graduate tracking survey provided valuable insights. Data were collected from graduates of the academic years 2016/17 (graduate cohorts 1 and 5 years after completion of studies, T+5) and 2020/21 (T+1) who completed programmes delivering qualifications at EQF levels 5, 6, and 7. Graduates from public schools of higher VET (MIEEK) also participated. A total of 1 438 graduates participated in an online questionnaire conducted in Greek and English. The findings revealed high satisfaction with studies across both cohorts. Labour force participation was high (90% for T+5 and 82% for T+1 graduates), with most employed in Cyprus, in both the public and private sectors. Self-employment remained low (14-15%).
Figure 1. Labour market participation and labour market outcomes of higher education graduates

Significant skill mismatches were identified: 42-45% of graduates reported being overeducated for their current jobs, and 15-21% reported horizontal mismatch. Graduates frequently reported overskilling, rating their own hard, soft, digital, and green skills as higher than what their jobs required. Underskilling was less common, and was identified in specific areas, particularly in fields with rapidly evolving technical requirements. Over 50% of graduates participated in reskilling and upskilling activities, most of which were employer-provided, focusing on acquiring hard skills relevant to their job roles.
These findings underscore the challenge of aligning higher education outcomes with labour market needs, highlighting critical areas for policy interventions to address mismatches and improve graduates’ readiness for the workforce. In 2024, the DHE shared these findings with relevant ministries/policy-makers and other stakeholders, such as researchers, HEI representatives, career counsellors, employers to inform adjustments in policies, academic study programmes, and counselling practices in alignment with labour market demands. The findings were also featured in the project’s social media accounts, helping to raise awareness of labour market trends and skill mismatches.
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