Entry-level requirements creep.
How many entry-level jobs demand prior experience or a degree?
1.7% of UK employers' entry-level adverts ask for two or more years' experience (n=741 employers).
Sample: 741 employers · source: UK employers' careers pages · data to 18 October 2026
By job function
| Function | Figure | Sample (employers) | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education | 3.3% | 60 | Education: 3.3% of employers' entry-level adverts want 2+ years' experience (n=60 employers). |
| Construction & Trades | 2.7% | 91 | Construction & Trades: 2.7% of employers' entry-level adverts want 2+ years' experience (n=91 employers). |
| Creative & Design | 2.2% | 45 | Creative & Design: 2.2% of employers' entry-level adverts want 2+ years' experience (n=45 employers). |
| IT & Software | 1.7% | 118 | IT & Software: 1.7% of employers' entry-level adverts want 2+ years' experience (n=118 employers). |
| Other | 1.6% | 96 | Other: 1.6% of employers' entry-level adverts want 2+ years' experience (n=96 employers). |
| Sales | 1.6% | 61 | Sales: 1.6% of employers' entry-level adverts want 2+ years' experience (n=61 employers). |
| Healthcare & Care | 1.4% | 35 | Healthcare & Care: 1.4% of employers' entry-level adverts want 2+ years' experience (n=35 employers). |
| Engineering | 0.4% | 145 | Engineering: 0.4% of employers' entry-level adverts want 2+ years' experience (n=145 employers). |
| Finance & Accounting | 0% | 47 | Finance & Accounting: 0% of employers' entry-level adverts want 2+ years' experience (n=47 employers). |
By sector
| Sector | Figure | Sample (employers) | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction | 4.9% | 84 | Construction: 4.9% of employers' entry-level adverts want 2+ years' experience (n=84 employers). |
| Education | 2.6% | 38 | Education: 2.6% of employers' entry-level adverts want 2+ years' experience (n=38 employers). |
| Professional, scientific & technical | 1.8% | 130 | Professional, scientific & technical: 1.8% of employers' entry-level adverts want 2+ years' experience (n=130 employers). |
| Information & communication | 1.4% | 105 | Information & communication: 1.4% of employers' entry-level adverts want 2+ years' experience (n=105 employers). |
| Health & social care | 1.4% | 37 | Health & social care: 1.4% of employers' entry-level adverts want 2+ years' experience (n=37 employers). |
| Administrative & support services | 1.3% | 40 | Administrative & support services: 1.3% of employers' entry-level adverts want 2+ years' experience (n=40 employers). |
| Manufacturing | 0% | 82 | Manufacturing: 0% of employers' entry-level adverts want 2+ years' experience (n=82 employers). |
| Wholesale & retail | 0% | 47 | Wholesale & retail: 0% of employers' entry-level adverts want 2+ years' experience (n=47 employers). |
| Finance & insurance | 0% | 37 | Finance & insurance: 0% of employers' entry-level adverts want 2+ years' experience (n=37 employers). |
| Real estate | 0% | 30 | Real estate: 0% of employers' entry-level adverts want 2+ years' experience (n=30 employers). |
How this is measured
Entry-level = the title classifier rates it intern/entry AND the title itself says so (junior, graduate, trainee, apprentice, intern, entry level, school leaver, placement student …); entry adverts asking 5+ years are treated as misclassified and left out (value_json.implausible_entry_excluded); non_uk_adverts_excluded counts entry-level adverts only. Counts those asking for 2+ years' experience. value_json: degree_required_pct and degree_not_required_pct across all adverts in the segment with a classified title. Titles the classifier permanently failed on are excluded from every denominator. Employer-weighted: value = mean, over employers with an entry-level advert, of each one's share of entry-level adverts asking 2+ years; n = those employers (value_json.adverts = their entry-level adverts). The degree shares average over every employer with a classified advert (all_employers). Adverts: job pages whose linked title the title classifier settled as a real job (an "Apprenticeships", "Early Careers" or "Graduate programme" page is not an advert); pages whose title is not classified yet are left out, so coverage grows as titles are classified. Adverts whose own stated posted / closing date is more than 180 days old are stale and left out.
Cite this
Free to quote with a credit and a link.
ProdReady Recruitment (2026). Entry-level requirements creep. Data to 18 October 2026. https://ProdReadyRecruitment.com/research/requirements_creep
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