This article analyses the kinds of pedagogical approaches in universities that are provided for young and mature students and produce relevant outcomes for them in Germany, the UK and Japan. Andragogy is a concept of pedagogical approaches for adult learners in lifelong learning, but it should be empirically examined now in higher education in relation to assessment of the outcomes of education. In this article, with the help of the CHEERS graduate survey data, different learning experiences, institutional pedagogical orientation and provisions of universities are classified and examined in the pedagogy mode for young students and the andragogy mode for mature students. Freedom of choice, independent learning, practical emphasis and libraries are elements of the andragogy mode for the mature students and class attendance, contacts with fellow students and teachers and teaching quality are elements of the pedagogy mode for the young students. In Germany, both the pedagogical mode for the young and the andragogy mode for mature students are more developed than in the UK and Japan. Then, policy and theoretical implications are discussed.