What do graduates do?
While prospective students have always been concerned with where a degree will lead them in life, graduate outcomes have become even more important in the wake of increased tuition fees and worryingly high graduate unemployment.
- We can't say what the future holds for you, but we can tell you what happened to the class of 2011, which should provide some indication of where you might end up after studying a particular subject.
- The table below shows the subjects with the highest proportion of leavers in graduate jobs. To find out which graduates earn the most, see what do graduates earn?
- For more comparison, we suggest you also look at the graduate premium (the difference between the average salary for those starting graduate employment or self-employment, and the average salary for those starting non-graduate employment or self-employment).
- You can read about the top graduate employers, and see them listed by employer and by region.
| Subject | Employed in graduate job |
Employed in graduate job & studying |
Studying & not employed |
Employed in non-graduate job |
Employed in non-graduate job & studying |
Unemployed |
| Dentistry | 89% | 10% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Medicine | 91% | 3% | 5% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Nursing | 88% | 4% | 2% | 4% | 0% | 2% |
| Pharmacology & Pharmacy | 62% | 19% | 11% | 4% | 1% | 3% |
| Veterinary Medicine | 85% | 3% | 3% | 4% | 0% | 5% |
| Ophthalmics | 65% | 23% | 2% | 6% | 2% | 2% |
| Medical Technology | 81% | 3% | 4% | 6% | 0% | 6% |
| Chemical Engineering | 58% | 4% | 20% | 8% | 1% | 9% |
| Mechanical Engineering | 60% | 5% | 14% | 11% | 1% | 9% |
| General Engineering | 59% | 7% | 14% | 12% | 2% | 8% |
| Complementary Medicine | 68% | 8% | 3% | 12% | 0% | 9% |
| Physics & Astronomy | 29% | 8% | 39% | 12% | 1% | 10% |
| Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering | 55% | 5% | 15% | 13% | 2% | 11% |
| Chemistry | 32% | 6% | 36% | 15% | 2% | 9% |
| Civil Engineering | 52% | 7% | 15% | 13% | 1% | 11% |
| Mathematics | 33% | 13% | 25% | 16% | 2% | 10% |
| Economics | 43% | 12% | 16% | 16% | 2% | 11% |
| Geology | 39% | 3% | 29% | 16% | 3% | 10% |
| Land and Property Management | 59% | 4% | 7% | 16% | 1% | 13% |
| Architecture | 49% | 10% | 11% | 15% | 2% | 12% |
| Middle Eastern & African Studies | 41% | 6% | 23% | 14% | 3% | 13% |
| Physiotherapy | 66% | 3% | 1% | 21% | 1% | 7% |
| Electrical and Electronic Engineering | 53% | 4% | 13% | 16% | 1% | 14% |
| Italian | 46% | 4% | 20% | 16% | 3% | 11% |
| German | 41% | 5% | 23% | 20% | 2% | 8% |
| Education | 56% | 4% | 9% | 23% | 3% | 5% |
| Town and Country Planning and Landscape | 46% | 7% | 17% | 19% | 3% | 8% |
| Building | 56% | 7% | 5% | 20% | 1% | 12% |
| Anatomy & Physiology | 20% | 4% | 43% | 22% | 3% | 8% |
| French | 42% | 5% | 20% | 22% | 4% | 8% |
| Librarianship & Information Management | 51% | 9% | 6% | 23% | 3% | 8% |
| Russian & East European Lanuages | 37% | 5% | 23% | 21% | 5% | 9% |
| Theology & Religious Studies | 31% | 6% | 28% | 23% | 5% | 7% |
| Computer Science | 51% | 3% | 10% | 19% | 2% | 15% |
| Social Work | 54% | 6% | 4% | 24% | 2% | 9% |
| Aural & Oral Sciences | 58% | 3% | 3% | 28% | 1% | 7% |
| East and South Asian Studies | 41% | 3% | 20% | 20% | 3% | 13% |
| Iberian Languages | 41% | 4% | 19% | 23% | 3% | 10% |
| Celtic Studies | 19% | 3% | 42% | 23% | 5% | 9% |
| Classics & Ancient History | 27% | 5% | 31% | 21% | 5% | 10% |
| Materials Technology | 51% | 3% | 8% | 27% | 1% | 9% |
| Politics | 35% | 5% | 23% | 23% | 5% | 10% |
| Law | 23% | 5% | 33% | 22% | 8% | 9% |
| Marketing | 53% | 3% | 4% | 27% | 2% | 10% |
| Philosophy | 31% | 4% | 25% | 25% | 5% | 10% |
| Biological Sciences | 24% | 4% | 32% | 24% | 4% | 11% |
| Geography & Environmental Science | 32% | 5% | 22% | 28% | 4% | 9% |
| Accounting & Finance | 31% | 19% | 8% | 26% | 4% | 12% |
| Food Science | 42% | 3% | 13% | 28% | 3% | 10% |
| Music | 34% | 5% | 19% | 28% | 4% | 10% |
| Business & Management Studies | 44% | 6% | 8% | 29% | 2% | 11% |
| History of Art, Architecture and Design | 32% | 2% | 22% | 29% | 5% | 9% |
| Anthropology | 33% | 4% | 19% | 27% | 4% | 12% |
| History | 26% | 4% | 24% | 31% | 6% | 10% |
| English | 28% | 3% | 22% | 30% | 6% | 10% |
| Linguistics | 30% | 4% | 18% | 34% | 6% | 9% |
| Sports Science | 33% | 4% | 14% | 36% | 5% | 7% |
| Art & Design | 41% | 3% | 6% | 33% | 4% | 13% |
| American Studies | 31% | 2% | 17% | 34% | 5% | 11% |
| Archaeology | 26% | 3% | 20% | 33% | 6% | 13% |
| Psychology | 27% | 4% | 17% | 36% | 7% | 8% |
| Hospitality, Leisure, Recreation & Tourism | 40% | 2% | 5% | 41% | 3% | 9% |
| Drama, Dance and Cinematics | 36% | 4% | 8% | 38% | 4% | 12% |
| Communication and Media Studies | 39% | 2% | 6% | 38% | 2% | 13% |
| Agriculture and Forestry | 30% | 5% | 11% | 42% | 4% | 8% |
| Social Policy | 30% | 3% | 13% | 40% | 5% | 10% |
| Sociology | 26% | 3% | 14% | 42% | 6% | 10% |
| All Subjects | 42% | 5% | 15% | 25% | 3% |
9% |
The table is ranked by the sum of three 'positive' destinations:
- employed in graduate job,
- employed in graduate job and studying,
- studying and not employed.
Source: HESA 2010–11
Published April 2013
Next page: What do Graduates Earn?
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