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Career prospects

What do graduates do and earn?

Have a look at what you can do and earn after graduation.

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CONTENTS

  1. What do graduates do?

  2. What do graduates earn?

For many prospective university students, graduate prospects and salaries are top priorities when it comes to choosing a degree.

We've compiled data to help you understand the world of work after graduation – from job prospects to starting salaries. We also have data on the graduate gender pay gap.

What do graduates do?

We’ve broken down the destinations of graduates from over 100 subject areas into four categories – employed, self employed, in further study and unemployed.  To see a guide to studying the subject, simply click on the link.

Subject Employed Self-employed Further study Unemployed
Accounting & Finance 74% 2% 10% 7%
Acting 49% 19% 5% 5%
Aeronautical & Aerospace Engineering 66% 2% 16% 10%
African & Middle Eastern Studies 55% 8% 14% 10%
Agriculture & Forestry 70% 5% 12% 4%
American Studies 60% 2% 22% 8%
Animation 45% 10% 7% 12%
Anthropology 58% 3% 23% 7%
Archaeology 55% 3% 26% 7%
Architecture 61% 4% 11% 9%
Art & Design 58% 8% 8% 8%
Artificial Intelligence 76% 1% 9% 10%
Asian Studies 56% 5% 18% 12%
Astrophysics 50% 1% 35% 9%
Biological Sciences 56% 2% 28% 6%
Biomedical Sciences 52% 1% 32% 7%
Building 81% 3% 4% 5%
Business & Management Studies 69% 3% 10% 8%
Celtic Studies 57% 2% 33% 3%
Chemical Engineering 74% 1% 13% 7%
Chemistry 62% 1% 26% 6%
Childhood & Youth Studies 68% 1% 15% 8%
Chinese 57% 6% 22% 8%
Civil Engineering 76% 2% 10% 6%
Classics 51% 3% 27% 11%
Communication & Media Studies 65% 6% 9% 8%
Complementary Medicine 41% 34% 4% 4%
Computer Science 70% 2% 8% 9%
Counselling, Psychotherapy & Occupational Therapy 78% 3% 6% 3%
Creative Writing 51% 5% 14% 11%
Criminology 70% 1% 15% 7%
Dentistry 59% 28% 5% 3%
Diagnostic Radiography 92% 0% 2% 1%
Dietetics 90% 0% 3% 2%
Drama, Dance & Cinematics 55% 12% 8% 8%
Ecology 52% 4% 21% 10%
Economics 71% 1% 14% 7%
Education 80% 1% 8% 6%
Electrical & Electronic Engineering 72% 2% 12% 7%
English 58% 4% 22% 7%
Fashion 65% 6% 6% 7%
Film Making 57% 12% 5% 9%
Food Science 71% 2% 13% 5%
Forensic Science 70% 1% 16% 8%
French 63% 4% 17% 6%
General Engineering 74% 3% 10% 5%
Geography & Environmental Science 65% 2% 22% 6%
Geology 52% 1% 31% 7%
German 64% 4% 17% 9%
Health Studies 60% 2% 16% 7%
History 58% 2% 24% 8%
History of Art, Architecture & Design 54% 5% 21% 9%
Hospitality & Catering 64% 5% 9% 9%
Human Resources Management 75% 2% 8% 7%
Iberian Languages 64% 3% 16% 7%
Information Technology & Systems 73% 1% 7% 11%
Italian 55% 7% 24% 6%
Journalism 69% 7% 8% 6%
Land & Property Management 76% 2% 6% 7%
Law 63% 2% 19% 8%
Linguistics 61% 3% 20% 7%
Manufacturing & Production Engineering 69% 3% 13% 8%
Marine Biology 55% 2% 28% 7%
Marketing 77% 3% 7% 6%
Materials Technology 58% 4% 23% 7%
Mathematics 67% 2% 18% 7%
Mechanical Engineering 72% 2% 13% 7%
Medical Technology & Bioengineering 79% 1% 10% 4%
Medicine 95% 0% 4% 0%
Midwifery 95% 0% 1% 1%
Music 47% 14% 15% 6%
Neuroscience 50% 1% 30% 8%
Nursing 93% 0% 2% 1%
Nutrition 63% 3% 17% 6%
Optometry, Ophthalmics & Orthoptics 81% 0% 12% 3%
Paramedic Science 94% 1% 1% 1%
Pharmacology & Pharmacy 67% 4% 13% 8%
Philosophy 55% 4% 25% 8%
Photography 59% 9% 9% 7%
Physics & Astronomy 53% 2% 30% 8%
Physiotherapy 91% 1% 2% 2%
Podiatry 61% 13% 6% 4%
Politics 63% 2% 20% 8%
Prosthetics .. .. .. ..
Psychology 63% 1% 21% 6%
Robotics 57% 1% 19% 13%
Russian & East European Languages 57% 6% 17% 11%
Social Policy 67% 2% 16% 8%
Social Work 84% 1% 5% 4%
Sociology 69% 1% 16% 7%
Spanish 65% 3% 16% 7%
Speech & Language Therapy 87% 1% 5% 3%
Sports Science 63% 5% 18% 5%
Statistics 74% 2% 12% 6%
Theology & Religious Studies 60% 3% 21% 7%
Therapeutic Radiography 90% 0% 4% 3%
Tourism, Transport, Travel & Heritage Studies 74% 3% 8% 7%
Town & Country Planning and Landscape Design 71% 2% 14% 5%
Veterinary Medicine 91% 1% 2% 1%
Youth Work 72% 1% 8% 8%
Zoology 59% 2% 21% 8%

*Prosthetics currently has no data due to having too few respondents.

What do graduates earn?

Money shouldn't be the only factor to consider when choosing a degree. However, with universities charging up to £9,250 per year, it's worth thinking about potential starting salaries.

Use the table below to see the average starting salaries for graduates from more than 100 subject areas.

It shows shows the average salaries of undergraduate students from each subject area entering employment. The three skill levels – high, medium and low – reflect the UK's Standard Occupational Classification's major groups 1–3, 4–6 and 7–9 respectively.

Full table of average graduate salaries

Subject High-skilled Medium-skilled Low-skilled
Accounting & Finance £25,100 £21,000 £19,000
Acting £20,000 £17,500 £18,000
Aeronautical & Aerospace Engineering £28,000 £22,000 £21,000
African & Middle Eastern Studies £25,700
Agriculture & Forestry £24,500 £19,000 £20,000
American Studies £23,000 £19,000 £18,550
Animation £22,000 £19,000 £18,000
Anthropology £25,000 £21,000 £18,000
Archaeology £21,100 £19,100 £16,800
Architecture £22,000 £19,000 £18,000
Art & Design £22,000 £20,000 £18,000
Artificial Intelligence £32,000
Asian Studies £27,000 £21,000 £19,000
Astrophysics £27,000
Biological Sciences £25,000 £20,000 £18,500
Biomedical Sciences £25,000 £20,000 £18,700
Building £27,500 £24,000 £20,000
Business & Management Studies £26,000 £21,900 £20,000
Celtic Studies £26,100
Chemical Engineering £30,000 £23,000 £23,000
Chemistry £25,600 £21,500 £19,000
Childhood & Youth Studies £23,000 £18,000 £18,000
Chinese £28,000 £21,600
Civil Engineering £28,000 £20,500 £19,000
Classics £25,300 £20,000 £18,000
Communication & Media Studies £22,000 £20,000 £18,000
Complementary Medicine £28,000
Computer Science £28,000 £20,000 £18,000
Counselling, Psychotherapy & Occupational Therapy £25,000 £19,000 £18,000
Creative Writing £22,000 £18,000 £16,700
Criminology £23,000 £20,000 £18,100
Dentistry £39,500
Diagnostic Radiography £25,000
Dietetics £25,000
Drama, Dance & Cinematics £22,000 £19,600 £18,000
Ecology £22,000 £21,000
Economics £30,000 £23,000 £20,000
Education £25,700 £17,000 £18,215
Electrical & Electronic Engineering £30,000 £25,000 £18,500
English £24,000 £19,000 £18,000
Fashion £21,000 £20,000 £18,000
Film Making £22,000 £20,000 £18,000
Food Science £25,000 £21,000 £17,000
Forensic Science £23,000 £19,000 £19,000
French £25,700 £21,100 £20,000
General Engineering £30,000 £24,000 £20,000
Geography & Environmental Science £25,000 £21,000 £18,500
Geology £25,000 £20,000 £18,000
German £26,000 £21,000 £20,000
Health Studies £23,500 £19,000 £18,525
History £25,000 £21,000 £18,000
History of Art, Architecture & Design £24,000 £20,000 £17,000
Hospitality & Catering £23,000 £20,900 £21,000
Human Resources Management £24,000 £21,000 £20,150
Iberian Languages £25,000 £20,000 £19,000
Information Technology & Systems £25,500 £20,000 £19,000
Italian £25,000
Journalism £21,600 £20,000 £17,500
Land & Property Management £25,000 £23,000 £19,300
Law £23,000 £20,000 £18,600
Linguistics £25,000 £19,000 £16,500
Manufacturing & Production Engineering £29,000 £23,000 £20,800
Marine Biology £23,000 £20,000 £19,000
Marketing £24,000 £21,000 £19,000
Materials Technology £29,000 £20,000 £18,000
Mathematics £28,500 £21,500 £19,890
Mechanical Engineering £28,000 £23,000 £20,000
Medical Technology & Bioengineering £25,100 £23,000 £22,600
Medicine £33,000
Midwifery £25,000
Music £23,500 £18,900 £18,000
Neuroscience £27,000 £20,000
Nursing £25,000 £21,000 £18,000
Nutrition £25,000 £20,000 £17,000
Optometry, Ophthalmics & Orthoptics £18,000
Paramedic Science £25,000
Pharmacology & Pharmacy £32,000 £23,000 £21,000
Philosophy £25,700 £20,000 £19,000
Photography £21,000 £18,000 £18,000
Physics & Astronomy £28,000 £20,000 £18,500
Physiotherapy £25,000
Podiatry £25,000
Politics £26,000 £22,000 £19,000
Prosthetics £25,700
Psychology £23,000 £19,000 £18,000
Robotics £30,000
Russian & East European Languages £26,000
Social Policy £24,500 £20,400 £18,400
Social Work £30,000 £20,000 £18,000
Sociology £24,000 £20,000 £18,000
Spanish £25,000 £20,000 £19,000
Speech & Language Therapy £25,000
Sports Science £24,000 £19,000 £19,000
Statistics £30,000
Theology & Religious Studies £25,000 £19,700 £19,000
Therapeutic Radiography £25,000
Tourism, Transport, Travel & Heritage Studies £23,000 £20,000 £19,360
Town & Country Planning and Landscape Design £25,000 £23,000 £19,000
Veterinary Medicine £31,000 £26,000
Youth Work £24,000 £18,500
Zoology £22,000 £19,000 £18,000

Data source for all tables: HESA 2019–20, published July 2022.

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