What do graduates do and earn?
Have a look at what you can do and earn after graduation.
CONTENTS
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.
*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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