What do graduates do and earn in the UK?
What do UK graduates do after university and how much do they earn? See the average graduate salary by subject, top-paying degrees and employment stats.
CONTENTS
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What do graduates do after university?
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What is the average graduate salary in the UK?
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Which graduate jobs pay the most?
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Graduate salary by subject – how the data works
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Do graduates earn more than non-graduates?
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Graduate salary vs apprenticeship salary UK
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Graduate destinations by subject
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What do graduates do after university?
"So, what are you actually going to do with that degree?" It's the question every student gets asked – usually before they've finished their first term. The honest answer? A lot of different things in a lot of different industries.
According to HESA's Graduate Outcomes survey, 88% of UK graduates were in work, further study, or both 15 months after finishing their course.
This page brings together the UK graduate employment statistics we use in our UK university rankings. It includes the average graduate salary by subject, including the highest-paying graduate jobs – so you can see what your degree could lead to.
Every year, HESA runs the UK's largest survey of new graduates – essentially a polite, official version of asking "so, how's the job hunt going?" 15 months after they leave university.
For the class of 2022/23:
- 59% were in full-time employment.
- 24% were in other forms of employment (including working and studying).
- 6% were in full-time further study.
- 6% were unemployed.
- 6% were doing something else (such as travelling or caring for someone).
Beyond pay, the Graduate Outcomes survey also asks graduates how they feel about their post-university activity. For the class of 2022/23:
- 85% agreed their current activity was meaningful.
- 77% felt it fitted with their future plans.
- 69% agreed they were using what they'd learnt while studying.
In short: most graduates feel pretty good about where they've ended up, even if the first job after uni is more 'stepping stone' than 'dream job' – and that's perfectly normal. Very few people peak professionally at 22. Our UK university rankings recognise this, using the 'future plans' data in our Graduate outcomes 'on track' measure.
What jobs do graduates get?
Three-quarters (76%) of UK graduates working in the UK were in high-skilled jobs – roles that typically require a degree, such as engineers, scientists, teachers, nurses, accountants and analysts.
Do all graduates get a job?
Not overnight, and not always straight into the dream role – but the picture is a lot more reassuring than the doom-scroll on LinkedIn might suggest. The 6% graduate unemployment rate compares with a youth unemployment rate of 14.3% for all 16– 24-year-olds in early 2025.
What is the average graduate salary in the UK?
It’s worth knowing: "average" can mean very different things depending on what’s being asked. Averages can be calculated in different ways. Median means the most commonly occurring salary, whereas what most people use as an average (Mean) is worked out by taking all salaries, adding them together and dividing the number of people in the survey.
So the median salary for UK graduates in full-time employment 15 months after graduation was £28,500 in 2022/23. Whereas the mean (average) salary for first-degree graduates in full-time UK employment was higher, at around £30,030, according to HESA. Either way, it means you are combining the salaries of artists and performers alongside vets and doctors, which is why it’s better to have subject-level data.
Figures also vary depending on the data source. The Institute of Student Employers (ISE), which surveys large employers running formal graduate schemes, reports an average graduate starting salary of around £36,335. This is much higher than the true picture because it focuses on big-name graduate programmes rather than the whole jobs market.
Location also matters. London graduates earn around £6,870 more on average than those in Northern Ireland – though anyone who's tried renting in Zone 2 will tell you a chunk of that disappears as soon as they get paid.
Which graduate jobs pay the most?
Looking at our subject data, HESA's national figures reveals that the highest median earnings 15 months after graduation are concentrated in healthcare, STEM and finance.
Top 10 highest-paying degrees in the UK (high-skilled roles)
Based on our data:
| Rank | Subject | Average high-skilled salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dentistry | £45,000 |
| 2 | Medicine | £38,000 |
| 3 | Artificial Intelligence | £36,000 |
| 4 | Pharmacology & Pharmacy | £35,000 |
| 5 | Social Work | £34,500 |
| 6= | Economics | £34,000 |
| 6= | Statistics | £34,000 |
| 6= | Electrical & Electronic Engineering | £34,000 |
| 6= | Veterinary Medicine | £34,000 |
| 10= | Automotive Engineering | £33,500 |
| 10= | Chemical Engineering | £33,500 |
| 10= | Robotics | £33,500 |
| 10= | Software Engineering | £33,500 |
Nationally, Medicine and Dentistry graduates record the highest median salary at £37,924, while Media, Journalism and Communications graduates record the lowest at £24,925. But this reflects the nature of the creative sector. Individuals often have to work their way up from a lower starting position or start their own business, building their reputation and contacts as they progress.
Worth weighing alongside the numbers: Medicine and Dentistry are longer and more expensive routes to qualify in than most other top-paying subjects.
Graduate salary by subject – how the data works
Our salary table shows the average earnings of new graduates 15 months after graduation, broken down by the subject studied and the level of role:
- High-skilled jobs – graduate-level roles directly using your degree (e.g. engineer, solicitor, scientist).
- Medium-skilled jobs – roles that use some of your skills but don't strictly require a degree.
- Low-skilled jobs – entry-level roles often taken short-term while looking for graduate work.
Reading the table:
- A blank space means there wasn't enough data for a reliable figure in that subject/skill band.
- Salaries are based on full-time UK employment.
- "Earnings 15 months after graduation" is the standard measure used by HESA's Graduate Outcomes survey.
- Click the subject name to find out more about studying it and the career it could lead to.
| Subject | High-skilled | Medium-skilled | Low-skilled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accounting & Finance | £30,000 | £26,000 | £24,000 |
| Acting | £25,000 | £22,000 | £22,000 |
| Aeronautical & Aerospace Engineering | £33,000 | £28,000 | £25,000 |
| African & Middle Eastern Studies | £32,000 | ||
| Agriculture & Forestry | £27,500 | £24,000 | £25,000 |
| American Studies | £28,400 | £23,400 | £24,000 |
| Animation | £25,000 | £23,700 | £22,000 |
| Anthropology | £29,500 | £24,000 | £23,500 |
| Archaeology | £26,000 | £23,500 | £23,000 |
| Architecture | £25,000 | £26,000 | £24,000 |
| Art & Design | £25,500 | £24,000 | £23,000 |
| Artificial Intelligence | £36,000 | ||
| Asian Studies | £30,000 | £24,000 | |
| Astrophysics | £31,400 | ||
| Automotive Engineering | £33,500 | £30,000 | |
| Biological Sciences | £28,000 | £24,000 | £23,402 |
| Biomedical Sciences | £28,000 | £24,000 | £23,500 |
| Building | £31,500 | £26,500 | £27,000 |
| Business & Management Studies | £30,000 | £26,000 | £25,000 |
| Celtic Studies | £27,000 | ||
| Chemical Engineering | £33,500 | £28,000 | £25,000 |
| Chemistry | £30,000 | £25,500 | £26,000 |
| Childhood & Youth Studies | £27,000 | £23,000 | £24,000 |
| Civil Engineering | £31,000 | £29,400 | £23,785 |
| Classics | £28,000 | £25,000 | £23,000 |
| Communication & Media Studies | £26,000 | £24,000 | £24,000 |
| Complementary Medicine | £30,000 | ||
| Computer Science | £33,000 | £24,500 | £24,000 |
| Counselling, Psychotherapy & Occupational Therapy | £28,500 | £24,000 | £24,000 |
| Creative Arts | £25,000 | £24,000 | £23,000 |
| Creative Writing | £25,500 | £23,300 | £24,000 |
| Criminology | £29,000 | £24,000 | £24,000 |
| Dentistry | £45,000 | ||
| Diagnostic Radiography | £29,000 | ||
| Dietetics | £29,000 | ||
| Drama, Dance & Cinematics | £26,000 | £24,000 | £22,800 |
| Ecology | £28,000 | ||
| Economics | £34,000 | £27,000 | £25,000 |
| Education | £30,000 | £23,000 | £23,000 |
| Electrical & Electronic Engineering | £34,000 | £28,300 | £24,960 |
| English | £28,000 | £24,000 | £24,000 |
| Fashion | £25,500 | £24,000 | £23,795 |
| Film Making | £25,000 | £24,000 | £23,000 |
| Fine Art | £25,600 | £22,800 | £22,000 |
| Food Science | £28,500 | £26,000 | £26,000 |
| Forensic Science | £27,000 | £24,300 | £24,500 |
| French | £30,000 | £25,000 | £24,000 |
| Game Design | £25,800 | £23,000 | £24,000 |
| General Engineering | £33,000 | £25,000 | £24,000 |
| Geography & Environmental Science | £29,500 | £25,000 | £24,000 |
| Geology | £29,600 | £24,000 | £25,000 |
| German | £30,000 | £26,000 | |
| Graphic Design | £25,000 | £23,300 | £24,000 |
| Health Studies | £28,000 | £24,000 | £24,000 |
| History | £30,000 | £25,000 | £23,500 |
| History of Art, Architecture & Design | £28,000 | £24,800 | £24,000 |
| Hospitality & Catering | £29,500 | £28,000 | £25,000 |
| Human Resources Management | £28,500 | £26,000 | £25,000 |
| Iberian Languages | £30,000 | £24,500 | £24,711 |
| Information Technology & Systems | £30,000 | £25,000 | £25,000 |
| Interior Design | £25,000 | £24,000 | £22,800 |
| Italian | £27,500 | £24,500 | |
| Journalism | £25,100 | £24,000 | £24,000 |
| Land & Property Management | £29,500 | £25,500 | |
| Law | £26,500 | £24,000 | £24,000 |
| Linguistics | £29,000 | £24,000 | £24,000 |
| Manufacturing & Production Engineering | £33,800 | £28,000 | £24,000 |
| Marine Biology | £26,000 | £25,000 | £23,000 |
| Marketing | £27,000 | £25,000 | £25,000 |
| Materials Technology | £32,900 | £25,000 | |
| Mathematics | £32,500 | £25,700 | £24,000 |
| Mechanical Engineering | £32,400 | £28,000 | £26,000 |
| Medical Technology & Bioengineering | £29,000 | £25,000 | £23,500 |
| Medicine | £38,000 | ||
| Midwifery | £28,600 | ||
| Modern Languages | £30,000 | £25,000 | £25,000 |
| Music | £27,000 | £24,000 | £23,920 |
| Natural Sciences | £33,000 | £26,500 | |
| Neuroscience | £30,000 | £26,000 | £25,000 |
| Nursing | £28,400 | £24,000 | |
| Nutrition | £28,000 | £24,000 | £25,000 |
| Occupational Therapy | £28,500 | £24,000 | |
| Operating Department Practice | £28,500 | ||
| Optometry, Ophthalmics & Orthoptics | £24,000 | ||
| Paramedic Science | £29,000 | £24,000 | |
| Pharmacology & Pharmacy | £35,000 | £25,500 | £23,500 |
| Philosophy | £30,000 | £24,500 | £23,000 |
| Photography | £25,000 | £24,000 | £22,800 |
| Physics & Astronomy | £32,700 | £25,100 | £22,000 |
| Physiotherapy | £28,500 | £27,900 | £22,000 |
| Podiatry | £30,000 | ||
| Politics | £30,000 | £26,000 | £24,000 |
| Product Design | £27,000 | £25,000 | £24,000 |
| Psychology | £27,000 | £23,500 | £23,000 |
| Robotics | £33,500 | ||
| Russian & East European Languages | £30,000 | ||
| Social Policy | £28,300 | £24,500 | £23,495 |
| Social Work | £34,500 | £25,000 | |
| Sociology | £29,000 | £24,000 | £24,000 |
| Software Engineering | £33,500 | £25,000 | £24,400 |
| Spanish | £30,000 | £24,900 | £24,500 |
| Speech & Language Therapy | £28,400 | ||
| Sports Science | £27,500 | £24,000 | £24,000 |
| Statistics | £34,000 | £27,500 | |
| Teaching | £30,000 | £23,000 | £23,000 |
| Theology & Religious Studies | £29,000 | £24,000 | £23,000 |
| Tourism, Transport, Travel & Heritage Studies | £28,000 | £25,000 | £25,000 |
| Town & Country Planning and Landscape Design | £29,000 | £25,000 | £25,000 |
| Veterinary Medicine | £34,000 | ||
| Youth Work | £28,500 | £22,000 | |
| Zoology | £25,000 | £23,800 | £24,000 |
Do graduates earn more than non-graduates?
Yes – and the gap widens with age. Analysis by Universities UK of government Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) data found that:
- By age 31, graduates earn on average a third more than non-graduates who could have gone to university but didn't.
- Graduates are more likely to be in high-skilled jobs and tend to see faster pay progression over their careers.
Graduate salary vs apprenticeship salary UK
If you're choosing between university degree and an apprenticeship, here's how starting pay compares (based on Incomes Data Research's 2024 study of UK employers):
- Graduate hires: median starting salary of around £30,000.
- Degree-level apprentices: median starting salary of around £21,000.
Apprentice starting salary has risen faster than graduate pay, growing 31% between 2018 and 2024, compared with an 8% increase for graduates. Apprentices also avoid student debt and earn while they train.
But not all subjects are available as an apprenticeship. A degree apprenticeship is also vocational in nature – it qualifies you for the job you are employed in, whereas a degree can often be tailored to your interests and lead to a wider range of careers.
Graduate destinations by subject
Earnings are only half the picture. The table below shows what graduates from each subject were actually doing 15 months after finishing: in work, self-employed, still studying, or job-hunting. Unsurprisingly, almost all medics are working; less obviously, around a quarter of biology and chemistry graduates are still in education, often chipping away at a master's or PhD.
- Almost all Medicine, Midwifery and Paramedic Science graduates are in work (around 90– 92% employed).
- Further study is highest in the sciences: 27% of Neuroscience, 26% of Chemistry and Biological Sciences, and 25% of Natural Sciences graduates.
- Self-employment is most common in creative and healthcare-adjacent subjects: Dentistry (41%), Complementary Medicine (26%), Music (17%) and Acting (17%).
Figures show the percentage of graduates from each subject in each activity 15 months after graduation. Source: HESA Graduate Outcomes 2022/23.
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