Average graduate salaries by university and subject: Where to go and what to study to earn top dollar
Going to university at Oxford or Cambridge pays. But it doesn’t pay as much as the London School of Economics or City University London. But it pays a lot more than going to Cardiff Metropolitan University.
And if you want to earn top dollar as a graduate it’s also worth aiming for an economics degree rather than fine arts and design.
Salary benchmarking site Emolument.com has compiled a ranking of 84 UK universities by analysing 2,400 salaries from graduates (defined as those with less than two years of experience in the workplace) with bachelor degree.
It marks the latest in a long line of graduate pay studies undertaken by Emolument, including research into which universities produce the most business leaders and which MBA courses are best for pay.
London School of Economics grads can expect to earn an average of £38,000, slightly above £36,000 at City University. Cambridge (£35,000) pips Oxford to third place (£34,000). Bath, Edinburgh and Durham, with £33,000, £32,000 and £31,000, come next in the ranking.
Cardiff Metropolitan props up the table, with an average graduate salary of £18,000, slightly behind Liverpool John Moores, Goldsmiths, Anglia Ruskin, University of Central Lancashire, Queen’s University Belfast and Aberystwyth on £19,000.
As for degree subjects, economics pays £33,000, ahead of engineering in second with £28,000. Fine arts and design is at the bottom of the table, with £19,000, just behind English literature and media, marketing and communication, both of £21,000.
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| University | Rank | Graduate Pay |
| London School of Economics | 1 | £38,000 |
| City University London | 2 | £36,000 |
| Cambridge University | 3 | £35,000 |
| Oxford University | 4 | £34,000 |
| Bath University | 5 | £33,000 |
| Edinburgh University | 6 | £32,000 |
| Durham University | 7 | £31,000 |
| Imperial College London | 8 | £31,000 |
| Loughborough University | 9 | £30,000 |
| Warwick University | 10 | £30,000 |
| Bristol University | 11 | £30,000 |
| University College London | 12 | £29,000 |
| Manchester University | 13 | £29,000 |
| Aston University | 14 | £28,000 |
| Nottingham University | 15 | £28,000 |
| Birmingham University | 16 | £27,000 |
| Sussex University | 17 | £27,000 |
| Middlesex University | 18 | £27,000 |
| Keele University | 19 | £27,000 |
| King's College London | 20 | £27,000 |
| Southampton University | 21 | £27,000 |
| Strathclyde University | 22 | £27,000 |
| Leicester University | 23 | £26,000 |
| Leeds University | 24 | £26,000 |
| York University | 25 | £26,000 |
| Queen Mary University of London | 26 | £26,000 |
| Exeter University | 27 | £26,000 |
| Hull University | 28 | £26,000 |
| Glasgow University | 29 | £26,000 |
| Surrey University | 30 | £26,000 |
| Staffordshire University | 31 | £25,000 |
| Liverpool University | 32 | £25,000 |
| Essex University | 33 | £25,000 |
| Heriot-Watt University | 34 | £25,000 |
| Kent University | 35 | £25,000 |
| Hertfordshire University | 36 | £25,000 |
| Gloucestershire University | 37 | £25,000 |
| Newcastle University | 38 | £25,000 |
| Cardiff University | 39 | £24,000 |
| Sheffield University | 40 | £24,000 |
| University of East London | 41 | £24,000 |
| Northumbria University | 42 | £24,000 |
| Huddersfield University | 43 | £24,000 |
| Brunel University | 44 | £24,000 |
| Greenwich University | 45 | £24,000 |
| Lancaster University | 46 | £24,000 |
| London Metropolitan University | 47 | £24,000 |
| Plymouth University | 48 | £24,000 |
| Portsmouth University | 49 | £24,000 |
| Royal Holloway | 50 | £24,000 |
| The Open University | 51 | £24,000 |
| University of East Anglia | 52 | £24,000 |
| University of the West of England | 53 | £24,000 |
| Westminster University | 54 | £24,000 |
| Leeds Metropolitan University | 55 | £24,000 |
| Northampton University | 56 | £23,000 |
| Kingston University | 57 | £23,000 |
| Nottingham Trent University | 58 | £23,000 |
| Bangor University | 59 | £23,000 |
| Canterbury Christ Church University | 60 | £23,000 |
| Reading University | 61 | £23,000 |
| Sheffield Hallam University | 62 | £22,000 |
| Coventry University | 63 | £22,000 |
| Oxford Brookes University | 64 | £22,000 |
| Birmingham City University | 65 | £22,000 |
| Bournemouth University | 66 | £22,000 |
| Brighton University | 67 | £22,000 |
| London South Bank University | 68 | £22,000 |
| Manchester Metropolitan University | 69 | £21,000 |
| Roehampton University | 70 | £21,000 |
| Southampton Solent University | 71 | £21,000 |
| University of the Arts London | 72 | £21,000 |
| Swansea University | 73 | £21,000 |
| West London University | 74 | £21,000 |
| De Montfort University | 75 | £20,000 |
| Salford University | 76 | £20,000 |
| Ulster University | 77 | £20,000 |
| Aberystwyth University | 78 | £19,000 |
| Queen's University Belfast | 79 | £19,000 |
| University of Central Lancashire | 80 | £19,000 |
| Anglia Ruskin University | 81 | £19,000 |
| Goldsmiths University | 82 | £19,000 |
| Liverpool John Moores University | 83 | £19,000 |
| Cardiff Metropolitan University | 84 | £18,000 |
And here is what you need to study…
Economics: £33,000
Engineering: £28,000
Management & Strategy: £27,000
Mathematics & Statistics: £27,000
Computer Sciences: £27,000
Accounting, Business & Finance: £27,000
Physics, Life Sciences & Healthcare: £27,000
Law: £26,000
Modern Languages: £26,000
Humanities (History, Geography, Politics…): £25,000
Chemistry & Natural Sciences: £23,000
Psychology: £23,000
Media, Marketing & Communication: £21,000
English Literature: £21,000
Fine Arts & Design: £19,000
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