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Student News

The highest earning degrees a year after graduating revealed

Business and Economics graduates earn the highest salaries out of all UK graduates a year after they complete their degrees.

Highest Graduate EarnersA range of universities make up the top ten list, with the Open University and Imperial College London ranking high alongside Oxford and Cambridge.

Oxford University’s Business and Administrative Studies degree is the best choice if you want to earn the most money immediately after graduating, according to a report from the Department for Education.

These graduates earned an average of £41,500 in 2014/15 within a year of finishing their degrees. They rocketed into the highest 20% of earners in the UK despite only recently completing their education.

It is promising to see the Open University in the South-East rank second with their Economics degree, showing that part time or distance degrees are just as useful for your career. These graduates earned an average of £39,600 within 12 months of finishing.

Medicine and Dentistry degrees also offer inviting salary prospects, making up six of the top ten list.

The data also reveals the difference in salaries between males and females. Male Law graduates from LSE, for example, earn £42,000 a year on average while females earn just £24,000.

The highest female earners were nursing graduates from St George’s Hospital Medical School, who’s average salaries were £38,700 a year.

Highest graduate salaries 1 year after graduation

how to maximise earnings

Uni & SubjectAverage Grad Salary
Oxford Uni: Business & Admin Studies£41,500
Open Uni: Economics£39,600
Imperial College: Computer Science£39,400
Cambridge Uni: Computer Science£38,200
St George's Hospital: Medical School Nursing£38,100
Open Uni: Engineering & Tech£38,000
Aberdeen Uni: Medicine & Dentistry£37,600
Edinburgh Uni: Medicine & Dentistry£37,500
Glasgow Uni: Medicine & Dentistry£37,100
Dundee Uni: Medicine & Dentistry£36,800
Interested in what your salary prospects are? Check out our guide to graduate salaries according to your degree.

The Department for Education have also released figures for people’s salaries five years after graduation.

Subjects offering the best salaries after five years include law, economics and computer science, while creative arts and design graduates have the lowest salary prospects immediately after finishing their degrees.

Oxford’s Business and Administrative Studies students remain at the top of the list, their salaries increasing to £71,700 after five years.

So if money is your goal, this list might help you with your degree choice!

Highest graduate salaries 5 years after graduation

pocket money

Uni & SubjectAverage Grad Salary
Oxford Uni: Business & Admin Studies£71,700
Oxford Uni: Law£61,400
Cambridge Uni: Economics£61,000
Birkbeck College: Economics£61,000
LSE: Economics£55,200
Cambridge Uni: Law£54,700
Warwick Uni: Economics£52,000
Imperial College: Computer Science£51,800
Cambridge Uni: Computer Science£51,300
Bath uni: Economics £51,200

The long term high earners appear to be in Economics as the medicine and dentistry degrees creep out of the top 10 (most likely down to small incremental raises year on year).

Lucy Skoulding

WRITTEN BY Lucy Skoulding

Lucy Skoulding specialised in student news reporting while writing for Save the Student, sharing the latest data and top stories affecting our readers.
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