Every university student wants to believe their chosen degree is going to lead to a well paid graduate job with juicy bonuses. But can you really expect to earn a big bucks as a starting salary, regardless of what you’ve studied?
Likewise, after four years of hard slog, could you discover your ВЈ50,000 degree was horribly overpriced as you go in search of paid jobs in the UK?
We’ll take the sting out of the discovery process by taking a look at the degree types and sectors they cover, and how they ranked in terms of pay, followed by an examination of what graduates can expect as a starting salary in several business sectors, from banking and law, to technology and health.
The best paid degree subjects are medicine and dentistry, followed by veterinary science. Grads studying engineering and technology, as well as mathematical sciences were also high up the ranking, while law was among the lower-placed fields, among mass communications and documentation, and creative arts and design.
How much can graduates earn as a trainee lawyer?
The legal industry is among the UK’s highest paying sectors for new graduates. Students joining a large or medium-sized law company can expect to earn between salaries of between ВЈ22,500 and ВЈ50,000, which isn’t to be sniffed at.
The Lawyer revealed entry-level salaries for grads have been steadily rising as they seek to retain top talent, especially in the face of stiff (and deep pocketed) competition from US firms.
The difference between London rates and regional counterparts is stark, with some Capital law firms offering ВЈ50,000 compared to as little as ВЈ20,000 elsewhere. It will pay to shop around.
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According to a 2019 survey, the average grad salary for digital and IT careers was ВЈ30,000. However, other analysts suggested the figure was much lower, between ВЈ21,000 and ВЈ25,000. That’s a big difference, by anyone’s standards.
How much can graduates earn as a digital and IT trainee?
Digital and IT remain massively popular graduate industries, offering another vast field of good paying jobs, and while there is little room for negotiation with managers at graduate entry level, some companies do offer a broad salary range.
Even better, the engineering and coding skills gained as part of your degree could have a significant bearing on where you end up in the professional and finance scheme of things.
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How much can graduates earn as a trainee in the finance industry?
Banking and the financial services sector offers some of the highest paid graduate jobs in the UK. The Hays UK Salary & Recruiting Trends 2020 survey revealed an earnings range of ВЈ33,000 in London and ВЈ27,000 in north-west England, with the rest of the country falling between.
It also depends on what financial firms are prepared to pay. Land a job with Capital One and, depending on the programme, you could be paid between ВЈ35,000 and ВЈ40,000 for your graduate starting salary (and that’s without any mention of related bonuses).
For grads seeking a career in investment banking, good news! They are among the highest paid graduate jobs, with salaries starting at between ВЈ30,000 and ВЈ40,000.
If you make it all the way to the top, a senior executive in investment banking can earn well over ВЈ100,000 a year – plus related bonuses.
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How much can graduates earn as a trainee in the health industry?
We all love the NHS. It’s the backbone of the UK, but if you read the news, you’ll know it’s not one of the best paid sectors in the country, with long hours and sometimes tough working conditions.
That said, if medicine is your calling, the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme starts at around ВЈ24,628 (with a location allowance if applicable), while grads embarking on a career in adult nursing face a first year salary of ВЈ24,907, and first-year doctors can earn ВЈ28,243.
If you’re looking at NHS jobs and wondering if there is another way to look after people’s health, that answer’s yes!
Dentistry or, if you are a graduate who wants to work with animals, are both much better paid jobs, on a par with investment banks with a starting salary of ВЈ30,000 and up to ВЈ35,000, respectively.
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How much can graduates earn as a trainee in the energy and engineering industries?
These are two huge professional industries and both are highly competitive. When it comes to which are the best paid… well. Let’s take a look at the energy sector which, with the growth of renewables, offers a wide array of paid jobs.
The starting salary for energy engineers is between ВЈ20,000 and ВЈ30,000, it’s not quite investment banking level, but they can rise to above ВЈ60,000 for senior jobs at big engineering firms.
For engineers, as of 2021, the average graduate starting salary was ВЈ28,000 but like so many industries, it is wide-ranging and offers many opportunities for a decent graduate starting salary.
If you can get some experience under your belt and become chartered, pay can increase to between ВЈ57,000 and ВЈ77,000 per year.
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How much can graduates earn as a built environment trainee?
This takes in a huge number of sectors and skills, so the pay will differ too. Built environment covers construction industry jobs, including civil and structural engineering, construction management, architecture, quantity and building surveying.
The Institute of Student Employers’ 2020 annual survey revealed the median graduate salary was ВЈ27,500 but the financial data can vary wildly depending on which sector you enter.
The Hays UK Salary & Recruiting Trends 2020 survey revealed a graduate civil engineer can earn from ВЈ24,000 in the East Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber, north-east England and south-west England, compared to ВЈ30,000 in London.
A graduate quantity surveyor can earn from ВЈ21,500 in Northern Ireland to ВЈ29,000 in London.
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How much can graduates earn as a retail and fast moving consumer goods trainee?
Retail and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) are two of the UK’s biggest sales-based industries (the FMCG sector is worth around ВЈ104 billion alone). That’s not reflected in graduate-level pay, which can vary from ВЈ19,000 to ВЈ21,000 depending on the firm and location.
If your heart is in sales rather than investment banking, don’t worry. Starting salaries for junior supply chain analysts or planners are healthier at ВЈ21,000, while a junior buyer can expect pay of around ВЈ26,000.
Graduate jobs in marketing are among the best paid, at a competitive ВЈ21,000 to ВЈ24,000. Expect to see these salaries head north fast if you are promoted to mid and senior sales roles or become an executive.
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How much can graduates earn as a trainee in the charity sector?
The UK is home to about 166,000 charities, with 827,000 paid jobs. Noble it may be, but it’s not one of the highest paying sectors (investment banking is where the top paying roles are) and a graduate can expect starting salaries of around ВЈ27,000.
One of the most unusual things about the charity sector is it’s one of those rare occasions where work experience can actually be more important and valuable than in other industries.
Some charities offer graduate programmes, for instance the Cancer Research’s scheme offers a starting salary of ВЈ24,000 plus benefits, while The Wellcome Trust will pay ВЈ25,000 per year over its two-year course.
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How much can graduates earn as a trainee in the public sector?
Graduate jobs in the UK public sector are wide-ranging and cover a number of fields, from national security to forestry and financial. It’s no surprise then, that starting salaries are just as varied, beginning at around ВЈ17,000 up to roughly ВЈ30,000, depending on where you apply.
As with so many firms, London weighting can be a factor, and grad jobs outside the Capital tend to pay less.
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Methodology
We used data from the Higher Education Graduate Outcomes Statistics: UK, 2017/18 – Salary and location of leavers in employment, published in June 2020, to establish the median starting salaries for jobs in the UK.
We also referred to the Institute of Student Employers’ 2020 annual survey, as well as the Hays UK Salary & Recruiting Trends 2020 survey for broader figures.
Our NHS figures came from https://www.nhsgraduates.co.uk/ and Save the Student, which also provided statistics for investment banks.
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