UK Graduate Scheme Transparency Index 2027: Employers Ranked
We don’t discuss salaries before an offer is made.
EY UK, early-careers FAQ, on starting salaries.
The UK Graduate Scheme Transparency Index 2027 asks one question: which graduate employers publish what applicants need to decide whether to apply? We checked 29 employers on five items, each read on the employer’s own pages on 21 October 2026. The average employer scores 3.1 out of 5. Only Civil Service Fast Stream and NHS GMTS publish all five.
Key findings
Almost everyone lists their stages (26 of 29), and most say whether the 2027 intake is open (26 of 29). Pay is where employers split: 15 of 29 publish a starting salary, but none of EY, Deloitte, PwC or KPMG do, and EY says it does not discuss salaries before an offer. A closing date is the rarest item: only 10 of 29 publish one, because most recruit on a rolling basis and close when roles fill.
| Field | Employers publishing it | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Application stages listed | 26 of 29 | 96% |
| Status of the 2027 intake clear | 26 of 29 | 89% |
| Starting pay published | 15 of 29 | 52% |
| Minimum degree grade stated | 13 of 29 | 41% |
| Closing date published | 10 of 29 | 30% |
How we scored the index
Each employer can earn up to five points, one per item. Only the employer’s own pages count. Third-party sites, job boards and press are not used for scores. The index measures disclosure, not pay levels, so the table shows yes or no and never a salary figure.
| Field | We score 1 point when the employer’s own page… |
|---|---|
| Pay | states a starting salary or band for the UK graduate programme (we record yes or no, never the figure) |
| Closing date | states a closing date for the 2027 intake, for the programme or at least one route |
| Stages | lists the application stages |
| Grade | states a minimum degree grade, including “a pass” |
| Status | states clearly whether the 2027 intake is open, closed or opening on a date |
UK graduate employers ranked by transparency
Click an employer’s name to open our full guide. Use the filters to show only the most transparent employers or to compare one sector.
| Employer | Sector | Score | Pay | Closing date | Stages | Grade | Status | What we found |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Civil Service Fast Stream | Public sector | 5/5 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | All five published; closes midday 5 Nov |
| NHS GMTS | Public sector | 5/5 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | All five published; closed 28 Oct |
| Aldi | Retail & consumer | 4/5 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Pay and increments stated; 2:1 plus UCAS points; no closing date |
| BlackRock | Finance | 4/5 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Closing dates by office; pay in a linked salary document; no grade |
| bp | Energy | 4/5 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Pay band on the UK tab; applications 12–30 Nov; five steps; no minimum grade |
| Jaguar Land Rover | Engineering | 4/5 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Pay stated; 2:2; 2026 closed, 2027 applications from January; dates TBC |
| Lidl | Retail & consumer | 4/5 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Pay stated; 2:2; four stages; no closing date |
| Lloyds Banking Group | Finance | 4/5 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Pay shown per scheme; “ideally a 2:2”; dates per scheme, closes early |
| M&S | Retail & consumer | 4/5 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Pay on a programme page; closes 8 Nov; no grade |
| Network Rail | Engineering | 4/5 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Pay on scheme page; 2:2 for Civil Engineering; register interest, no closing date |
| Rolls-Royce | Engineering | 4/5 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Pay on the advert; closes 13 Nov (text) or 16 Nov (header); no grade |
| Tesco (Retail graduate) | Retail & consumer | 4/5 | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Pay on the job page; apply by 22 Dec 2026; 2:2; no stage list on the page |
| Accenture | Professional services | 3/5 | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Pay on a Birmingham posting; no deadlines posted, closes when full; no grade |
| Arup | Engineering | 3/5 | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Closing dates per role; stage lists differ between pages; no pay or grade |
| Aviva | Finance | 3/5 | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Data pathway pay stated; open with no closing date; four stages |
| Deloitte | Professional services | 3/5 | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Predicted 2:1 for most programmes; opening dates indicative; closes early on volume |
| J.P. Morgan | Finance | 3/5 | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | London analyst programme closes 1 Nov; four generic hiring steps; no pay on the programme page |
| KPMG | Professional services | 3/5 | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | 2:1 stated; pay only with the offer letter; vacancies listed |
| PwC | Professional services | 3/5 | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Pass degree for most programmes; eight stages; no pay or closing date |
| UBS | Finance | 3/5 | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Rolling, no date; 2:1 and experience cap stated; no pay |
| Unilever | Retail & consumer | 3/5 | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Pay on the UFLP page; some functions open, some closed; rolling |
| HSBC | Finance | 3/5 | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Closing dates and status per programme; London graduate roles state 2:1 or higher; no pay or stage list on the pages read |
| Airbus | Engineering | 2/5 | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Closed; next window expected September 2027, no date; “salaries vary” |
| EY | Professional services | 2/5 | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Says it does not discuss salaries before an offer; closes when positions are filled |
| Shell | Energy | 2/5 | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | 2027 programme open; stages listed; degree level stated but no grade; no pay or closing date |
| Siemens | Engineering | 2/5 | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Register-interest listing; no closing date; pay only on an older vacancy |
| Barclays | Finance | 1/5 | No | No | Yes | No | No | Posting shows “competitive pay”; no grade or status flag |
| IBM | Technology | 1/5 | No | No | Yes | No | No | Requirements sit in each vacancy; five generic stages; no intake status |
| Goldman Sachs | Finance | 0/5 | No | No | No | No | No | New Analyst page: timelines vary by business; no pay, stages or grade |
Pay: who publishes a starting salary
15 of 29 employers state pay on an official page: Civil Service Fast Stream, NHS GMTS, Aldi, BlackRock, bp, Jaguar Land Rover, Lidl, Lloyds Banking Group, M&S, Network Rail, Rolls-Royce, Accenture, Aviva, Unilever, Tesco. The big accounting and consulting firms (EY, Deloitte, PwC, KPMG) publish none, and neither do Barclays, Goldman Sachs, Airbus, J.P. Morgan, Shell, HSBC or UBS. Individual vacancy adverts can carry a figure that the programme page does not, so a “No” means the programme pages state none.
Closing dates: the hardest item to find
Only Civil Service Fast Stream, NHS GMTS, BlackRock, bp, M&S, Rolls-Royce, Arup, J.P. Morgan publish a closing date. Rolling recruitment explains many gaps: EY says applications close once positions are filled, Accenture says it does not post deadlines, Deloitte and Lloyds say roles close early on volume, and Aviva publishes no closing date at all. Rolls-Royce shows 13 November in its advert text and 16 November in its header, so check the advert before you plan around either.
Degree grade: what you need to apply
13 of 29 state a minimum grade: Civil Service Fast Stream, NHS GMTS, Aldi, Jaguar Land Rover, Lidl, Lloyds Banking Group, Network Rail, Deloitte, KPMG, PwC, UBS, HSBC, Tesco. The rest, including bp, Aviva, EY, Shell, Arup and BlackRock, do not publish a minimum grade on the pages we read. Not publishing a grade does not mean there is none: it means you cannot check before you apply.
Employers we could not score
We scored only employers whose pages we could read in full, in a browser where needed. These employers are not ranked, and a gap here is not evidence that they publish nothing.
| Employer | Why it is not scored |
|---|---|
| McKinsey | The UK deadlines tool did not load, even in a browser; only “competitive salary” |
| Amazon | No fixed UK graduate programme page: Amazon hires through individual vacancies and Pathways, which has no fixed deadline |
| No fixed UK graduate programme page: Google lists individual roles and internships rather than a scheme | |
| Microsoft | No fixed UK graduate programme page: UK pages redirect to global pages and roles are listed individually |
| TfL | Scheme pages are stale and the roles list did not load |
| Vodafone | UK page says 2026 is closed; the 2027 FAQ did not load |
| BAE Systems | 2027 status and stages not on the pages we read |
Limits of this index
Scores reflect programme pages on one day, 21 October 2026, and employers update pages often. We read UK pages where they exist; Goldman Sachs publishes at EMEA level. Where an employer has several routes, a field scores 1 if the page states it for at least one route. Individual vacancy adverts were not systematically read. If an employer has published more since 21 October, tell us and we will update the row.
Download the data
The file has one row per scored employer with the five yes/no fields, the total and a short evidence note. You may reuse it with a link back to this page.
How to cite this index
Debut, “UK Graduate Scheme Transparency Index 2027”, checked 21 October 2026. Suggested wording: “According to Debut’s Transparency Index, 15 of 29 UK graduate employers publish a starting salary on their own pages.”
Transparency Index FAQ
What is the Graduate Scheme Transparency Index?
A score out of five for each UK graduate employer, based on whether its own pages publish pay, a closing date, application stages, a minimum degree grade and the status of the 2027 intake.
Which employer is the most transparent?
Civil Service Fast Stream and NHS GMTS score 5 out of 5 on the 21 October 2026 check.
Does the index compare salaries?
No. It records whether pay is published, not how much it is.
How often will it be updated?
We will refresh the data when employers change their pages and re-check the table before each new graduate intake.
Why is my employer not ranked?
We scored only employers whose official pages we could read in full. The unscored list explains each case.
Browse the full graduate scheme guide for every employer we cover.
Want the dates in one place? See our graduate scheme deadlines calendar, with days left and add-to-calendar links.
