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Official DfE data

Graduate salaries by degree subject in the UK

Updated Data: DfE LEO, tax year 2023–24 (published 25 June 2026)By the CourseToJob editorial team · Editorial policy

Quick answer

Across all first-degree graduates of GB higher education institutions, median earnings were £26,400 one year after graduating, £30,000 after three years and £33,700 after five years (DfE LEO, 2023–24 tax year). Among subjects with at least 100 graduates, the highest five-year medians were in Dentistry (£59,900), Others in engineering (£58,900) and Medicine (non-specific) (£56,400); the lowest were in Creative arts and design (non-specific) (£22,000), Art (£23,800) and Dance (£24,500).

Compare median earnings for 164 degree subjects one, three, five and ten years after graduating. Every figure is copied from official Department for Education data; blanks mean DfE did not publish a value.

All graduates, 1 year on
£26,400
All graduates, 5 years on
£33,700
Highest 5-year median
£59,900
Subject with that median
Dentistry
Subjects with a 5-year median
146
In work or study, 5 years on
88.7%

Which degrees earn the most after five years?

  1. Dentistry£59,900
  2. Others in engineering£58,900
  3. Medicine (non-specific)£56,400
  4. Engineering (non-specific)£52,300
  5. Economics£51,200
  6. Building£49,000
  7. Statistics£48,300
  8. Chemical, process and energy engineering£47,600
  9. Veterinary medicine and dentistry£45,400
  10. Materials technology£45,400

Subjects with at least 100 graduates in the five-year cohort. Median earnings five years after graduating, tax year 2023–24.

Which degrees earn the most in the first year?

  1. Others in engineering£48,700
  2. Medicine (non-specific)£43,600
  3. Others in nursing£41,000
  4. Dentistry£37,300
  5. Community nursing£37,300
  6. Engineering (non-specific)£36,600
  7. Mental health nursing£36,600
  8. Midwifery£36,600
  9. Nursing (non-specific)£35,900
  10. Health sciences (non-specific)£35,100

Subjects with at least 100 graduates in the one-year cohort (graduated 2021/22).

Graduate earnings for every subject

Sorted by five-year median earnings. Type to filter, or select a column heading to sort. Subjects with a CourseToJob guide are linked.

164 subjects

Median annual earnings of UK-domiciled first-degree graduates by CAH level 3 subject and years after graduation (YAG), tax year 2023–24. Source: DfE LEO CAH level 3 subject data, Open Government Licence v3.0.
DentistryMedicine and dentistry£37,300£53,800£59,900£51,60094.2%880
Others in engineeringEngineering£48,700£51,200£58,900£60,80094.5%140
Materials scienceMaterials and technology£32,600£39,400£56,700£54,20091%165
Medicine (non-specific)Medicine and dentistry£43,600£51,600£56,400£66,20092.2%6,055
Artificial intelligenceComputing£33,700£41,400£55,600£43,20085.5%110
Operational researchMathematical sciences£35,900£44,500£53,400£77,20090.3%30
Engineering (non-specific)Engineering£36,600£43,200£52,300£58,60089.7%1,580
EconomicsEconomics£30,700£39,200£51,200£71,40087.9%6,875
BuildingArchitecture, building and planning£34,800£42,800£49,000£61,50088.8%3,150
StatisticsMathematical sciences£33,300£43,200£48,300£60,80091.4%255
Chemical, process and energy engineeringEngineering£32,200£39,900£47,600£57,80089.3%1,360
Veterinary medicine and dentistryVeterinary sciences£34,400£39,500£45,400£46,50095.4%895
Materials technologyMaterials and technology£31,800£38,400£45,400£52,70090.1%150
Software engineeringComputing£30,400£35,500£44,700£49,40087.6%1,715
Electrical and electronic engineeringEngineering£33,700£40,600£44,600£49,80089.4%2,110
PhysicsPhysics and astronomy£30,000£37,300£43,900£54,50089.7%2,675
PharmacyPharmacology, toxicology and pharmacy£27,100£37,500£43,900£42,10091.4%2,080
Production and manufacturing engineeringEngineering£32,800£37,000£43,600£49,80090.6%1,170
Mechanical engineeringEngineering£31,100£37,000£43,600£53,40089.5%3,940
MathematicsMathematical sciences£29,600£36,200£43,600£53,10088.9%5,050
Dental nursingNursing and midwifery£17,300£35,800£43,500£33,80087%90
Aeronautical and aerospace engineeringEngineering£31,500£35,900£43,200£56,00089.6%1,645
Biomedical sciences (non-specific)Medical sciences£24,500£29,600£42,500£49,00090.4%6,005
Computer scienceComputing£31,500£38,100£41,700£49,40086.5%7,695
Civil engineeringEngineering£30,700£35,500£41,400£52,30088.3%2,395
Community nursingNursing and midwifery£37,300£37,000£40,600£39,90094.2%305
Maritime technologyMaterials and technology£32,200£40,300£40,600£58,90076.1%70
Anatomy, physiology and pathologyMedical sciences£25,300£36,200£40,600£50,50091.1%730
Naval architectureEngineering—£32,600£40,600£50,80084.4%10
Mental health nursingNursing and midwifery£36,600£39,200£40,300£41,40092.3%2,500
Medical technologyMedical sciences£33,700£40,300£40,300£43,60093.7%1,190
Planning (urban, rural and regional)Architecture, building and planning£27,800£31,500£40,300£47,90090.3%395
FinanceBusiness and management£26,000£31,500£40,300£52,70087.4%2,960
Slavic studiesLanguages and area studies£26,000£35,500£40,300£46,50080.3%75
Others in nursingNursing and midwifery£41,000£41,000£39,900£41,20091.8%380
AstronomyPhysics and astronomy£26,700£32,900£39,500£49,00087.9%305
Nursing (non-specific)Nursing and midwifery£35,900£39,500£39,200£40,30092.3%865
Learning disabilities nursingNursing and midwifery£34,800£37,000£39,200£39,50094.1%250
Food sciencesAgriculture, food and related studies£28,900£30,400£38,600£41,40091%195
Information systemsComputing£28,200£31,800£38,400£43,20084.7%345
Physical sciences (non-specific)General, applied and forensic sciences£28,200£32,900£38,400£43,20086.6%95
Management studiesBusiness and management£32,200£35,500£38,100£45,80085.7%5,025
Bioengineering, medical and biomedical engineeringEngineering£28,200£34,400£38,100£37,00086.1%520
ChemistryChemistry£27,100£32,900£38,100£45,00091.7%2,815
MidwiferyNursing and midwifery£36,600£38,100£37,700£38,10094.5%1,900
AccountingBusiness and management£25,600£30,700£37,700£45,80087.5%3,990
PoliticsPolitics£26,000£31,800£37,000£47,20086%5,670
Human geographyGeography, earth and environmental studies£25,600£31,500£37,000£47,90090.9%1,705
PharmacologyPharmacology, toxicology and pharmacy£25,300£31,500£37,000£47,60088%585
PhysiotherapyAllied health£29,300£35,100£36,600£38,40093.2%1,600
Italian studiesLanguages and area studies£26,400£31,800£36,600£46,10086.8%100
Iberian studiesLanguages and area studies£25,600£31,100£36,600£43,20085.1%555
Biosciences (non-specific)Biosciences£24,500£29,300£36,600£54,50088.5%1,425
Health sciences (non-specific)Allied health£35,100£35,100£36,200£40,30090.9%3,355
Children's nursingNursing and midwifery£33,700£35,500£36,200£34,80094.2%1,840
Molecular biology, biophysics and biochemistryBiosciences£26,400£31,800£36,200£43,60090.7%2,000
Others in language and area studiesLanguages and area studies£25,300£31,800£36,200£38,40084.3%1,095
Adult nursingNursing and midwifery£32,900£34,800£35,900£36,60094.2%9,000
French studiesLanguages and area studies£26,000£31,100£35,900£43,20086.9%500
GeneticsBiosciences£25,300£30,400£35,900£42,80090.8%180
BiotechnologyMaterials and technology£23,100£35,100£35,900—92.2%25
Minerals technologyMaterials and technology——£35,900£43,90076.2%15
Healthcare science (non-specific)Medical sciences£32,400£35,100£35,100£36,20095.2%400
Earth sciencesGeography, earth and environmental studies£26,400£30,700£34,800£41,70086.8%845
Business studiesBusiness and management£26,000£30,000£34,800£42,80083.7%9,425
German and scandinavian studiesLanguages and area studies£25,300£31,800£34,800£41,00084.9%200
MarketingBusiness and management£24,900£29,600£34,800£42,10086.8%3,720
Physical geographical sciencesGeography, earth and environmental studies£24,900£30,700£34,800£41,70091.5%1,375
Forestry and arboricultureAgriculture, food and related studies£22,900£32,900£34,600£33,30087%15
Teacher trainingEducation and teaching£27,400£30,700£34,400£33,30091.7%4,380
Information technologyComputing£32,200£34,000£34,000£46,50088.2%995
Environmental and public healthAllied health£28,900£30,700£34,000£40,30086.6%320
Microbiology and cell scienceBiosciences£25,600£29,300£34,000£42,50091.2%250
Others in biosciencesBiosciences£24,500£30,000£34,000£40,60088.9%345
PhilosophyPhilosophy and religious studies£24,500£29,600£34,000£41,00086.4%1,935
OphthalmicsAllied health£24,200£34,800£34,000£32,90088.9%765
Biology (non-specific)Biosciences£23,800£29,600£34,000£40,30089.3%2,160
African and modern middle eastern studiesLanguages and area studies£25,600£30,700£33,700£40,30077.1%125
Human resource managementBusiness and management£25,600£29,300£33,300£38,80085.9%715
ClassicsHistory and archaeology£24,900£29,300£33,300£44,70088.8%765
LawLaw£23,800£27,800£33,300£43,90087.5%14,295
HistoryHistory and archaeology£23,800£28,900£33,000£41,00089.5%7,055
Social workHealth and social care£32,200£33,300£32,900£36,20091.4%3,655
Development studiesSociology, social policy and anthropology£26,000£30,000£32,900£33,70083.7%240
Asian studiesLanguages and area studies£23,800£27,800£32,900£39,20076.7%320
Polymers and textilesMaterials and technology£22,700£23,100£32,900£35,10088.9%50
American and australasian studiesLanguages and area studies£21,800£27,800£32,900£38,10088.9%245
Rural estate managementAgriculture, food and related studies£38,400£26,400£32,600£34,80090.3%90
Food and beverage productionAgriculture, food and related studies£30,700£28,500£32,600£39,50092.1%50
Publicity studiesMedia, journalism and communications£24,500£30,000£32,600£42,10085.3%175
AnthropologySociology, social policy and anthropology£23,400£28,500£32,600£37,70087.7%625
Information servicesMedia, journalism and communications£22,700£26,700£32,600£37,30083.6%65
Nutrition and dieteticsAllied health£26,700£28,900£32,200£32,20087.1%770
LinguisticsEnglish studies£22,300£27,800£32,200£35,90086.1%440
Environmental sciencesGeography, earth and environmental studies£25,600£29,300£31,800£38,40090.9%795
Counselling, psychotherapy and occupational therapyAllied health£27,800£30,000£31,500£32,60090%2,020
Others in psychologyPsychology£23,100£26,000£31,500£33,70088.9%230
Food and beverage studies (non-specific)Agriculture, food and related studies£27,100£30,400£31,100£38,80084.9%20
Combined, general or negotiated studiesCombined and general studies£25,600£32,800£31,100£32,90083.3%1,580
ArchitectureArchitecture, building and planning£23,400£27,800£31,100£39,50086.7%2,275
English studies (non-specific)English studies£23,400£27,800£31,100£36,20088.2%2,980
Computer games and animationComputing£21,600£26,400£31,100£38,10081.9%2,295
Others in business and managementBusiness and management£33,300£27,400£30,700£37,00086.9%120
Others in computingComputing£26,400£33,300£30,700£37,10080.8%405
PublishingMedia, journalism and communications£23,800£26,400£30,700£37,30091.8%160
History of art, architecture and designHistory and archaeology£22,700£27,400£30,700£38,10085.6%490
English languageEnglish studies£22,300£27,800£30,700£34,40088.8%740
Sport and exercise sciencesSport and exercise sciences£22,000£27,100£30,700£37,30091%7,545
Landscape designArchitecture, building and planning£24,500£28,000£30,400£33,30091.7%75
Theology and religious studiesPhilosophy and religious studies£23,400£27,100£30,400£35,90080.9%880
Literature in EnglishEnglish studies£22,700£27,100£30,400£35,10088.1%2,650
AgricultureAgriculture, food and related studies£24,900£28,900£29,600£31,80086.2%610
Tourism, transport and travelBusiness and management£24,200£27,100£29,600£33,70084.7%3,195
SociologySociology, social policy and anthropology£23,400£26,700£29,600£34,40088.5%9,525
JournalismMedia, journalism and communications£22,700£26,400£29,600£35,50088.3%1,575
Psychology (non-specific)Psychology£22,700£27,100£29,600£35,10089.5%13,500
Others in technologyMaterials and technology£24,500£27,400£29,300£35,90084.7%490
Social policySociology, social policy and anthropology£24,500£27,800£29,300£35,90087.3%1,095
Forensic and archaeological sciencesGeneral, applied and forensic sciences£23,400£26,400£29,300£34,40089.7%1,425
Applied psychologyPsychology£22,700£26,000£28,900£35,50089.6%1,145
Ecology and environmental biologyBiosciences£22,000£26,000£28,900£33,30089%865
Complementary and alternative medicineAllied health£21,600£27,800£28,900£24,20085.2%570
ArchaeologyHistory and archaeology£22,300£25,600£28,500£33,30087.9%440
Personal developmentCombined and general studies£28,500£28,500£28,200—82.1%140
Others in veterinary sciencesVeterinary sciences£26,000£28,200£28,200£30,20090.7%275
Design studiesCreative arts and design£22,000£25,600£28,200£31,60086%9,960
Heritage studiesHistory and archaeology——£28,000—84%20
Psychology and healthPsychology£23,100£24,900£27,400£45,80089.8%235
Media studiesMedia, journalism and communications£21,600£25,600£27,400£32,60085.5%3,590
Social sciences (non-specific)Sociology, social policy and anthropology£23,400£29,600£26,700£32,20085.5%605
EducationEducation and teaching£21,200£26,000£26,700£27,40088.8%6,395
Developmental psychologyPsychology£20,500£25,300£26,700£27,10089.4%265
Health studiesHealth and social care£22,700£25,300£26,400£27,40087.1%2,100
Cinematics and photographyCreative arts and design£19,800£23,400£26,400£29,30084.7%6,090
Animal scienceAgriculture, food and related studies£21,600£24,200£26,000£27,80090.2%1,090
Humanities (non-specific)Combined and general studies£22,700£27,800£25,600£28,90078.6%550
ZoologyBiosciences£21,200£24,200£25,600£31,50090.4%985
Childhood and youth studiesHealth and social care£20,500£23,800£25,600£28,50087.8%2,505
MusicPerforming arts£19,000£23,500£25,600£31,30086.5%5,440
DramaPerforming arts£18,700£23,100£25,600£29,10088.7%4,155
Creative writingEnglish studies£19,800£23,400£25,300£28,90082%1,185
Others in English studiesEnglish studies£19,400£23,400£25,300£25,80095.7%30
Others in creative arts and designCreative arts and design£19,000£23,100£24,900£26,40083.7%505
DancePerforming arts£16,100£22,000£24,500£27,40089.4%900
ArtCreative arts and design£17,900£22,000£23,800£25,30082%2,460
Creative arts and design (non-specific)Creative arts and design£20,500£23,400£22,000£24,30080.4%310
Others in geographical studiesGeography, earth and environmental studies£37,000——£38,800—45
Medicine by specialismMedicine and dentistry£31,100£41,700—£64,60093.8%100
Natural sciences (non-specific)General, applied and forensic sciences£29,600£39,200———565
Sciences (non-specific)General, applied and forensic sciences£29,300————70
Plant sciencesBiosciences£28,200————25
Business computingComputing£27,800£32,200—£34,000—395
Medical sciences (non-specific)Medicine and dentistry£27,100£37,300———350
Business and management (non-specific)Business and management£26,400£30,000———8,040
Geography (non-specific)Geography, earth and environmental studies£24,500£30,000———850
Agricultural sciencesAgriculture, food and related studies£24,200£31,100———25
Liberal arts (non-specific)Combined and general studies£24,200£32,200———330
Cultural studiesSociology, social policy and anthropology£22,700£26,700———55
Performing arts (non-specific)Performing arts£18,300£21,600———460
Hair and beauty sciencesBiosciences£17,400————45
Celtic studies (non-specific)Celtic studies———£29,60083.6%5
Others in celtic studiesCeltic studies—————0
Studies of specific authorsEnglish studies——————
ToxicologyPharmacology, toxicology and pharmacy—————10

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How should you read these graduate salary figures?

Use them to compare broad subjects, not to predict your own pay. A median is the middle earner: half of graduates earned more and half earned less.

What does LEO measure?

Longitudinal Education Outcomes data links higher education records with HMRC tax and DWP benefit records. Earnings are gross pay from HMRC records for UK-domiciled graduates in sustained employment: PAYE pay is annualised, and self-employed income is included where reported. LEO cannot tell full-time from part-time work, so part-time earnings pull medians down.

Why do subjects differ so much?

Subject medians reflect the jobs graduates enter, where they live, how many work part-time or freelance, prior attainment and the providers that teach each subject. They are not a measure of the value of a degree or of teaching quality.

Why is a subject missing?

DfE suppresses figures for small cohorts and does not publish every subject for every year after graduation. A dash means no published value; we never fill gaps with estimates or neighbouring subjects.

What about individual universities?

Each university page shows DfE's provider-level figures for that university by subject area, and each subject guide lists the universities with the highest five-year medians. Provider figures are unadjusted and should be read with the same caution.

Graduate salaries: frequently asked questions

Which degree has the highest graduate salary in the UK?

On DfE LEO data for the 2023–24 tax year, Dentistry had the highest median earnings five years after graduating (£59,900) among subjects with at least 100 graduates, followed by Others in engineering (£58,900) and Medicine (non-specific) (£56,400). One year after graduating, the highest medians were in Others in engineering (£48,700), Medicine (non-specific) (£43,600) and Others in nursing (£41,000).

What is the average graduate salary in the UK?

The median for all first-degree graduates of GB higher education institutions was £26,400 one year after graduating, £30,000 three years after and £33,700 five years after, in the 2023–24 tax year. These are medians of annual earnings for graduates in sustained employment, not starting-salary offers.

Which degrees have the lowest graduate earnings?

Among subjects with at least 100 graduates, the lowest five-year medians were in Creative arts and design (non-specific) (£22,000), Art (£23,800) and Dance (£24,500). Lower medians often reflect part-time work, which LEO cannot separate from full-time work, and freelance income. They do not mean these degrees lack value.

Where does this graduate salary data come from?

Every figure comes from the Department for Education's Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) statistics, which link student records to HMRC tax and DWP benefit records. We use the CAH level 3 subject data for the 2023–24 tax year, published on 25 June 2026, without estimating any missing value.

Why do 1-year and 5-year figures describe different graduates?

LEO measures several graduating cohorts in the same tax year. The one-year figure is for people who graduated in 2021/22 and the five-year figure is for people who graduated in 2017/18. The difference is not one person's pay rise.