Degree pay explorer
Median annual earnings of UK-domiciled first-degree graduates in sustained employment, by subject studied, 1, 3, 5 and 10 years after graduation, in the 2023-24 tax year. Across all subjects the median was £26,400 after 1 year and £33,300 after 5 years. Click a column heading to sort.
Why there's no AI-risk score here: graduates from one subject go into many different jobs, and we could not find an official, published mapping from degree subjects to occupations. Rather than guess, we show pay only. To see AI exposure for the jobs you're considering, use the Job-Risk Index or compare jobs.
| Subject | 1 yr | 3 yrs | 5 yrs | 10 yrs | 5 yrs: lower–upper quartile | In work or study (5 yrs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medicine and dentistry | £43,600 | £51,600 | £57,100 | £65,100 | £48,300–£68,400 | 92.2% |
| Economics | £30,400 | £39,200 | £50,900 | £70,300 | £37,000–£68,800 | 87.8% |
| Mathematical sciences | £29,600 | £36,200 | £43,600 | £52,700 | £33,300–£59,300 | 89.4% |
| Engineering | £31,800 | £37,300 | £43,600 | £52,700 | £34,800–£54,900 | 89.5% |
| Physics and astronomy | £29,300 | £35,900 | £42,800 | £52,700 | £33,300–£56,400 | 89.4% |
| Pharmacology, toxicology and pharmacy | £27,400 | £34,600 | £42,100 | £43,600 | £28,500–£51,000 | 91% |
| Medical sciences | £27,400 | £32,200 | £40,300 | £45,800 | £32,600–£50,100 | 92% |
| Computing | £29,300 | £34,000 | £39,900 | £46,500 | £28,500–£55,300 | 85.9% |
| Veterinary sciences | £32,900 | £37,000 | £39,500 | £42,100 | £28,500–£48,700 | 93.6% |
| Architecture, building and planning | £29,600 | £35,500 | £38,400 | £47,600 | £28,900–£52,000 | 87.9% |
| Chemistry | £27,100 | £32,600 | £37,700 | £44,700 | £31,100–£49,400 | 91.8% |
| Nursing and midwifery | £34,000 | £35,900 | £37,300 | £37,700 | £28,900–£44,300 | 93.9% |
| Politics | £25,600 | £31,500 | £36,600 | £46,500 | £28,500–£48,700 | 86.2% |
| Geography, earth and environmental studies | £25,600 | £30,400 | £35,100 | £42,500 | £28,900–£44,300 | 90.3% |
| Languages and area studies | £24,900 | £30,400 | £35,100 | £40,600 | £27,800–£46,800 | 84.5% |
| Business and management | £26,000 | £30,000 | £34,800 | £41,700 | £26,400–£47,600 | 85.6% |
| Allied health | £28,900 | £33,300 | £34,800 | £35,500 | £25,600–£42,500 | 90.4% |
| Law | £23,800 | £27,800 | £33,700 | £43,900 | £25,600–£45,800 | 87.7% |
| Philosophy and religious studies | £24,200 | £28,900 | £32,600 | £38,400 | £25,300–£42,100 | 84.5% |
| Biosciences | £23,800 | £28,500 | £32,600 | £39,500 | £25,600–£41,400 | 89.8% |
| History and archaeology | £23,800 | £28,200 | £32,600 | £39,900 | £25,600–£41,700 | 89% |
| Materials and technology | £27,100 | £30,400 | £32,600 | £37,700 | £25,300–£43,600 | 85.8% |
| Celtic studies | £23,800 | £28,500 | £32,200 | £32,600 | £26,000–£35,500 | 93.7% |
| Combined and general studies | £24,900 | £30,700 | £30,700 | £32,200 | £19,400–£42,800 | 82.8% |
| English studies | £22,300 | £27,100 | £30,400 | £35,100 | £24,200–£37,000 | 87.3% |
| Sport and exercise sciences | £22,000 | £27,100 | £30,400 | £37,300 | £24,900–£36,600 | 91.1% |
| Health and social care | £27,100 | £27,400 | £30,000 | £33,300 | £21,600–£38,800 | 90.4% |
| General, applied and forensic sciences | £24,200 | £28,200 | £30,000 | £35,900 | £24,500–£37,700 | 89.3% |
| Sociology, social policy and anthropology | £23,400 | £27,100 | £29,600 | £34,400 | £23,800–£36,200 | 88.3% |
| Psychology | £22,700 | £26,700 | £29,600 | £34,800 | £24,200–£36,200 | 89.5% |
| Education and teaching | £25,300 | £28,500 | £29,300 | £30,400 | £21,600–£35,500 | 89.9% |
| Media, journalism and communications | £22,300 | £25,600 | £28,500 | £33,700 | £23,100–£34,800 | 86.4% |
| Agriculture, food and related studies | £23,400 | £26,400 | £28,500 | £31,100 | £22,200–£35,900 | 88.4% |
| Creative arts and design | £20,900 | £24,500 | £26,700 | £29,600 | £20,500–£33,300 | 84.9% |
| Performing arts | £18,700 | £23,100 | £25,400 | £29,600 | £18,300–£31,800 | 87.9% |
For course-level and university-level figures, use the official Discover Uni site or our course checker.
Source and method
Source: Department for Education, Graduate labour market outcomes (LEO), tax year 2023-24, data set "Outcomes and earnings data" (Explore Education Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0). We used rows for: all providers, first degree, UK-domiciled graduates, all regions and characteristics ("Total"). Earnings are medians for graduates in sustained employment, in cash terms for 2023-24, and are not adjusted for hours worked (so part-time work lowers them). 1, 3, 5 and 10 years after graduation refer to different graduating cohorts. "In work or study" is the share in sustained employment, further study or both. Pay differences reflect who studies each subject as well as the subject itself.