UK Graduate Employment Dips to 81% as Median Salary Rises to £30,000
Updated
Updated · Times Higher Education · Jun 4
UK Graduate Employment Dips to 81% as Median Salary Rises to £30,000
1 articles · Updated · Times Higher Education · Jun 4
Summary
Hesa’s latest outcomes survey shows 81% of 2023-24 graduates were in work or unpaid roles 15 months after leaving university, down from 82% a year earlier, while unemployment rose to 7% from 6%.
£30,000 was the median salary for graduates in full-time paid work, up from £28,500; medicine and dentistry led at £43,749, while media, journalism and communications ranked lowest at £25,938.
Jisc said the softer results reflect a subdued wider economy rather than a collapse in graduate demand, describing the market as a cooling rather than a long-term structural shift.
20% of 5,000 recent graduates surveyed said they had applied for more than 100 jobs, and 44% felt AI was hurting their prospects by reducing available roles.
75% of UK-based working graduates were in high-skilled jobs, slightly below 76% for the prior cohort, while full-time further study held at 5% after earlier post-pandemic declines.