First degrees : How much do they earn?

Although the employment rate has risen for graduates domiciled in the UK six months after graduating in 2009/10 the average salary, in common with salaries across the economy, hasn’t seen a great change. Amongst first degree graduates working full time in the UK who have reported their salaries in the DLHE survey, the average salary ranged from £17,720 to £23,335 with London reporting the highest average salary of £22,480.

As seen in the 2007/08 cohort of graduates, the average salary in Scotland saw the largest year-on-year increase from £19,965 in 2008/09 to £20,300 in 2009/10.

Not all regions across the UK experienced a rise in the average salary of graduates in full time employment six months after graduating in 2009/10. The North West and North East saw a year-on-year decrease of 2% and 2.8% respectively.

Table 3 shows the ranges of salary for some of the types of work reported in What Do Graduates Do? Protective service officers (e.g. armed forces officers) had a higher average salary than all of the other types of work (including those not in the table), this has not changed throughout the recession since they overtook health professionals as the highest average earners in 2007. The lower end of salary ranges, reported in the DLHE survey, are earned in administrative and clerical occupations. Research, such as Class Of '99 , has consistently found that many graduates begin their careers working in these occupations but do gradually move toward a higher level occupation relatively quickly, often within months. Currently the salaries earned by graduates in general administrative jobs range between £13,600 and £17,575.

Source: DLHE 2009/10