Some degrees now lead to better salaries than they did five years ago. Of these, graduates who studied computing courses saw the biggest increase in average pay between 2016 and 2022 – up £10,000 from £29,700 to £39,700.
Cambridge’s computing course emerged as the most lucrative individual degree in 2022, with graduates earning an average of £99,600 five years after leaving university. It was followed by Imperial College’s equivalent course, which led to an average salary of £86,100 five years after graduation.
More broadly, medicine and dentistry graduates have remained the most consistently well-paid, earning £52,217 five years after finishing their studies. However, in percentage increase terms these salaries have actually increased the least of all degrees, rising by just 10.6pc relative to a 19.4pc average between 2015 and 2022.
Economics graduates are the next-best paid (average salaries of £43,902), followed by engineering (£37,921) and pharmacology (£37,578).
This comes after the Conservatives announced plans for a crackdown on so-called “Mickey Mickey degrees”, named for their perceived worthlessness and the low pay to which they typically lead.
In May, the Tories vowed to close down such degrees, believed to be studied by one in eight students in Britain.
“We will outlaw rip-off degrees so that no more students are lured on to courses that don’t deliver the outcomes people deserve,” Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary wrote in the Telegraph. “Many graduates would be better served doing an apprenticeship. Rather than being saddled with debt, apprentices gain real-world experience and earn while they learn.”
Liz Emerson, of the Intergenerational Foundation think tank, warned against using expected salaries to measure the value of a degree. She said: “Higher education should be a public good whatever the level of graduate premium that comes from it. We profoundly disagree with the idea of discouraging any young person from going into higher education.
“But the graduate premium alone should not be used to put any young person off seeking a higher education qualification. It says more about the state of our society that a librarian is valued less than a banker.”
Nevertheless, going to university remains a momentous financial decision, one which could leave young people saddled with debt for their entire working lives. Under the plan five student loans that kicked in last autumn, graduates will start repaying once they earn £25,000, meaning many will be repaying more and for longer.
Due to the soaring cost of living and tuition fees running to £9,250 a year, the average balance outstanding in England is now £45,000.