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- 20th May 2025
Office Freedom’s Graduate Report 2025
With 18-year olds set to take on their exams that will determine their university future, and tens of thousands of graduates entering higher education and the workforce, many young adults will be considering their future and their future career in the coming months.
Office Freedom, the world’s first flexible office broker, has compiled data outlining the future that faces many graduates. The report assesses average first salaries, the proportion of graduates that go into full or part time employment, the best paying degrees, best paying universities, and opportunities for graduates outside of London.
Most graduates will earn less than the average salary, with over half earning less than £30k
Three quarters of students who graduate this year will enter jobs paying less than the UK average salary.
The most recent figures from the Office for National Statistics show a median average earnings of £37,000 across the British workforce. But in our detailed study of graduate pay, Office Freedom has discovered that 75% of those who come through University take up employment in jobs which pay less than that figure.
The Higher Education Statistics Agency compiles data on the outcome of those who have come through university each year, and their analysis reveals a number of trends.
It found that just seven percent of graduates start work in roles which pay £51,000 and above, while only 12 per cent collect £42,000 or more.
Instead, the norm is to enter full time work on wages well under the UK average, with half (52%) earning under £30,000-a-year.
Outcomes are still not equal
While businesses have made a big play about levelling up the gender pay gap, there is clearly still work to do, with the earning power of male graduates still higher than female graduates.
Across every single wage band analysed, the overall outcome for men is better than women. Fifty-seven percent of female graduates take roles paying under £30,000, compared to just 44% of men.
Twenty per cent of male graduates take jobs on £39,000 and above, compared to just 12% of women, and that gap continues to grow with higher wages, where double the amount of men (11%) earn more than £51,000 than their female counterparts (5%).
Not all collect the big money
The earning capability in the first jobs of graduates differs greatly depending on the subject studied, with medicine and dentistry being the courses which lead to the best outcomes on a median salary of £34,950. Veterinary studies are next, and the growing technological industries see courses linked to tech, mathematical science and computing being better for higher starter wages.
Conversely, the media industry’s struggles to monetise in the digital age mean courses studying media, journalism, and communications result in the lowest average wages at £23,975 - which is under a 40-hour-a-week salary under the new national minimum wage.
Performing arts and drama, psychology and – perhaps surprisingly – law are other courses which are not leading to average high wage outcomes upon graduation, with first salaries being around £24,000. However, in the case of law, it is important to note that starting salaries may appear lower as a result of many firms covering the cost of further training or professional qualifications during the initial years of employment.
Full-time successes vary
While youngsters believe university is the best path to employment, not all subjects result in graduates immediately entering full-time work upon completion of their studies. Those reading design, creative and performing arts fare worst, with just 46% securing full-time work. Historical, philosophical and religious studies graduates also struggle (48%), with language and area studies (49%) degrees not converting into full-time employment.
But there is a clear path to work for veterinary graduates, with 79 per cent entering full-time work, followed by architecture, building and planning (71%) and education/teaching (70%).
And it is not all a success story, with unemployment rates highest among those from media/journalism courses and design and creative and performing arts, with seven per cent of graduates unemployed after university.
Higher Education still increases career possibilities
As a step on a career path, going to university does increase the chances of working in a highly skilled role, according to official government labour market statistics. In the most recent figures, from 2023, we can see that 87.7 per cent of graduates of working age (16-64) were in full-time employment. This compares to 69.7 per cent of non-graduates.
The outcome difference is stark when it comes to high-skilled employment across working ages. Only 23.7 per cent of non-graduates were in high-skilled work, compared to 67 per cent of graduates. Outcomes of postgraduates are even better, with 78.9 per cent in high skilled employment in 2023.
In terms of earning capacity, the median salary premium enjoyed by those going through university was £6,500 compared to non-graduates.
However, there was also a median £6,000 gender pay gap between male and female graduates of working age (16-64), emphasising the gap that remains between the genders when it comes to first salaries.
Advantage at a young age
In terms of high-skilled working opportunities, graduates are three times more likely to work in such roles than non-graduates.
Assessing the employment statistics for those aged 21-30, three-quarters of post-graduates (76.4%) were in high-skilled jobs, compared to 60.4% of graduates, and only one of five non-graduates (20.7%) were in high-skilled roles.
More than half of the jobs of non-graduates (51.2%) were classed as medium or low skilled, double the proportion of graduates in similar employment (26.4%).
What’s in a name?
Where you study can have a bearing on the kind of salary you collect, according to the data of the government’s Longitudinal Education Outcomes graduate outcomes study. It looks at the median average salaries five years after graduation, and reveals which institutions are the best for helping to secure the highest paid jobs.
The London School of Economics boasts the best outcome, with a median salary of £55,000. The Capital boasts the top three universities for wage outcomes, with Imperial College, London second (£53,000), ahead of the University of London’s St George’s Hospital Medical School (£47,400).
In the big Varsity battle, it is Cambridge that comes out on top, with the median salary of £46,400 placing fourth on the list, one place and £400-a-year higher than rivals Oxford.
Where the roles vary
Across the sectors in which graduates are working after university, Office Freedom has collated the number of businesses, employees per sector, and turnover of these businesses from the Department of Business and Trade to assess where opportunities may lie around the UK and outside of London.
Since the beginning of the COVID lockdowns, thousands of families have moved out of large towns and cities. This, in turn, has resulted in the creation of thousands of new businesses started from home and in the regions, presenting potential employment opportunities for graduates outside of the Capital, lowering their cost of living and transportation costs, keeping more money in their pockets.
Despite London still being home to many businesses in the sectors graduates go into, the South East has more administrative and support service firms than the Capital, presenting employment opportunities for businesses outside of the Capital. There are also a significant number of businesses in the professional, scientific, and technical sectors in the South East and North West, which could be alternatives for graduates to London after graduation.
Education opportunities lie outside of the Capital
Looking at the number of employees in each of the sectors suggests how large the opportunities are for graduates looking for their first professional job. While employee numbers in the financial and insurance and administrative and support services roles are the highest in London, there are more roles in education in the South East.
Furthermore, by assessing the number of employees per business in each sector it indicates the average size of businesses in each sector across the country. For example, the number of employees in the financial and insurance activities in Scotland is nearly double that of those in London, indicating that the average business is larger in Scotland, which could lead to more and wider employment opportunities for graduates.
In the administrative sector, the East of England has larger average business sizes than the Capital and the North West, potentially leading to more opportunities for graduates in the East of the country.
In the education sector, while most businesses are small, the larger average number of employees per business is in Wales, with 2.6, versus the national average of 1.96. And in the human health and social work sector, London ( 4.96) has a lower average number of employees per business than the national average (5.36). Opportunities appear to lie in the East Midlands (8.12), North West (6.68), East of England (6.59), and West Midlands (6.43).
In arts, entertainment and recreation, London actually has fewer employees per business than any other region in England, and only has more than Scotland. Therefore, any graduates in the arts and entertainment sector may be better looking for opportunities elsewhere in the country than in London.
The average turnover per business demonstrates the size of each business in each region. While businesses in London tend to turnover more than those in other parts of the country, human health and social work businesses have an average turnover greater in the North East, Yorkshire, the East Midlands, and East Anglia than those in London, indicating that there may be greater opportunities for graduates in the sector elsewhere in the country.
Commenting on the report, Richard Smith, CEO and Founder of Office Freedom, said: “Students have an extraordinary number of pressures on them today. With increasing tuition fees, rising costs of living, and stagnant wages after education, all make university education less and less appealing.”
“However, this report demonstrates the value of a university education in the workplace despite all of these headwinds. Despite this, not all university education is created equally. There is still greater earning potential in certain subjects and from certain institutions.”
“For some graduates, there may be better earning opportunities outside of the London bubble, especially in sectors such as admin, support services, education, health and social, the arts, and media, presenting thousands of graduates with different options for post-university work. This could help them lower their cost of living, improve their real-world earning potential, and benefit communities outside of the Capital. Time will tell if graduates flock to the regions for a better quality of life after education.”
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Data sources:
https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/graduates
https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/13-06-2024/sb268-higher-education-graduate-outcomes-statistics/salary
https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/graduate-labour-markets/2023