June 13, 2017, by Liz Cass

Nottingham graduates earn above-average salaries according to new data

Graduates from the University of Nottingham are earning more and could be progressing faster up the career ladder according to government data.

The Department for Education has released data to show how much UK graduates of 22 different courses are earning one, three, five and ten years since graduating.

The Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) data released today (13 June 2017) uses tax, benefits and student loans data to compile employment and salary information.

In 14 of the subjects included in the data Nottingham graduates have earnings at least £3,000 above the average for all universities.

In 15 of the subjects the data shows that the rank of the median salary for Nottingham graduates improves between one and five years after graduation, in some cases by over 10 places. This suggests that graduates from the University of Nottingham progress in their careers faster than graduates from other universities.

Top earners included graduates in medicine, economics and mathematical sciences who commanded average earnings of £48,500, £47,900 and £39,400 respectively after five years. Nottingham ranked 4th, 9th and 8th for high earners in these subjects across all universities.

The top ranked subjects were English, Medicine, and Social Studies where the earnings of Nottingham graduates after five years were ranked in 3rd, 4th and 5th when compared to all universities.

Dr Paul Greatrix, Registrar at the University of Nottingham said: “It is encouraging to see a healthy rise in average salary for Nottingham graduates between one and five years after graduation.  Median earnings vary between subjects, as would be expected, but it is good to see Nottingham’s graduates faring very well compared with graduates from other universities across nearly all our subjects”

The University of Nottingham has long been recognised for the calibre of its graduates. It is the best university in the UK for graduate employment, according to the 2017 The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide and has been cited as one of the best universities for finding graduate recruits.

It is also ranked in the world top 60 universities for employability by the QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2017.

Acting Director of the Russell Group Dr Tim Bradshaw said: “University is about more than future earnings but this will be a factor for many young people who are considering their options.

“We know employers value our graduates. These figures suggest that they are willing to pay a premium for them too. Russell Group graduates benefit from high average incomes after they leave university.

“From psychology to social sciences and law and from computer sciences to engineering and physical science, Russell Group universities outperform in the graduate earnings table. Russell Group universities occupy the top 11 places in the graduate earnings table for law. In maths, our members occupy the top eight places. There is a similar pattern in other subject areas too.

“This is only the first year of LEO data but it is clear this resource will be useful for applicants who want to know how their choice of university will affect their income.”

LEO looks at data from graduates from 2008/9 to 2012/13. There are a number of caveats around using the figures including the difference the region graduates live in makes on the salary levels, the fact that the data is raw and uncontrolled, based on historic figures and not comprehensive.

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