The Student Room Group

Oxford's E&M tops the subject earnings table! Birkbeck's Economics is 4th.

Data from the government's Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) project has just been released and now enables us to see long-term graduate outcomes by subject and by university.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/graduate-outcomes-for-all-subjects-by-university

One key measure (amongst many!) is the typical earnings for graduates after 5 years.

Here's the Top 10 subjects/universities for graduate earnings*:

1. Oxford : Business (E&M) : £71,700
2. Oxford : Law : £61,400
3. Cambridge : Economics : £61,000
4. Birkbeck : Economics : £60,200
5. LSE : Economics : £55,200
6. Cambridge : Law : £54,700
7. Warwick : Economics : £52,000
8. Imperial : CompSci : £51,800
9. Cambridge : CompSci : £51,300
10= Bath : Economics : £51,200
10= Oxford : Economics (PPE) : £51,200

*Ranked by median graduate PAYE earnings measured 5 years after completing the course.

Oxford and Cambridge both have 3 courses in the Top 10. Birkbeck makes a strong appearance, knocking LSE into 5th place.

I'll be including some more LEO analysis in this thread shortly :smile:

In the meantime the guys at Wonkhe are doing a great job of presenting the data:
http://wonkhe.com/blogs/live-longitudinal-education-outcomes-data-released/
(edited 6 years ago)

Scroll to see replies

The fact Birkbeck and Bath is on the list surprises me (especially Birkbeck) as Birkbeck and Bath are both the only non-russel groups which reach the top 10 threshold + Birkbeck isn't as well known as most universities so it's very interesting to see that it actually appears on the list.
Do most of these guys go into like investing banking? Maybe law too.
It's worth looking at the "no sustained destination " percentages too. The earnings are only those graduates in PAYE employment. For some of these subjects/universities the numbers unemployed are surprisingly high.
Reply 4
Original post by PQ
It's worth looking at the "no sustained destination " percentages too. The earnings are only those graduates in PAYE employment. For some of these subjects/universities the numbers unemployed are surprisingly high.


Yes and the data also excludes non PAYE earners - eg grads who leave the UK and work abroad.

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Doonesbury
The latest data from the government's LEO project has just been released and now enables us to see typical graduate earnings* by subject and by university.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/graduate-outcomes-for-all-subjects-by-university

The Top 10 subject/universities for graduate earnings* are:

1. Oxford : Business (E&M) : £71,700
2. Oxford : Law : £61,400
3. Cambridge : Economics : £61,000
4. Birkbeck : Economics : £60,200
5. LSE : Economics : £55,200
6. Cambridge : Law : £54,700
7. Warwick : Economics : £52,000
8. Imperial : CompSci : £51,800
9. Cambridge : CompSci : £51,300
10= Bath : Economics : £51,200
10= Oxford : Economics : £51,200

*Ranked by median graduate earnings measured 5 years after completing the course.

Oxford and Cambridge both have 3 courses in the Top 10. Birkbeck makes a strong appearance, knocking LSE into 5th place.

I'll be including some more LEO analysis in this thread shortly :smile:

In the meantime the guys at Wonkhe have done a great job:
http://wonkhe.com/blogs/live-longitudinal-education-outcomes-data-released/


The Oxford Law premium is interesting. I wonder whether that's because of highly-paying American firms showing a preference for Oxford graduates?
Reply 6
Original post by Reality Check
The Oxford Law premium is interesting. I wonder whether that's because of highly-paying American firms showing a preference for Oxford graduates?


Law earnings chart (via Wonkhe)

Attachment not found


(Gah! sorry about attachment problems. Go to http://wonkhe.com/blogs/live-longitudinal-education-outcomes-data-released/#comparing-subjects-engineering-english-history-languages-and-law )
(edited 6 years ago)
Reply 7
Subject rankings are particularly interesting.

Top Engineering salaries were at Scottish universities, almost certainly due to Oil&Gas.

1. Aberdeen
2. Robert Gordon University
3. Oxford
4. University of Highlands and Islands
5. Cambridge
6. Bournemouth
7. Imperial
8. Leicester
9. Open University
10. Bath

(Chart via Wonkhe)

Attachment not found
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by squirrology
The fact Birkbeck and Bath is on the list surprises me (especially Birkbeck) as Birkbeck and Bath are both the only non-russel groups which reach the top 10 threshold + Birkbeck isn't as well known as most universities so it's very interesting to see that it actually appears on the list.


I'm a uni applicant for this last cycle (2017 entry) and I thought Birkbeck was some American college before this thread :colondollar:
Original post by SteamboatMickey
I'm a uni applicant for this last cycle (2017 entry) and I thought Birkbeck was some American college before this thread :colondollar:


:erm: wowww

Posted from TSR Mobile
Reply 10
Original post by SteamboatMickey
I'm a uni applicant for this last cycle (2017 entry) and I thought Birkbeck was some American college before this thread :colondollar:


It's part of UoL and specialises in part-time/evening learning.

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by SteamboatMickey
I'm a uni applicant for this last cycle (2017 entry) and I thought Birkbeck was some American college before this thread :colondollar:

Really??? :lol:
What's "Oxford: Economics"? Oxford only offers E&M or PPE at undergrad. Are they referring to PPE? It specifically says this is undergraduate courses.
(edited 6 years ago)
Reply 13
Original post by nexttime
What's "Oxford: Economics"? Oxford only offers E&M or PPE at undergrad. Are they referring to PPE? It specifically says this is undergraduate courses.


It's PPE. E&M is in the Business subject category.
Loads of uncertainty in the numbers and I'm sure its nowhere near statistically significant but still: Interesting that psychology is the second highest group in sustained employment (above even medicine) whereas economics and computer science are 3rd and 4th lowest.
Reply 15
Original post by nexttime
Loads of uncertainty in the numbers and I'm sure its nowhere near statistically significant but still: Interesting that psychology is the second highest group in sustained employment (above even medicine) whereas economics and computer science are 3rd and 4th lowest.


After 5 years?

And yes it's certainly worth keeping in mind this is "experimental" data. A key problem also is the course classifications aren't properly standardised yet.

Posted from TSR Mobile
Reply 16
It's hardly surprising re:Birkbeck. Most of the graduates are not going to be regular undergrads. They're likely to be much older, have a decade or two experience, and already in a job on reasonable pay, so there's no reason to assume they'd be leaving on less.
Original post by Doonesbury
Law earnings chart (via Wonkhe)

Attachment not found


(Gah! sorry about attachment problems. Go to http://wonkhe.com/blogs/live-longitudinal-education-outcomes-data-released/#comparing-subjects-engineering-english-history-languages-and-law )


Interesting, cheers ^^
Reply 18
Original post by Trinculo
It's hardly surprising re:Birkbeck. Most of the graduates are not going to be regular undergrads. They're likely to be much older, have a decade or two experience, and already in a job on reasonable pay, so there's no reason to assume they'd be leaving on less.


It's also earnings from only 10 graduates.
Reply 19
Original post by Doonesbury
It's also earnings from only 10 graduates.


Lol.

"Does anyone here in this lecture theatre already have a good job? You work for HMRC? You're an actuary? Couple of middle managers.....great. Do you mind filling out these survey forms please?"