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The highest paying A Level subjects revealed!

Data has been released showing average annual income in 2016/17 for students who took particular A Level subjects in 2010/11. This shows the top 20:

The dot size is proportional to the number of learners for each A level.

This ranks all A Level subjects:

Data

Here's a link to the study.

A few disclaimers:

- This study does not take into account A Level subject combinations, just individual A Levels
- Obviously taking an A Level just because it "pays well" is silly if you don't have an interest or aptitude for the subject
- The students in this study took their A Levels nearly 10 years ago and a lot could have changed since then!

So while this is interesting data to a lot of people, you shouldn't use it to influence your A Level subject choices.

(edited 4 years ago)

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Reply 1

ajj2000

Original post by Sir Cumference

Data has been released showing average annual income in 2016/17 for students who took particular A Level subjects in 2010/11:

The dot size is proportional to the number of learners for each A level.

Here's the full data:

Data

And a link to the study.

I'll read with fascination. Looks really interesting.

Reply 2

Fazzy_77

Good to know my subjects are towards the upper end.

Reply 3

ajj2000

Where is biology on the charts?

Reply 4

Notnek

Original post by ajj2000

Where is biology on the charts?

In my post I showed all of the subjects if you look down a bit. The image just shows the top 20.

Reply 5

ajj2000

Original post by Sir Cumference

In my post I showed all of the subjects if you look down a bit. The image just shows the top 20.

Many thanks.

Reply 6

Sataris

I guess Russian got all the stem students that year

Reply 7

harrysbar

That data is so meaningless; it suggests it's better to take Home Economics or General Studies rather than English Lit :rolleyes:

Reply 8

Notnek

Original post by harrysbar

That data is so meaningless; it suggests it's better to take Home Economics or General Studies rather than English Lit :rolleyes:

It’s best to ignore subjects that have a very low cohort e.g. home economics had 50 students taking it.

Also it’s silly to use this data to say which subjects are “better”. I’m sure that a lot of people are going to be annoyed by this data (and me for posting it) because it is extremely pro-STEM. I know a lot of teachers are talking about this data and I hadn’t seen it posted on TSR yet so I thought I may as well post it.

Reply 9

harrysbar

Original post by Sir Cumference

Home Economics is listed twice - once with 50 students taking it and once with 260 under Home Economics: Food, Nutrition and Health. General Studies has over 14.500 students taking it and scores highly, but most top unis won't accept it.

The study has triggered me slightly tbh; there's so much opportunity for 16 year olds to take it the wrong way and use it as the basis for an A level choice that may not be the best fit for them.

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 10

Gwil

Next time you're hesitating between Urdu and Panjabi, you'll know that Panjabi has sooooo many more job prospects.

Reply 11

Notnek

Original post by harrysbar

Yes sorry you're right - I didn't see them listed again. General Studies doesn't exist anymore though.

Reply 12

the bear

i thought that the average was a single figure ? here there are long bars.....

:dontknow:

Reply 13

harrysbar

Original post by Sir Cumference

Yes sorry you're right - I didn't see them listed again. General Studies doesn't exist anymore though.

What about Accounting and PE? Are they more sensible subjects to choose than English Lit and History if you want a well paid career?

Reply 14

04MR17

Volunteer Section Leader

D&T represent @CoolCavy :yay:

Reply 15

Notnek

Original post by harrysbar

What about Accounting and PE? Are they more sensible subjects to choose than English Lit and History if you want a well paid career?

No. These stats show average salary for students taking one particular A Level but it ignores the other A Levels that the student has chosen. Also it would be very silly for a student to take e.g. economics just because it is high in the list. Taking a subject doesn't automatically mean you'll be successful - you have to have an interest and aptitude for the subject.

Personally I don't think students should use this data to influence their A Level decisions.

Reply 16

04MR17

Volunteer Section Leader

Original post by harrysbar

What about Accounting and PE? Are they more sensible subjects to choose than English Lit and History if you want a well paid career?

Depends on the career surely? Every situation is different and the appropriate advice is different every time. If someone is completely unsure of what to do in the future then I would advocate history as a student of it myself if they are interested even slightly.

However if somebody else is already taking Maths and tells me they don't like essay based subjects then pointing them towards accounting if it's available to them wouldn't be bad advice either.

Reply 17

harrysbar

Original post by 04MR17

However if somebody else is already taking Maths and tells me they don't like essay based subjects then pointing them towards accounting if it's available to them wouldn't be bad advice either.

It could be bad advice if they didn't check with the unis they are interested in first as some competitive unis don't rate Accounting as an academic subject and even list it as a "non preferred" subject.

http://www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse/Undergraduate/Prospective-Students/How-to-Apply/Admissions-Information

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/undergraduate/application/entry-requirements/preferred-level-subjects

Naturally it depends on the career and the person but that is my whole issue with this study - it seems to be suggesting that taking certain A levels will help you to get a better paid job but it is not as clear cut as that. Students should not be taking this data too seriously and I hope they don't

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 18

Notnek

Original post by harrysbar

It could be bad advice if they didn't check with the unis they are interested in first as some competitive unis don't rate Accounting as an academic subject and even list it as a "non preferred" subject.

http://www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse/Undergraduate/Prospective-Students/How-to-Apply/Admissions-Information

Naturally it depends on the career and the person but that is my whole issue with this study - it seems to be suggesting that taking certain A levels will help you to get a better paid job but it is not as clear cut as that. Students should not be taking this data too seriously and I hope they don't

Also it's important for students to note that the students in this study took their A Levels nearly 10 years ago and a lot will have changed since then.

EDIT : I've added a few disclaimers to the OP.