Best Universities for Job Prospects 2021

Harper Adams’ industry focus is unparalleled and as such their course design is centred around highly applicable teaching material. Their reputation with employers is exceptional and they have a 99.4% employment rate. The average salary five years after graduation, according to LEO data for the 201819 tax year, is £28,800, higher than the unadjusted median average graduate of £27,400. The focused course selection may help produce highly-specialised graduates with a high value to potential employers, resulting in Harper Adams being the number 1 university for job prospects.

Cambridge students are highly sought after in the graduate market, continually ranking highly in the annual Graduate Market survey. A combination of teaching style and extracurricular activities make Cambridge students some of the most employable graduates in the world. Cambridge regularly sits in the top 10 in the LEO data, with an average salary of £41,600 after five years of graduation. 

Loughborough University is no.1 in the UK for employer-student connections and within the top 20 globally and has excellent industry links  in many areas which leads to a high employment rate in graduate level roles of 84%. A supportive careers team strive to aid students with their future employment. They are always on the lookout for new employers and arrange huge careers fair events where students can learn more about a variety of roles and interact with different potential employers to expand their options.        

Students frequently report of great job prospects which is backed up by an average graduate salary of £36,100 within five years of leaving. Warwick has a respectable 93% of graduates from their first degrees in work or further study. They have skill workshops, employers’ events on campus and active volunteering programs to help students gain critical experience.

Imperial College London’s graduate average salary after 5 years of work is extremely high at £47,800 and is one of the highest in the UK. Approximately 90% of graduates find work or continue into further study after completing their first degree. Alumni frequently report of great job opportunities in engineering and medical sectors. During the third year of mechanical engineering, students have the option to include a six-month placement to gain real experience and skills.

The University of Liverpool has a respectable average graduate salary after 5 years of leaving of £29,900. Their employment rate (including graduates who continue to study) sits at 88% and rises to 95% for UK students. They have a robust careers service – offering interview practise, career workshops and modules often containing real world activities; for example, modules which task students to set up a business with real money and suppliers. Students also seem very positive about the university helping them ‘follow their dreams and future career!’

The graduate outcomes for Robert Gordon University show that six months after leaving university, 97.6% of graduates are in work or further study. The graduate salary is above the UK average at £27,400. Alumni have said they felt well prepared for world of work due to the great career team and tutors. Placements are also offered in whichever area the undergraduates wish to pursue which allows plenty of flexibility.

The University of St Andrews’ graduates do notably well in the job market and after five years have an average salary of £33,900. 94.9% of graduates secure jobs or continue to study after leaving the university. Students often comment on how the great courses help to set them up for future careers and the great prospects in a diverse array of sectors.

The University of East Anglia’s average graduate salary after 5 years is £28,800 which is £2,900 above average. Their graduate job programme partners with local employers to allows undergraduates to experience full assessment centres and their CareerCentral team offers one-to-one guidance to help achieve internships/graduate jobs. Students often comment that a strong career focus is integrated into the modules from year one and weekly employability sessions help students set goals to explore and achieve a variety of different career paths.

Nottingham Trent University boasts an extremely high employment rate where 75% of graduates are in graduate-level employment or graduate-entry education/ training within fifteen months of graduating. The average salary five years after leaving NTU is £27,000, higher than the national average for graduates, which is particularly impressive considering the large number of vocational courses offered by the university. Students leaving StudentCrowd reviews frequently say that the university provides a lot of careers support and the modules are designed to provide students with the ‘essential skills, knowledge and experience for their future.

The graduate outcomes for the University of Nottingham show that six months after leaving university, 96.5% of graduates are in work or further study. The careers service, combined with Unitemps, offer a variety of new opportunities on campus throughout the year which establishes a simple system where employers can connect with university students. Placement opportunities and research projects in combination with the Nottingham Advantage Award programme, which offers modules to further enhance your employability, job prospects are great, with the average salary after five years being £33,200.

Aston University boasts a graduate salary after five years of £33,400 which is well above the UK average and the 20th largest median salary five years after graduation*. 83% of Aston University graduates either find work or continue with further study after leaving university. Aston University’s Careers and Placements team goes above and beyond to support undergrads and graduates through the job-hunting process. They have a particular focus on the added value of the placement year and many students benefit from a £1,000 scholarship to support their placement in the UK or abroad.  Students have said that Aston’s ‘first priority is employability’, the team provide tailored guidance and enhanced curriculum input alongside broader recruitment support; CV writing, interview preparation and applications.

Glasgow Caledonian University has a wide range of accreditations, placement opportunities and industry links which help our students achieve positive graduate outcomes. 91% of GCU’s UK first degree graduates were in sustained employment, further study, or both one year after graduation, amongst the highest rate in Scotland. At this stage, median earnings of our UK first degree graduates were also above the Scottish median in the majority of subjects offered by the University (LEO data, 2021). GCU organises many guest talks involving employers and graduates in industry which helps students network and widen their understanding of different jobs and sectors. It has an enterprise hub for students and staff and a leading Institute for University to Business Education.

95.9% of The University of Glasgow’s graduates either continue with further education or have a job within six months of leaving. The careers team provide a variety of training in addition to the regular courses to help improve undergraduate’s employability resulting in the average salary after five years of graduation is £29,900. Students regularly comment on the large number of prospects after graduation. 

Newcastle University features an average graduate salary of £32,500 after five years of work and 95% of graduates find work or continue study six months after leaving. The helpful careers support offer one-to-one sessions with professional career advisors, drop-in CV clinics, unique online resources and a large range of skill development workshops which all improve employability. Students frequently write about the good prospects which the university assists with, allowing good future foundations to be laid out. 

96% of Keele University's graduates are in employment or further education after their first degree, with an average salary after five years of £28,500. The careers and employability team host events where undergraduates can meet employers, they have careers consultants and information on hand and also have a database with a vast array of jobs. Some students have written that there are particularly excellent job prospects in the business and law areas.

After five years of work Staffordshire University graduates earn on average £23,000. This average salary may be lower then the national average due to the large number of vocational courses studied at Staffordshire University. The tutors are supportive and great job prospects can be achieved by either doing a standard or 2-year fast track degree. 

Bath University students are high in demand in the graduate job market and as a result 89% of graduates go into jobs of continue to study within six months of leaving. After five years of work their graduates go on to earn an average of £37,700 which is notably higher than the UK average. 65% of Bath’s undergraduates who completed their course in the 2017/18 academic year went on a placement or study year abroad. Their careers services arranges for up to 400 employers to attend the university annually during events to help their undergraduate’s jobs search.

95% of Norwich University of the Arts(NUA) students went onto employment or further their education within six months after leaving the university. Their £21,500 average salary (after 5 years of graduation) is on the lower end and less than the UK average, however this may be attributed to the vocational nature of the courses offered at NUA. Students say the creative jobs board at NUA provide all the guidance you’d ever need and also offer a useful job vacancy database.

Swansea University’s careers team offers employability courses, events, skills training and virtual drop-in sessions to help provide undergraduates with experience and prepare them for the world of work. 88.7% of Leavers are in employment and/or further study, 15 months after completing a course with us and the most popular annual salary is between £24,000 and £26,999 (Graduate Outcomes Survey 17/18). Students also say that the courses provide ‘good tools for work life’ which is crucial to the employability of graduates.