Graduate pay

A survey of 100 major employers, by High Fliers Research, says there will be a 9% rise in graduate recruitment this year, about 1,400 extra jobs. Many will go to people who have already worked for the company, either on work experience or via a placement. Average starting salaries are £29,000 a year, with investment banks averaging £45,000 and law firms £39,000. The European Commission and the supermarket chain Aldi, both offer rates of about £41,000.

 

Two-thirds of the employers surveyed had paid work-experience programmes, with more than 11,000 paid placements for first and second-year undergraduates. In all, 37% of this year's entry-level positions are going to people who have already worked with the organisations in some capacity. The largest graduate recruiter is the charity Teach First, who have 1,550 vacancies followed by PwC (1,200 vacancies) and Deloitte (1,000 vacancies).

Martin Birchall, managing director of High Fliers Research, said: "This very significant increase in graduate vacancies at Britain's top employers means the job prospects for graduates leaving university this year are the best they've been since the start of the recession seven years ago."

 

Please note that High Flyers only deal with major employers and the vast majority of graduates will not work for them. Nationally, about 1:10 graduates are believed to be out of work six months after leaving university, according to HESA. Among those who graduated in 2012, average wages were £21,000 a year for men and £19,000 for women, around a third of graduates were working in sectors that did not require a degree.