Where you’ll be able to afford to live in London based on what you study

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. You were meant to get a solid 2:1, spend the summer before your graduate scheme finding yourself in Vietnam and then move to the city to start your swanky post-grad life.

Two weeks into postgrad and chill you realise reality means you’ll be closer to Watford than Covent Garden. You won’t be in a fancy glass building, but the box room in a house probably worse than the one you lived in as a student. Soon you’ll be spending your time wondering how the Piccadilly Line can be delayed again, or whether being at the end of the line even counts as living in London.

Still not put off the idea of being the uni stereotype? Well, just like the rest of your life, how miserable your postgrad position is usually depends on what you studied at uni.  This is where you’ll probably end up based on how much you’ll be earning post graduation.

Tap or click to interact with the map

Accounting and Finance – East Finchley

At uni you thought you’d be walking home from your grad job in The City, but really we all know no one actually lives there. You’ll end up in a borough scraping together enough cash for that new print from Ikea to decorate your box room. Yeah you’ll be on the Northern Line, but you’ll also be in Zone 3. This depressing reality is a metaphor for the rest of your life, but at least you have being rich to look forward to.

Communication and Media – Newham

You had dreams of working for a vibesy tech company, freelancing for Vice and living in Shoreditch. In reality you’ll be earning one of the lowest postgrad wages so you can forget Zone 1 and even Zone 2. The best you can expect is Upton Park with the only upside being close to West Ham.

Architecture – South Ruislip

You’re on the Central Line but you’re definitely not central. People will constantly ask if you actually live in London. Suddenly all the hard work you put into your degree just isn’t paying off.

Business and Management – Stoke Newington

Riding the Piccadilly Line everyday is definitely not worth burning through your wage to pay rent, but you’ll do it anyway because it’s relatively near Kings Cross and that’s the only bit of London you really know about. Soon you’ll be the middle class parent pushing high-tech pram past another organic shop you walk past every morning.

History – Hackney 

You’ll desperately try to justify where you live by telling everyone it’s the new Shoreditch. It isn’t. Westfield isn’t too far so you can buy that shirt you’ll inevitably try to pass off as vintage. Just like your course, sometimes you’ll find Hackney genuinely interesting and others you’ll be wondering why you didn’t just move to Manchester.

Biological Sciences – North Wembley 

You didn’t get into medicine and you didn’t get into London either. Just like your degree, no one really wants to live in Wembley but somehow they end up there anyway. Just like you weren’t bitter about failing to become a doctor, you definitely won’t be bitter about being in Zone 4.

Economics – Brixton

Brixton is getting pretty posh so your Mum doesn’t need to panic when she helps you move in your framed certificates. You’ve suddenly ended up in an area where everyone is so much cooler than you and you’ll quickly start telling people that you work at a startup and not in the only subject you could think to apply to on UCAS.

English – High Barnet

You’re so far north you’ll start to wonder if you’re now a northerner. At least you’ll be able to read that book on your massive commute or, like your degree, spend it doing nothing.

Engineering – Camden

Just like your social life, Camden is dead. The only people to go there are tourists or goths who both end up in Cyberdog. You’ll be paying nearly a grand for the privilege of living in an area that’s got a tragic “used to be cool” vibe. You were desperate to escape your fleece clad course mates in search of someone cooler, but you couldn’t have got it more wrong. Visiting your nan in the Midlands has never been easier though – it’s only two stops to St Pancras.

Mathematics – Wimbledon

People will only want to visit you when the tennis is on and that’s if you’re lucky. Because you studied Maths you’ll be desperate to prove that can actually have a good time, but Wimbledon just isn’t the place to try this. You’re the end of the line in more ways than one.

Philosophy – Forest Hill

Not quite cool enough for Peckham, not quite clueless enough for Camden. You’ll be surrounded by likeminded people and will go out for drinks with Greenpeace employees. At least you’ll be pretty minted.

Optometry – Hatton Cross

Where?

Geology – Greenwich

Literally no one in Greenwich is proud of living near the O2. Just like your dreams, the only part of central London you’ll actually see is the skyline in the distance. Being clever enough to swing travel as your degree doesn’t mean you’re clever enough for the London rental market. Your love for rocks is as boring as the area you live in.