The Russell Group unis where the most students get snapped up for grad jobs in 2024

These are the Russell Group unis to go to in 2024 to maximise your odds of getting good jobs. If you’re planning to apply to unis this autumn, you can either pick one where you are more likely to become a fully functioning adult once you’ve left. Or, if you’re already at a uni, you can have an existential crisis that you made the wrong choices and you’ll be jobless forever xxx

For its annual university league tables, The Guardian worked out what percentage of students at different unis had graduate-level jobs, or were in full time study, within 15 months of graduating.

Good news – the pain of perfecting your personal statement was worth it. Russell Group unis generally do have higher employment rates than other unis. 14 out of the top 20 unis for employment are Russell Group unis.

Queen Mary University of London has by far the lowest employment rates of any Russell Group uni. Just 83.0 per cent of grads had jobs or were in full-time study 15 months after leaving. Maybe the students at Queen Mary were too busy partying in east London to make LinkedIns?

Imperial College London is the Russell Group uni with the highest employment rates in 2024. Imperial is also the Russell Group uni with the highest average graduate salary in 2024. Basically, Imperial is the place to go to if you want to sell your soul to study a STEM degree that will earn you bucketloads of cash after graduating.

Here are the Russell Group unis ranked by what percentage are in graduate-level jobs or further study within 15 months of graduating, in 2024:

24. Queen Mary University of London – 83 per cent

=15. Newcastle University – 86 per cent

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=15. University of Leeds – 86 per cent

=15. University of Manchester – 86 per cent

=15. University of Liverpool – 86 per cent

=15. University of York – 86 per cent

=15. University of Sheffield – 86 per cent

=15. University of Exeter – 86 per cent

=15. University of Edinburgh – 86 per cent

=15. University of Glasgow – 86 per cent

=12. University of Nottingham – 87 per cent

Just look at the pretty picture of Nottingham Uni and pretend that unemployment won’t be a problem
(Credit: Pebble Barling)

=12. University of Southampton – 87 per cent

=12. University of Bristol – 87 per cent

=10. Cardiff University – 88 per cent

=10. University of Birmingham – 88 per cent

=8. King’s College London – 89 per cent

=8. University of Warwick – 89 per cent

=6. Queen’s University Belfast – 90 per cent

=6. University College London (UCL) – 90 per cent

5. Durham University – 91 per cent

=3. London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) – 93 per cent

=3. University of Oxford – 93 per cent

2. University of Cambridge – 94 per cent

1. Imperial College London – 96 per cent

Related articles recommended by this author:

• Feeling down on your luck? These are the easiest UK unis to get into in 2024
• Revealed: These are officially the Russell Group unis with the highest dropout rates in 2024
• The best UK unis to study each subject at in 2024, according to The Guardian’s rankings