Want to be minted? These Russell Group unis have the fastest rising grad salaries

You may have rambled on your application about your love of academic, but let’s be real. You picked a Russell Group uni because your teachers told you this would make you richer. The grad salaries for the different Russell Group unis are rising at very different rates. Some grads seem to be very in-demand, while some are in their flop era.

Now, if a UK uni has a surprisingly low median grad salary, that doesn’t (necessarily) mean it’s rubbish. Universities in places where people are generally paid more (such as London) have a bit of an advantage. Some unis specialise in STEM subjects (such as Imperial College London, LSE and the Uni of Warwick). Grads who take science courses often end up earning more.

The Russell Group uni with the fastest rising median grad salary is the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Students who left in 2023 are getting paid 29.4 per cent more than the students who left five years ago were. The average LSE grad now rakes in a whopping £38,300. Clearly, these students had the economic sense to pick an up-and-coming uni.

At the other end, Glasgow, Durham and Imperial College London grads are barely making more money than the 2018 leavers did. Yikes.

These numbers refer to the median salaries  one year on of undergrads and postgrads who left uni in 2018, then five years later in 2023.  The figures come from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). It’s the most up-to-date stats on grad salaries out there. I didn’t forget about Queen’s University Belfast – data for it is collected differently to the other Russell Group unis.

So, here are the Russell Group unis ranked by how much the grad salaries are rising:

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23. Imperial College London

14.0 per cent increase from £34,300 to £39,100.

22. University of Glasgow

15.4 per cent increase from £23,400 to £27,000.

21. Durham University

16.3 per cent increase from £24,500 to £28,500.

20. University of Liverpool

16.9 per cent increase from £21,900 to £25,600.

19. University of Bristol

Some Bristol grads with excellent timing

17.6 per cent increase from £24,500 to £28,800.

18. University of Nottingham

17.6 per cent increase from £24,500 to £28,800.

17. Newcastle University

17.9 per cent increase from £22,300 to £26,300.

16. University of Birmingham

18.4 per cent increase from £23,400 to £27,700.

15. Queen Mary University of London

18.6 per cent increase from £23,700 to £28,100.

14. University of Exeter

19.3 per cent increase from £22,300 to £26,600.

13. University of York

York looking vibey

20.1 per cent increase from £21,900 to £26,300.

12. University of Sheffield

21.1 per cent increase from £22,300 to £27,000.

11. King’s College London (KCL)

21.2 per cent increase from £27,400 to £33,200.

10. University of Manchester

21.2 per cent increase from £22,600 to £27,400.

9. University of Southampton

21.8 per cent increase from £23,400 to £28,500.

8. University of Edinburgh

Edinburgh Uni students looking cold

22.6 per cent increase from £22,600 to 27,700.

7. University of Warwick

22.8 per cent increase from £25,900 to £31,800.

6. University of Leeds

23.3 per cent increase from £21,900 to £27,000.

5. University College London (UCL)

23.3 per cent increase from £26,600 to £32,800.

4. Cardiff University

23.7 per cent increase from £21,500 to £26,600.

3. University of Oxford

23.7 per cent increase from £27,400 to £33,900.

2. University of Cambridge

24.3 per cent increase from £28,800 to £35,800.

1. The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

29.4 per cent increase from £29,600 to £38,300.

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