Grads with university degrees in these 13 subjects make the least money in their first jobs

UK politicians keep arguing over how to reform the student loan system. It’s not a shock that many UK students in 2026 are worrying about whether a university degree is worth the money. The overall median grad salary was £28,500. However, students who studied 13 degree subjects rake in much less than this at their first grown-up jobs. Here’s a look at which degrees are best avoided if you want to be filthy rich (or at the very least, not entirely broke).

The UK university degree subject that will make you the least money is… drum roll please… media, journalism and communications. Well, at least you’ll have the skills required to tell everybody about your bad pay? Surprisingly, law grads weren’t far behind. Although many lawyers end up being flushed with cash, it takes law grads a while to get there. As so many UK students sign up for law degrees, employers can get away with paying paralegals pretty much nothing.

Remember, these stats all refer to the lucky grads who actually managed to get a job. Only 57 per cent of UK university grads are in full-time employment two years later. Yikes.

This data all comes from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). The stats are the weighted median salaries of what the full-time undergrads who left uni in 2023 – then got full-time jobs in the UK – were making by 2025.

So, here are the unlucky 13 degree subjects with the worst grad salaries:

13. Architecture, building and planning – £28,436

12. Subjects allied to medicine – £28,407

11. Business and management – £27,998

10. Geography, earth and environmental studies (as a science subject) – £27,975

You’d really have to like rocks and fossils to pick these subjects

9. Combined and general studies – £27,875

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8. Historical, philosophical and religious studies – £27,470

7. Agriculture, food and related studies – £26,950

6. Language and area studies – £26,725

5. Biological and sport sciences – £25,988

Yup, that sports degree probably was a sh*tty idea

4. Law – £25,305

3. Design and creative performing arts – £24,993

2. Psychology – £24,988

1. Media, journalism and communications – £24,925

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