It’s official: You’ll earn way less money if you get a 2.2

Come on just try a biiiiit harder and you’ll be fine


Here’s some news you probably didn’t want to hear as you desperately try to salvage your dissertation: you’ll officially earn way less money if you graduate with a 2.2 or below.

New research by the uni stats boffins at HESA has found the graduate premium – or earnings increase from doing a degree – sharply decreases for grads who fall short of the vaunted 2.1.

Grads born in 1990 who graduated with a first or 2.1 earned 14 per cent more than non-graduates by the time they were 26, the study showed.

Guttingly, grads from the same cohort with a 2.2 or below only earned three per cent more than non-grads.

The new data shows the penalty for missing out on a 2.1 has sharply increased. Grads born in 1970 who got a 2.2 or below earned 14 per cent more than non-grads by 26, but for those born in 1990 this figure fell to three per cent.

Intent on delivering even more gut-punches, HESA also revealed that the disadvantage of getting a 2.2 has increased. Over time, the relative benefit of hitting the 2.1 as opposed to languishing on a 2.2 has increased by “up to eight percentage points”.

Good news for anyone settling with a 2.1 though: the benefit of getting a first over a 2.1 has actually decreased by “up to three percentage points.”

I think you can tell what the moral of the story here is.

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