These are the exact 10 degrees you should study to give you the biggest earnings boost

I have some very bad news if you study politics at London Met


Most uni courses might appear pretty interchangeable, but a new study has found it pays to get very specific on your UCAS form.

Researchers from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, including academics from Cambridge, UCL, and Lancaster, conducted a study and discovered that your specific choice of degree can have a big impact on your earnings later in life.

The study also found that going to elite unis gives you more bang for your buck – with earnings rising sharply for the most selective unis.

Generally, LSE, Oxford, Cambridge, and Imperial are the best unis for high earnings, while medicine, economics and law are the best courses.

At the other end of the scale, politics at London Met had the worst impact on earnings.

The researchers measured excess returns at age 30, compared to the “control” course – history at Sheffield Hallam.

These are the specific degree courses giving grads the highest extra returns:

1. Economics at Cambridge: 127 per cent
2. Business at Oxford: 122.7 per cent
3. Computing at Cambridge: 115.3 per cent
4. Economics at UCL: 108.1 per cent
5. Law at Cambridge: 107.5 per cent
6. Economics at St Andrews: 96.7 per cent
7. Economics at Warwick: 95.9 per cent
8. Economics at Oxford: 94.1 per cent
9. Law at Oxford: 91.7 per cent
10. Medicine at Aberdeen: 88.3 per cent

Related stories recommended by this writer:

Revealed: Five unis have sacked staff for having sexual relationships with students

It’s official: These are the 16 best cities in the UK to be a student

If you studied these degree subjects, you’re the most likely to earn £50k out of uni