If you wanted a grad job in 2023, you should have gone to one of these universities

The universities that the UK’s top employers target the most for their graduate student recruitment have just been revealed – and shock, Oxford and Cambridge aren’t that high up the list.

If you go to Manchester, congrats hun because your uni is the one that is targeted by the highest number of top employers, according to Highfliers Graduate Market in 2023 report. It looks at The Times top 100 graduate employers, including everything from Apple and TikTok, to the BBC and Sky, to Deloitte and PwC.

Manchester is followed by Nottingham, Birmingham, Bristol and Warwick rounding out the top five.

These unis saw the most of the top graduate employers at uni careers fairs, careers service promotions and initiatives, on-campus employer presentations, uni-specific virtual events, and other locally-run publicity for this 2022/2023 year.

Cambridge University comes in at number eight, with its rival Oxford at a lowly 11. But if you go to Oxford it’s not all bad news – you came first in this year’s Good University Guide, and also you go to literal Oxford so you’re pretty much set for life.

Of the top 20 unis that are being targeted the most by top employers this year, only one isn’t Russell Group – Bath, coming in at number 16.

St Andrews is second on the Good University Guide but doesn’t feature in the list, and some of the Russell Group universities don’t make the top 20 either – Cardiff, Queen’s Belfast, Liverpool, Newcastle, and York. Awkies if you go to any them. I guess you could go back in time three years and change your UCAS?

Highfliers also found the highest starting salaries for grad jobs at the top 100 graduate employers – click here to see.

These are the unis that are being targeted by the largest number of the UK’s top employers in 2022 – 2023:

1. Manchester

2. Nottingham

3. Birmingham

4. Bristol

5. Warwick

6. Leeds

7. UCL

8. Cambridge

9. Durham

10. Southampton

11. Oxford

12. King’s

13. Exeter

14. LSE

15. Edinburgh

16. Bath

17. Imperial

18. Queen Mary, London

19. Sheffield

20. Glasgow

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• It’s official, these are the highest UK graduate starting salaries in 2023

• These are the Russell Group unis that have banned students from using ChatGPT

• Ranked: The Russell Group unis where students are paying the most in rent