UCL ranks first in London and 20th globally for graduate employability

Moral of the story – go to UCL


The 2022 QS graduate employability ranking has ranked UCL among the top 20 universities worldwide. UCL is ranked fourth in Europe, third in the UK – behind Oxbridge – and first in London.

From the 679 universities which are part of the rankings, UCL is placed in the top four percent, moving up two spaces from its place at 22nd in 2020.  If you keep scrolling down, you can find Imperial (30th), LSE (48th) and King’s (68th), among other London unis.

The QS rankings are designed as a tool to compare graduate employability outcomes and job prospects based on the university. It includes five main indicators: employer reputation, alumni outcomes, partnerships with employers per faculty, employer and student connections and graduate employment rate.

UCL does particularly well for employer reputation, with a score of 98.7, and alumni outcomes, with a score of 92.4.

A recent study by the Office of Students (2021) showed that there are also differences in graduate employability depending on the subject you study. For instance, 95.5% students studying medicine and dentistry go on to find a graduate level job or further study 15 months after graduating, compared to only 48.1% students studying social policy, sociology and anthropology.

The study also indicated that in many cases the university attended is more influential than the subject studied for graduates searching for employment.

UCL ranks eighth globally on the QS World University Rankings, placing  graduates in a better position than many when facing the post-covid job market.

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