Government data finds City graduates outearn peers

Alumni of City, University of London outearn other graduates, according to data based on median earnings released by the British government.

The data – referred to as Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) – looks at employment and earnings outcomes of graduates and postgraduates from English Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) one, three, five and ten years after graduation.

The new data links up tax, benefits, and student loans data and was based on the 2020/21 tax year.

It shows that for graduates of City:

• Median earnings are approximately £7000 above the figure for national HEIs
• Median earnings are approximately £5000 above the figure for London HEIs.

In comparison to institutions nationally and London HEIs, City graduates are earning higher salaries uniformly across all UK regions. This is the first time we’ve seen a breakdown of numbers of graduates working in different regions of the UK.

Subjects including medical sciences, business management, nursing and midwifery and computing performing particularly well.
City alumni who studied computing earned a median £35,400 annually, far above graduates from other institutions. By comparison, the national median salary was £28,100 annually, and £29,200 for graduates from other London institutions.

Medical sciences graduates earned a median £37,200 after studying at City, compared to £31,000 nationally for graduates for other HEIs and £36,400 for graduates from other London HEIs.

City’s business management alumni earned £36,900 – above the nationwide median of £24,300 and the London HEI median of £25,200.

Nursing and midwifery graduates from City earned £36,100. By contrast, the national median salary was £30,700 and the London HEI median salary was £35,300.

City is the University of business, practice and the professions. As an institution, it has a continued focus on employability, as evidenced by the sector-leading Career Activation Programme, which ensures each undergraduate student leaves City having gained work experience and taken an employability-focused module, and the micro-placements programme, which offers opportunities for students to explore careers different from those traditionally associated with their degree.

Dr Sionade Robinson, Vice-President (Enterprise, Engagement & Employability) said:

City is the University of business, practice and the professions. We have a unique student base, many of which are first generation students or communities that are typically underrepresented in higher education.

We are proud to see that these alumni are going on to outearn their peers after graduating with a degree from City.

Social mobility is core to City’s ethos. The University has a robust programme for widening participation among students typically underrepresented in higher education, starting with outreach activities in local primary schools.

While at University, City students have access to scholarships and awards. The support network City Cares is dedicated to helping care experienced students, estranged students, young adult carers, refugees and asylum seekers throughout their studies.

These same groups of students have priority access to the Professional Mentoring Scheme, which matches up students with a successful professional in a field the student is interested in pursuing, and helps students build their professional network.

City has been recognised for this work: the University was ranked 9th in the UK by the English Higher Education Social Mobility Index 2022, 38th in the UK for its proportion of care leavers by a report from Civitas using Hesa data, 17th in England for its proportion of first generation students and 2nd in England for the racial diversity of its student population by The Times 'Good University Guide' 2024.