Graduates Prioritize Job Prospects in University Decisions

As of September 5th, 2025, students in England are facing an average student loan debt of £53,000, leading them to prioritize job prospects when choosing where and what to study at university. The latest Daily Mail University Guide has made graduate employment the largest factor in its subject rankings, with 40% of the score based on the proportion of graduates securing high-skilled jobs and 20% on whether they feel their careers are on track 15 months after leaving university.

The data reveals that just 107 out of nearly 3,200 subject areas across 78 universities can boast a perfect high-skilled employment record. Unsurprisingly, many of these top-performing courses are in medicine and healthcare, including medicine, dentistry, physiotherapy, nursing, and health sciences. Engineering subjects like chemical, civil, and electrical/electronic engineering also feature prominently among the courses with the best job prospects.

In contrast, 55 subject areas across the country have no universities achieving 100% high-skilled employment, including physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics. Some highly selective Russell Group universities also struggle in certain subjects, such as drama, music, and philosophy. The subjects with the worst graduate job prospects include health studies, social policy, sociology, history, and archaeology.