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What are the highest paying degrees?

Which degrees give you the best chance of earning a high salary once you’ve graduated? We’ve ranked the top 15 highest paying degrees in the UK.

Healthcare students studying.

When it comes to choosing a degree, plenty will come into consideration. 

Of course, you’ll want to pick a subject that you’re passionate about and have a real interest in, but another common consideration is how much you’ll earn after graduating. 

Undertaking a university degree is a considerable investment, so it’s important that your qualification will also have tangible results in terms of income when you go into professional work. 

Not least, because most of us will spend a good chunk of our working lives paying off the student loans we took out. The good news is that these two things – enjoying your studies and earning a good salary – are not mutually exclusive. You can have both! 

What’s important is choosing your degree wisely; a degree that balances both sides of this tricky coin. 

But which subjects result in the highest paying jobs?

Well, we at FutureLearn have put together a guide of the highest paying degrees, that’ll offer the best graduate salary, as well as the skills you’d need to excel in each of the roles. 

Which graduates have the highest paying jobs?

According to Glassdoor, the average graduate salary in the UK ranges from £22,000 – £43,000, meaning you have the chance to earn twice as much as those in your cohort, depending on the role you take after graduating – but who is leading the way? 

Analysing the most recent graduate outcome surveys from HESA, we have determined the degrees with the highest earning potential for those going into high skill roles. 

2. Medicine and Dentistry – £34,950

Dentistry and Medicine degrees are the highest paying and have been for some years, with an average starting salary of £34,950, with high earning potentials in the fields .

NHS dentists who progress through training will earn between £49,909 and £61,825 a year, while a salaried NHS dentist can make up to £108,038 annually. 

NHS consultant dentists will be on an even higher salary, with an earning potential of up to £131,946. Working in the private sector will put you on an even higher salary.

Meanwhile, resident doctors in their foundation training will earn a basic salary of £36,616 to £42,008. If you go on to be a specialty doctor in the NHS, you can earn from £59,175 to £95,400, while a specialist grade doctor will earn a salary between £96,990 and £107,155. 

Consultants can earn between £105,504 and £139,882 per year, and just like in dentistry, private sector healthcare providers tend to pay even higher salaries than the National Health Service. 

Although medicine and dentistry degrees are longer than the usual undergraduate degrees, the high earning potential can make this field worthwhile to anyone interested in having a fruitful career helping others, as well as those looking for a good pension for retirement. 

2. Veterinary science – £32,750

If you love animals and animal welfare, being a vet could be the right career for you. Graduates who studied veterinary science started off with an annual salary of £32,750.

Looking further into your career, data suggests that the average vet in the UK earns £45,000 per year, while experienced and specialist vets can earn over £80,000.

These roles will be suited to anyone with a particular love for all animals but also someone who is able to remain calm in stressful situations, use their judgement to make decisions and work well with their hands.

You’ll also need customer service skills and excellent communication skills to work in the profession as you’ll also have to deal with humans as well as pets!

3. Maths – £31,888

From banking and accounting to IT, engineering and teaching, there are plenty of opportunities out there for those with a Maths degree. Wth Glassdoor reporting an averaging starting salary of £33,738 per year, there’s also plenty of room to increase in the sector depending on your role. 

If you are mathematically gifted, a degree in mathematics will not only be rewarding but will pay well too. Those looking at this degree should be accurate with numbers, able to handle advanced numeracy and analyse large datasets.

This could also be a great degree for you if you’re interested in analysing and interpreting data, finding patterns and drawing conclusions, while also approaching problems in an analytical way with adept logical thinking.

4. Engineering and technology – £30,998

Engineers are highly sought after in the modern world. Those looking to begin an engineering degree will have a range of engineering specialisms to choose from including:

  • civil engineering (designing society’s infrastructure and transport systems) 
  • manufacturing (designing the machines that produce consumer and industrial products)
  • electronics (building, maintaining and repairing electrical systems from households to big business) 
  • aeronautics (working on planes and aviation)

As an engineer, you will never be short of work. Technology moves rapidly however, and you will need to keep up to speed with learning new skills in your field of engineering over the course of your career. 

Those looking at the degree should have maths skills, a comprehensive understanding of science and physics, as well as strong logical thinking and analytical skills. 

You’ll come across plenty of opportunities for team work, and creative problem solving in these roles – so skills in these areas would be a bonus. 

There is huge opportunity in the space to develop, with experienced chemical engineers earning up to £65,000 according to the National Career Service. There are also additional industry qualifications that you can take, such as becoming a chartered engineer, that can boost your pay further.

5. Computer sciences – £30,975

Now here’s a degree for the modern age: computer science degrees. Just below their maths and engineering counterparts, computer science graduates will start off on the same average salary of £30,975, and will have a multitude of employers and industries to choose from. 

IT companies will always need computing experts. Today, most – if not all – companies in the world need IT professionals, whether they provide hardware and systems support to users in an office, or behind the scenes providing cyber security for an organisation’s network. 

Suited for those with skills in programming, understanding algorithms and data, and software development, the degree will also help you develop soft skills such as communication, adaptability and analytical thinking. Those in the subject should also look at developing their AI skills, as an increasing number of computing jobs require AI knowledge. 

6. Social sciences – £29,998

Social science is the study of people, societies and behaviours. The most common social science degrees are sociology and anthropology, but career paths after studying these subjects diverge hugely. While some people remain in academia, going onto working in research, lecturing or authoring books, many pursue careers in other fields such as law, social work, journalism, community development or even the creative arts. 

Whatever field you enter, the average starting salary for a social science graduate is £29,998, and you’ll have picked up foundational knowledge about human societies that will set you up with a genuine understanding of why the world works as it does.

Degrees in this field will suit those with skills in researching, critical thinking, problem solving and most of all, communication. 

7. Physical sciences – £29,955

Studying physics or chemistry at university level, you will certainly have earned your degree. Physics provides theories and solutions for hugely important questions both on planet earth and beyond into the solar system. 

As a physicist or astrophysicist you could end up teaching the subject at school or university, or even working for NASA or the UK Space Agency. Chemistry, meanwhile, leads to discoveries that are vital for human health and industrial development.

Physical sciences require great intellect and a passion for understanding confounding things like gravity, geology and propulsion. You’ll need research and analytical skills while being able to present and communicate complex ideas in a straightforward way.

As a graduate, you will start on a salary of around £29,995, which will increase to around £45,000 in your first ten years. 

8. Combined and general studies – £28,454 

A hugely broad subject area, if you study general or combined studies you’ll have the chance to customise your degree. With the ability to combine courses, you can create a learning plan that is completely unique to you. 

This will allow you to gain plenty of transferable skills to take into a plethora of jobs, and show any potential employers that you’re incredibly adaptable. 

Graduates with this degree can expect to see a starting salary of £28,454 according to HESA data. 

9. Education and teaching – £28,000

There’s plenty you can do with a teaching degree, from teaching to social work, there are endless opportunities when it comes to working and supporting children and teen’s development. 

With an average starting salary of £28,000, once gaining a qualified teacher status (QTS), you’ll get a minimum starting salary of £31,650, according to Get Into Teaching. Graduates can expect to earn at least £43,607 (or more if based in London) after 5 years of working. 

You’ll also get more holiday than the average worker, 55 days of off (vs 22 on average for other professions), as well as a generous pension contribution. 

Teaching roles will be suited to anyone with an interest in helping shape the younger generation, patience and the ability to stay calm under pressure, as well as strong communication skills.

10. Subjects allied to medicine – £27,998

Covering a broad range of specialist topics, subjects that are allied to medicine include Anatomy, Neuroscience, Nursing, Pharmacology, Physiology, Complementary and Alternative Medicines. 

Whatever your specific degree title, the average starting salary for someone in this field is £27,998. With an interest in helping others and how the human body works, this field will suit anyone with a good level of science and maths understanding, and strong communication skills.

11. Historical, philosophical and religious studies – £27,998

Looking at the humanities subjects of history, philosophy and religious studies, those looking at this path can expect an average graduate salary of £27,998. While some in this field will choose to use their degrees for other transferable roles, there are plenty that will pursue further degrees and then go into researching and lecturing positions within the field.

These fields are suited for anyone with an interest in how the world works, and a strong set of written communication and critical reasoning skills, 

After 10 years, the average salary for a historical researcher is £41,000 according to Glassdoor, while a philosophy teacher will earn £39,000 annually. According to, Indeed, the average salary for a religious education teacher sits at £38,976. 

12. Business and management – £27,990

If you complete your business and management degree and then go straight into work, you will start off on around £27,990, however, over time you can earn anything up to £150,000 through hard work, promotions and changing companies to climb the pay ladder. 

Suited to those with natural leadership skills and a keen interest in project management, a business and management degree will be perfect for anyone wanting to work in communication and negotiation.

Most students who study business at undergraduate level go on to take an MBA (a masters of business administration) postgraduate degree. With an MBA, you are likely to start on around £50,000 a year and the sky’s the limit. Directors and CEOs can earn from around £80,000 up to £2 million or more per year, making this extra qualification well worth your while. 

13. Geography, earth and environmental studies (natural sciences) – £27,990

Looking at the natural environment and human’s relationship to the world, a degree in environmental science can lead to many paths. 

With climate change and sustainable development massively on the agenda for most organisations, studying an environmental sciences degree could see you saving the planet and being highly in demand. The salary you can earn depends on your expertise levels and ability to find scientific solutions to environmental concerns.

Starting off on a £27,990 salary, you could end up being the chief sustainability officer of a multinational company earning a colossal salary, or earning less (around £50k a year) working for a charity or public sector organisation. 

14. Architecture, building and planning – £27,450 

Perhaps an overlooked degree, with an architecture qualification you could go into designing houses, workplaces and third spaces of the future, while starting off with an average salary of £27,450.

You’ll need design skills, solid analytical thinking paired with an understanding of construction as well as attention to detail to thrive in this industry. 

15. Language and area studies – £27,275

Studying languages can open up gateways to living and working abroad for organisations like the UN and are a hugely employable skill. With top starting salaries of £27,275 a career within languages can offer you a plethora of opportunities and development.

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