Find out which university degrees could earn you most across your lifetime
New research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) shows that a university degree can raise a graduation’s lifetime earnings by up to £400,000 – but the benefit varies dramatically by subject. In contrast, courses in creative arts, philosophy and languages may actually leave graduates poorer than their non‑degree peers.
Users can use a look‑up tool to compare earnings for their chosen subject with those of a comparable non‑graduate.
On average, a UK graduate benefits from a lifetime earnings surplus of around £100,000, even after taxes and student loans. The study also found that one in four graduates could be financially worse off as a result of their degree, and one in ten male graduates could be over £90,000 poorer than they would have been without a degree.
After the IFS report was released, Education Minister Jacqui Smith warned that "not all degrees are equal" and urged students to choose carefully. "Going to university and getting a degree is one of the most transformational things a young person can do— but it is not a universal guarantee of success," she said.
Nick Harrison, chief executive of the Sutton Trust, said that while university is not a guarantee of financial success, it remains the "most reliable route to upward mobility", especially for those from lower‑income backgrounds. “Most graduates continue to see big financial benefits over their lifetimes, and for young people from lower‑income backgrounds those gains are often greatest,” Harrison added.
Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK, highlighted that subjects such as the arts are often motivated by passion rather than money, noting that the creative industries are a significant economic driver. “In an age of AI, we'll value the understanding of how human beings think and act more, not less, in the future,” she said.
The Department for Education (DfE) announced plans to cap enrollment in courses with persistently poor returns and will consult on introducing minimum English language requirements for student finance eligibility. A new consultation will start in the autumn to investigate these measures.
Below is an interactive visualisation that lets you explore lifetime earnings by subject. The data comes from a cohort of England‑domiciled students born in the mid‑1980s who took their GCSE exams in 2002.
