In 2018, the average yearly salary in the UK was just under £30,000. This may be sufficient for many people, especially if you live in northern United Kingdom where it’s cheaper.
But understandably, you may want to seek a career where you earn much more than the national average. This will help ensure you can put enough into your savings, buy a house, provide for your family, and still have enough left over for leisure pursuits and retirement.
If you’re considering going to university, then read on. This article will tell you what the highest paying degrees in the UK are.
Business
The average business and management salaries in the UK ranges from around £18,000 for sales administrators to over £89,000 for chief executives and senior officials.
Obviously, the salary range for a business degree is extreme. But in general, this degree is great to have since it opens the door to senior positions. These include jobs like marketing director and manager of finances, human resources, purchasing, and business development.
The great thing about this degree is it doesn’t limit you to a certain niche. Whether it’s fashion or biochemistry that you’re interested in, a business degree will take you far, no matter what industry you choose.
Computer Science and IT
For computer science and IT, the average salary range is around £26,000 for telecommunications engineers to over £78,000 for IT directors.
Again, the average salaries for this category have a large spread. But like with the previous section, if you have a degree in computer science or IT, you open the door to better opportunities. You have the options of jobs such as IT project manager, IT business analyst, and IT specialist.
If you end up as a programmer, there are plenty of job opportunities both in the UK and across the world. And with an average salary of around £30,000 in the UK, a programming job here will put you above the national average for wages.
Law
If you study law instead of business or computer science, you’ll have fewer career choices when you graduate. Career paths include attorney/lawyer, barrister, solicitor, and law firm partner.
However, the potential salary you can earn is a lot better. The range is from around £35,000 as a solicitor to over £72,000 as a law firm partner.
Considering you don’t have much wiggle room when it comes to a law degree, plus the high costs of attending a prestigious university (such as Oxford or Cambridge), you should definitely make sure this is what you want to do before you commit to enrolling.
Economics
If you decide to study economics, then you’ll average about £40,000 a year. For the male graduates, 12% of them went on to earn above £100,000 about a decade after they finished uni. Based on those numbers, a degree in economics can be a wise investment if you stick to it for over 10 years.
The great thing about this area of study is it’s not restrictive at all. While most jobs focus on being an analyst, there’s still lots of options to consider. For example, there are market research, credit, policy, and financial analyst careers to choose from.
Other career paths include economic consultant, actuary, and compensation and benefits manager. You can even use this degree to become a lawyer if you wish.
Maths
If you aren’t quite sure what career you want, maths can be a fantastic degree. There are many jobs to choose from, some of which overlap with economics; you might want to consider double majoring.
Some potential jobs include acoustic consultant, actuary, data analyst, data scientist, research scientist, secondary school teacher, software engineer, and statistician. Other careers where this degree would be useful in include CAD technician, financial trade, game designer, meteorologist, private tutor, and software tester.
The average starting salary of a maths graduate is just under £26,000. Considering the UK’s average salary is a little under £30,000, this puts you pretty close to it at the start of your career. This means you can only go up from there as you gain more experience and knowledge.
Engineering
You can do a lot with an engineering degree as well. Salaries range from around £27,000 for quality control engineers to £50,000 for design engineering managers.
The average salaries are attractive for starting positions, and as you can see, the ones for managerial positions are even more rewarding. If you stay in the industry for long enough, you can climb the corporate ladder and easily end up as a manager.
The Uni You Go to Matters
Yes, it’s true the degrees listed above are the highest paying ones in the UK. But where you go for uni also plays a big part.
For instance, if you attend a prestigious university such as Oxford or Cambridge, you can expect your salary to be a lot higher than if you attended a uni that no one’s heard of.
And, of course, your marks play a role as well. Exemplary marks prove you have a good grasp of the subject and can take that knowledge and apply it to real-world experiences. If you’re in a highly competitive field, such as law, then expect your marks to be scrutinized; make sure you put it on your CV to make yourself stand out from the competition.
Consider One of These Highest Paying Degrees
Now that you know some of the highest paying degrees in the UK, perhaps you have a better idea of what you want to study.
But money isn’t everything; being passionate about what you do matters significantly as well. So don’t just go for high pay, as you won’t be satisfied in life. By combining what you love with a high earning job, you’ll reap the benefits for years to come.
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