Graduate Job Trends in the South West

Graduate
England > South West

The median Graduate salary in the South West is £30,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 14 January 2026.

The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 151 170 161
Rank change year-on-year +19 -9 -13
Permanent jobs requiring a Graduate 26 19 57
As % of all permanent jobs in the South West 0.51% 0.46% 1.20%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.55% 0.49% 1.25%
Number of salaries quoted 18 14 25
10th Percentile - £25,423 £22,000
25th Percentile £25,500 £28,495 £24,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £30,000 £45,000 £28,500
Median % change year-on-year -33.33% +57.89% +14.00%
75th Percentile £35,000 £48,750 £31,000
90th Percentile £40,000 £50,000 £36,200
England median annual salary £29,000 £32,500 £28,500
% change year-on-year -10.77% +14.04% -5.00%

All Permanent IT Job Roles
South West

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies in the South West. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of permanent jobs in our overall sample.

Permanent vacancies in the South West with a recognized job title 4,745 3,881 4,549
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.39% 93.59% 95.85%
Number of salaries quoted 3,292 2,088 3,513
10th Percentile £28,000 £30,000 £29,500
25th Percentile £35,000 £40,000 £39,748
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £52,000 £50,886
Median % change year-on-year -3.85% +2.19% +1.77%
75th Percentile £65,000 £67,500 £66,778
90th Percentile £80,000 £80,000 £80,000
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year -8.33% +4.35% -6.50%

Graduate
Job Vacancy Trend in the South West

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring 'Graduate' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the South West.

Graduate job vacancy trend in the South West

Graduate
Salary Trend in the South West

Salary distribution trend for Graduate job vacancies in the South West.

Salary distribution trend for Graduate job vacancies in the South West

Graduate
Salary Histogram in the South West

Salary distribution for jobs citing Graduate in the South West over the 6 months to 14 January 2026.

Salary histogram for Graduate in the South West

Graduate
Job Locations in the South West

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Graduate within the South West region over the 6 months to 14 January 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Bristol +12 16 £26,000 -42.22% 30
Gloucestershire +23 3 £35,000 -18.60% 4
Devon - 3 £24,000 - 4
Wiltshire - 2 £37,500 - 4
Cornwall - 2 £40,000 -
Graduate
England

Graduate Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South West

For the 6 months to 14 January 2026, Graduate job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all permanent job ads across the South West region featuring Graduate in the job title.

1 9 (34.62%) Problem-Solving
2 8 (30.77%) SQL
3 7 (26.92%) Degree
4 6 (23.08%) Confluence
4 6 (23.08%) JIRA
5 5 (19.23%) Software Engineering
6 4 (15.38%) Analytics
6 4 (15.38%) Data Analysis
6 4 (15.38%) Security Cleared
7 3 (11.54%) Agile
7 3 (11.54%) C#
7 3 (11.54%) C++
7 3 (11.54%) Computer Science
7 3 (11.54%) Innovative Thinking
7 3 (11.54%) Project Management
7 3 (11.54%) Python
8 2 (7.69%) BPSS Clearance
8 2 (7.69%) Business Analytics
8 2 (7.69%) Business Intelligence
8 2 (7.69%) C
8 2 (7.69%) Collaborative Working
8 2 (7.69%) Dashboard Development
8 2 (7.69%) Economics
8 2 (7.69%) Embedded Firmware
8 2 (7.69%) Firmware
8 2 (7.69%) Git
8 2 (7.69%) LabVIEW
8 2 (7.69%) Master's Degree
8 2 (7.69%) Mathematics
8 2 (7.69%) MATLAB

Graduate Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South West by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 6 (23.08%) Confluence
Applications
1 2 (7.69%) Microsoft Excel
1 2 (7.69%) Microsoft Office
1 2 (7.69%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Cloud Services
1 1 (3.85%) Azure
1 1 (3.85%) Cloud Computing
1 1 (3.85%) Google Workspace
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (3.85%) Big Data
1 1 (3.85%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 6 (23.08%) JIRA
2 2 (7.69%) Git
2 2 (7.69%) LabVIEW
General
1 9 (34.62%) Social Skills
2 3 (11.54%) Aerospace
2 3 (11.54%) Finance
3 2 (7.69%) Analytical Skills
4 1 (3.85%) Military
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (3.85%) .NET
1 1 (3.85%) .NET Framework
1 1 (3.85%) ASP.NET
1 1 (3.85%) ASP.NET MVC
1 1 (3.85%) ASP.NET Web API
1 1 (3.85%) Blazor
1 1 (3.85%) CSS
1 1 (3.85%) CSS3
1 1 (3.85%) Entity Framework
1 1 (3.85%) HTML
1 1 (3.85%) HTML5
Miscellaneous
1 2 (7.69%) Robotics
2 1 (3.85%) Management Information System
2 1 (3.85%) Operational Technology
Operating Systems
1 1 (3.85%) Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 9 (34.62%) Problem-Solving
2 5 (19.23%) Software Engineering
3 4 (15.38%) Analytics
3 4 (15.38%) Data Analysis
4 3 (11.54%) Agile
4 3 (11.54%) Computer Science
4 3 (11.54%) Innovative Thinking
4 3 (11.54%) Project Management
5 2 (7.69%) Business Analytics
5 2 (7.69%) Business Intelligence
5 2 (7.69%) Collaborative Working
5 2 (7.69%) Dashboard Development
5 2 (7.69%) Economics
5 2 (7.69%) Mathematics
5 2 (7.69%) Physics
6 1 (3.85%) Big Data Analytics
6 1 (3.85%) Cybersecurity
6 1 (3.85%) Data Analytics
6 1 (3.85%) Machine Learning
6 1 (3.85%) Portfolio Management
Programming Languages
1 8 (30.77%) SQL
2 3 (11.54%) C#
2 3 (11.54%) C++
2 3 (11.54%) Python
3 2 (7.69%) C
3 2 (7.69%) MATLAB
4 1 (3.85%) Java
4 1 (3.85%) JavaScript
4 1 (3.85%) PHP
Qualifications
1 7 (26.92%) Degree
2 4 (15.38%) Security Cleared
3 2 (7.69%) BPSS Clearance
3 2 (7.69%) Master's Degree
System Software
1 2 (7.69%) Embedded Firmware
1 2 (7.69%) Firmware
Vendors
1 2 (7.69%) Microsoft
2 1 (3.85%) Google