Graduate Software Engineer Job Trends

Graduate Software Engineer
UK

The median Graduate Software Engineer salary in the UK is £32,500 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 628 669 701
Rank change year-on-year +41 +32 +229
Permanent jobs requiring a Graduate Software Engineer 25 30 20
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.042% 0.056% 0.036%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.046% 0.060% 0.038%
Number of salaries quoted 22 15 18
10th Percentile £24,000 £29,550 £25,575
25th Percentile £25,000 £31,250 £28,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £32,500 £32,500 £35,000
Median % change year-on-year - -7.14% -
75th Percentile £35,750 £40,500 £45,000
90th Percentile £57,600 £44,400 £55,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £32,500 £32,500 £32,500
% change year-on-year - - -7.14%

All Permanent IT Job Roles
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies. 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 UK with a recognized job title 54,426 49,714 53,040
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 90.72% 92.90% 95.25%
Number of salaries quoted 33,710 25,743 40,880
10th Percentile £28,500 £33,625 £30,000
25th Percentile £37,000 £45,000 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £57,500
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% +4.35% -4.17%
75th Percentile £75,000 £78,750 £77,500
90th Percentile £95,000 £97,500 £96,250
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £52,609 £50,000
% change year-on-year -4.96% +5.22% -5.25%

Graduate Software Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Graduate Software Engineer job vacancy trend in the UK

Graduate Software Engineer
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for Graduate Software Engineer job vacancies in the UK.

Salary distribution trend for Graduate Software Engineer job vacancies in the UK

Graduate Software Engineer
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Graduate Software Engineer over the 6 months to 14 January 2026.

Salary histogram for Graduate Software Engineer in the UK

Graduate Software Engineer
Top 13 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Graduate Software Engineer within the UK 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
England +56 22 £32,500 - 11
UK excluding London +52 21 £32,500 - 15
North of England +20 13 £32,500 +6.56% 1
Work from Home +72 10 £24,000 -21.31% 4
Yorkshire - 10 £32,500 -
East of England +23 3 £60,000 +50.00% 2
South East +28 2 £27,000 -19.40% 5
South West +11 2 £31,500 -8.03% 1
North West - 2 £24,000 -
London +51 1 - - 3
Midlands +18 1 £24,000 -26.15% 1
West Midlands +17 1 £24,000 -26.15% 1
North East +11 1 £30,000 -1.64% 1

Graduate Software Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 14 January 2026, Graduate Software Engineer 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 featuring Graduate Software Engineer in the job title.

1 25 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 15 (60.00%) SQL
3 13 (52.00%) Degree
4 12 (48.00%) C++
5 11 (44.00%) Computer Science
6 10 (40.00%) Computer Science Degree
7 9 (36.00%) C
7 9 (36.00%) C#
7 9 (36.00%) E-Commerce
7 9 (36.00%) Linux
7 9 (36.00%) Logistics
8 8 (32.00%) Azure
8 8 (32.00%) Java
8 8 (32.00%) Mathematics
8 8 (32.00%) PL/SQL
9 6 (24.00%) PHP
10 5 (20.00%) Python
11 3 (12.00%) AI
11 3 (12.00%) React
12 2 (8.00%) ArcGIS
12 2 (8.00%) AWS
12 2 (8.00%) Customer Service
12 2 (8.00%) DevOps
12 2 (8.00%) ESRI
12 2 (8.00%) Geospatial Data
12 2 (8.00%) GIS
12 2 (8.00%) JavaScript
12 2 (8.00%) Leaflet
12 2 (8.00%) MapLibre
12 2 (8.00%) Open Source

Graduate Software Engineer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities 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 2 (8.00%) ArcGIS
Cloud Services
1 8 (32.00%) Azure
2 2 (8.00%) AWS
3 1 (4.00%) Firebase
3 1 (4.00%) GitHub
3 1 (4.00%) Supabase
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (8.00%) Geospatial Data
1 2 (8.00%) GIS
1 2 (8.00%) PostgreSQL
General
1 9 (36.00%) Retail
2 8 (32.00%) Manufacturing
2 8 (32.00%) Pharmaceutical
2 8 (32.00%) Social Skills
3 5 (20.00%) Finance
4 2 (8.00%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 1 (4.00%) Aerospace
5 1 (4.00%) Electronics
5 1 (4.00%) Military
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 3 (12.00%) React
2 2 (8.00%) Leaflet
2 2 (8.00%) MapLibre
2 2 (8.00%) OpenLayers
2 2 (8.00%) PostGIS
3 1 (4.00%) .NET
3 1 (4.00%) Next.js
3 1 (4.00%) React Native
Miscellaneous
1 8 (32.00%) Driving Licence
2 2 (8.00%) e-Learning
3 1 (4.00%) Algorithms
3 1 (4.00%) Data Structures
3 1 (4.00%) Hedge funds
Operating Systems
1 9 (36.00%) Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 25 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 11 (44.00%) Computer Science
3 9 (36.00%) E-Commerce
3 9 (36.00%) Logistics
4 8 (32.00%) Mathematics
5 3 (12.00%) AI
6 2 (8.00%) Customer Service
6 2 (8.00%) DevOps
6 2 (8.00%) Open Source
6 2 (8.00%) Physics
6 2 (8.00%) Problem-Solving
6 2 (8.00%) Spatial Analysis
6 2 (8.00%) Web Development
7 1 (4.00%) Fintech
7 1 (4.00%) Full-Stack Development
7 1 (4.00%) Sprint Planning
7 1 (4.00%) User Experience
7 1 (4.00%) Workflow
Programming Languages
1 15 (60.00%) SQL
2 12 (48.00%) C++
3 9 (36.00%) C
3 9 (36.00%) C#
4 8 (32.00%) Java
4 8 (32.00%) PL/SQL
5 6 (24.00%) PHP
6 5 (20.00%) Python
7 2 (8.00%) JavaScript
Qualifications
1 13 (52.00%) Degree
2 10 (40.00%) Computer Science Degree
3 2 (8.00%) Security Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 1 (4.00%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 1 (4.00%) Firmware
Vendors
1 2 (8.00%) ESRI