Graduate Job Trends

Graduate
UK

The median Graduate salary in the UK is £29,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 15 January 2026.

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

6 months to
15 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 345 264 247
Rank change year-on-year -81 -17 -4
Permanent jobs requiring a Graduate 342 612 697
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.57% 1.14% 1.26%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.63% 1.23% 1.32%
Number of salaries quoted 245 134 312
10th Percentile £24,000 £24,250 £22,750
25th Percentile £25,000 £25,500 £26,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £29,000 £33,500 £28,500
Median % change year-on-year -13.43% +17.54% -5.00%
75th Percentile £33,250 £45,000 £35,000
90th Percentile £40,000 £46,750 £42,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £28,000 £33,500 £28,500
% change year-on-year -16.42% +17.54% -5.00%

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 54,710 49,797 52,819
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 90.74% 92.91% 95.25%
Number of salaries quoted 33,899 25,819 40,678
10th Percentile £28,560 £33,500 £30,000
25th Percentile £37,250 £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 £95,325
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £53,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -5.66% +6.00% -5.18%

Graduate
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Graduate job vacancy trend in the UK

Graduate
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for Graduate job vacancies in the UK.

Salary distribution trend for Graduate job vacancies in the UK

Graduate
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Graduate over the 6 months to 15 January 2026.

Salary histogram for Graduate in the UK

Graduate
Top 15 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Graduate within the UK over the 6 months to 15 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 -55 315 £29,500 -9.23% 386
UK excluding London -106 229 £28,000 -16.42% 331
London +77 93 £31,500 -10.00% 126
Work from Home +38 77 £25,000 -40.48% 143
North of England -53 58 £30,000 -33.33% 90
Midlands -75 57 £28,000 +3.70% 27
East of England +24 41 £27,500 -8.33% 29
South East -15 40 £26,000 -20.00% 117
Yorkshire -13 35 £30,000 -33.33% 33
West Midlands -68 32 £28,000 -5.88% 9
South West +7 26 £30,000 -33.33% 47
East Midlands -23 25 £30,000 +20.00% 18
North West -23 19 £30,000 -17.24% 47
Scotland -25 7 £25,000 -44.44% 9
North East -11 4 £32,500 +3.17% 10

Graduate Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 15 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 featuring Graduate in the job title.

1 143 (41.81%) Degree
2 113 (33.04%) Problem-Solving
3 89 (26.02%) Computer Science
4 79 (23.10%) SQL
5 64 (18.71%) C#
6 58 (16.96%) Agile
7 53 (15.50%) Azure
8 48 (14.04%) PHP
9 45 (13.16%) C++
10 42 (12.28%) Computer Science Degree
11 40 (11.70%) Python
11 40 (11.70%) Software Engineering
12 37 (10.82%) Java
13 35 (10.23%) SQL Server
14 31 (9.06%) Critical Thinking
15 29 (8.48%) CSS
15 29 (8.48%) Dell
15 29 (8.48%) EAM
15 29 (8.48%) Telesales
16 28 (8.19%) MVC
17 27 (7.89%) .NET
18 26 (7.60%) jQuery
18 26 (7.60%) MySQL
18 26 (7.60%) OOP
19 25 (7.31%) Master's Degree
20 23 (6.73%) Continuous Improvement
21 22 (6.43%) ASP.NET
22 21 (6.14%) AI
22 21 (6.14%) Linux
22 21 (6.14%) Machine Learning

Graduate 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 7 (2.05%) Confluence
2 3 (0.88%) ArcGIS
3 2 (0.58%) CMS
3 2 (0.58%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.29%) SAS
4 1 (0.29%) WordPress
Applications
1 19 (5.56%) Microsoft Office
2 7 (2.05%) Microsoft Excel
2 7 (2.05%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 4 (1.17%) Autodesk Inventor
3 4 (1.17%) SOLIDWORKS
4 1 (0.29%) GNU Octave
4 1 (0.29%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 4 (1.17%) Sage 200
2 1 (0.29%) Salesforce CRM
Cloud Services
1 53 (15.50%) Azure
2 12 (3.51%) AWS
3 10 (2.92%) SaaS
4 5 (1.46%) Cloud Computing
5 4 (1.17%) Power Platform
6 2 (0.58%) Google Workspace
6 2 (0.58%) Salesforce Service Cloud
7 1 (0.29%) Firebase
7 1 (0.29%) GitHub
7 1 (0.29%) Supabase
Communications & Networking
1 4 (1.17%) TCP/IP
2 2 (0.58%) Software-Defined Radio
3 1 (0.29%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 35 (10.23%) SQL Server
2 26 (7.60%) MySQL
3 7 (2.05%) Relational Database
4 6 (1.75%) Geospatial Data
4 6 (1.75%) GIS
5 4 (1.17%) PostgreSQL
5 4 (1.17%) Power BI
6 3 (0.88%) QGIS
7 1 (0.29%) Big Data
7 1 (0.29%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 7 (2.05%) JIRA
2 4 (1.17%) LabVIEW
3 2 (0.58%) Git
3 2 (0.58%) Synon
General
1 111 (32.46%) Social Skills
2 68 (19.88%) Finance
3 32 (9.36%) Analytical Skills
4 20 (5.85%) Manufacturing
5 12 (3.51%) Electronics
6 11 (3.22%) Presentation Skills
7 10 (2.92%) Legal
7 10 (2.92%) Marketing
8 9 (2.63%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 9 (2.63%) Retail
9 8 (2.34%) Aerospace
9 8 (2.34%) Back Office
9 8 (2.34%) Pharmaceutical
10 6 (1.75%) Law
11 5 (1.46%) German Language
11 5 (1.46%) Public Sector
12 3 (0.88%) Military
13 2 (0.58%) Automotive
14 1 (0.29%) Banking
14 1 (0.29%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 29 (8.48%) CSS
2 27 (7.89%) .NET
3 26 (7.60%) jQuery
4 22 (6.43%) ASP.NET
5 7 (2.05%) React
6 3 (0.88%) HTML
6 3 (0.88%) Leaflet
6 3 (0.88%) MapLibre
6 3 (0.88%) Node.js
6 3 (0.88%) OpenLayers
6 3 (0.88%) PostGIS
7 2 (0.58%) .NET Core
7 2 (0.58%) AngularJS
7 2 (0.58%) ASP.NET MVC
7 2 (0.58%) React Native
8 1 (0.29%) .NET Framework
8 1 (0.29%) ASP.NET Web API
8 1 (0.29%) Blazor
8 1 (0.29%) CSS3
8 1 (0.29%) Next.js
Miscellaneous
1 17 (4.97%) Driving Licence
2 15 (4.39%) e-Learning
3 9 (2.63%) Mobile App
4 7 (2.05%) Analytical Mindset
4 7 (2.05%) Enterprise Software
5 6 (1.75%) Greenfield Project
6 5 (1.46%) Web Conferencing
7 4 (1.17%) Self-Motivation
7 4 (1.17%) Virtual Team
8 3 (0.88%) Legacy Systems
8 3 (0.88%) Onboarding
9 2 (0.58%) Low-Code
9 2 (0.58%) Management Information System
9 2 (0.58%) Product Ownership
9 2 (0.58%) RISC-V
9 2 (0.58%) Robotics
9 2 (0.58%) Smart Meter
9 2 (0.58%) Verilog
9 2 (0.58%) VHDL
10 1 (0.29%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
Operating Systems
1 21 (6.14%) Linux
2 9 (2.63%) Android
3 7 (2.05%) Unix
4 1 (0.29%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 113 (33.04%) Problem-Solving
2 89 (26.02%) Computer Science
3 58 (16.96%) Agile
4 40 (11.70%) Software Engineering
5 31 (9.06%) Critical Thinking
6 29 (8.48%) EAM
6 29 (8.48%) Telesales
7 28 (8.19%) MVC
8 26 (7.60%) OOP
9 23 (6.73%) Continuous Improvement
10 21 (6.14%) AI
10 21 (6.14%) Machine Learning
11 18 (5.26%) Decision-Making
11 18 (5.26%) OO
12 17 (4.97%) Mathematics
12 17 (4.97%) Mentoring
13 16 (4.68%) Customer Experience
13 16 (4.68%) Cybersecurity
13 16 (4.68%) Physics
14 15 (4.39%) Customer Service
Programming Languages
1 79 (23.10%) SQL
2 64 (18.71%) C#
3 48 (14.04%) PHP
4 45 (13.16%) C++
5 40 (11.70%) Python
6 37 (10.82%) Java
7 16 (4.68%) Bash
8 12 (3.51%) JavaScript
9 11 (3.22%) C
10 8 (2.34%) PL/SQL
11 4 (1.17%) Delphi
11 4 (1.17%) MATLAB
12 3 (0.88%) T-SQL
13 2 (0.58%) R
13 2 (0.58%) RPG
13 2 (0.58%) SystemVerilog
13 2 (0.58%) Tcl
14 1 (0.29%) VB
Qualifications
1 143 (41.81%) Degree
2 42 (12.28%) Computer Science Degree
3 25 (7.31%) Master's Degree
4 14 (4.09%) Security Cleared
5 4 (1.17%) AAT
6 3 (0.88%) BPSS Clearance
7 2 (0.58%) DBS Check
7 2 (0.58%) PhD
8 1 (0.29%) Postgraduate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 6 (1.75%) Accessibility
1 6 (1.75%) QA
2 5 (1.46%) ISO 9001
2 5 (1.46%) SLA
3 2 (0.58%) Data Quality
3 2 (0.58%) Disclosure Scotland
3 2 (0.58%) PMO
System Software
1 3 (0.88%) Firmware
2 2 (0.58%) Embedded Firmware
3 1 (0.29%) Docker
Vendors
1 29 (8.48%) Dell
2 19 (5.56%) Microsoft
3 7 (2.05%) Oracle
4 5 (1.46%) Broadcom
4 5 (1.46%) Hitachi
5 4 (1.17%) Autodesk
5 4 (1.17%) Sage
5 4 (1.17%) Xero
6 3 (0.88%) ESRI
6 3 (0.88%) Salesforce
7 2 (0.58%) Databricks
7 2 (0.58%) IBM
8 1 (0.29%) ANSYS
8 1 (0.29%) Atlassian
8 1 (0.29%) Google
8 1 (0.29%) Keysight
8 1 (0.29%) PTC