Creative Arts, Sports Sciences and Media Studies top lowest-earning degrees list

Graduates of Creative Arts, Sports Sciences and Media Studies are among the lowest-earning degrees one year after graduation, a report by Satsuma Loans has revealed.

The research analysed government data to recognise which degrees paid best and worst. The findings also present which graduates have the highest chance of employment post-graduation.

With an average wage of £14,900, Creative Arts and Design graduates earn £7,100 less than the current UK average salary of £27,600, almost 5% less than the National Living Wage and thus qualifying as “the worst performing degree”.

It was followed by Sports and Exercise Sciences then Media Studies, earning £15,800 and £16,500 on average respectively one year after graduation.

Satsuma Loans reported that Agriculture, Health and Social Care, Humanities and Liberal Arts, Psychology, and Sociology and Social Policy are also among the degrees which earned the least.

In comparison, Medicine and Dentistry students are reported to possess the best chances at securing the highest salaries of £36,600 on average one year after graduating.

Students with a degree in Economics, Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmacy, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences were also some of the most high-paying degrees.

However, the findings also present that earning low wages one year after graduation is not permanent.

For example, Sports and Exercise Sciences students reported receiving the highest growth rate in terms of wage, with a 94% increase over a 10-year period after which their salary is reported at £30,600 a year, which is £3,000 above the average salary in the UK.

Philosophy or Religious Studies, Politics, Humanities and Liberal Arts as well as Media and Communications are among degrees “least likely to result in first year employment opportunities”

Law graduates also see a high increase of 96% between their starting salary and a decade after, from earning £17,200 one year after graduation to a salary of £33,600 in 10 years.

The report also shows that not all graduate earnings increase over 10 years, with Veterinary Science graduates earning less than their fifth and third years of employment after a decade.

Those with Languages, Linguistics and Classics degrees are “least likely to find sustained employment or further educational opportunities”, with 80% beginning work or study one year after graduation.

Philosophy or Religious Studies, Politics, Humanities and Liberal Arts as well as Media and Communications are among degrees “least likely to result in first year employment opportunities”.

Breaking the data down by region, graduates from the East Midlands are “most likely to find work immediately after graduation with 89.1% either in full time employment or further study within the first year”, similar to that in the West Midlands.

London-born graduates “are the least likely to find immediate employment or further study in the first year at just 85%”. 10 years after graduating, this figure drops by 4%.

Overall, the average graduate salary after one year of employment is calculated at £19,900. This is 72% of average annual salary in the UK. The percentage of degrees that pay below the average national salary stands at 94%.

The report finds that this alters considerably 10 years after employment, with graduates earning 111% of the UK’s average and 27% of degrees earning below the average.