The highest-paying graduate jobs in Britain

Some also offer “scholarships” that are paid during the new hires’ studies – often on top of the up to £10,000 that students have earned doing lucrative summer internships with the banks. 

But recent graduates should be wary of the large sign-on bonuses, which typically have to be paid back if a staff member leaves in a short period of time. 

New graduates should also be aware that if market prospects change, redundancies can be brutal and unexpected. 

The battle between investment bankers and those working in private equity to be the highest paid is long-standing, and for graduate salaries the private equity industry (which invests and seeks to turn around privately owned companies) often edges out the big banks. 

The current market rate stands at around £75,000 with bonuses ranging between 25pc-100pc, although analysts can expect to work longer hours under pressure.

A training contract at a Magic Circle firm is treated by both law and non-law students alike as a golden ticket to a glittering legal career. 

Firms typically support graduate hires with stipends while they sit the Solicitors Qualifying Exam, which was introduced in 2021. 

Future trainee lawyers can expect £20,000 in financial support from mega-firm A&O Shearman in 2024. Other firms offer between £12,000 and £20,000, although some pay out much less. 

Many Magic Circle companies are sending trainees to the University of Law, which boasts more than 5,000 students across 20 locations.  

Starting salaries for trainee lawyers begin at around £45,000-£50,000 a year, depending on location. 

But once a graduate has qualified, a process that takes two years once they start work in earnest, salaries take off. Many firms pay newly qualified solicitors more than £100,000 and as much as £180,000 at the top of the market. 

For wannabe barristers, securing a pupillage from an inn of court is a crucial step after passing the bar course.

Pupillage awards are how trainees are paid during their year of pupillage, and range from £30,000 to £100,000 at Gray’s Inn or Gough Square Chambers for tax law. 

Corporate barristers can expect to earn more than criminal barristers. The top 2pc take home more than £1m, while 12pc earn less than £30,000, according to figures compiled by The Lawyer, a trade newspaper for the legal profession.  

Starting out at a “Big Four” firm – PwC, Deloitte, EY and KPMG – has long been a pathway into other financial services companies, with sky-high salaries on offer for the most successful. 

But initial salaries for accounting hires, while often close to or slightly above the average, are far from dazzling.

The 2024 Hays UK Salary and Recruiting Trends report, which compiles data from 23,000 employers, found that typical salaries for trainee Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) accountants ranged between £19,000 and £35,000. 

Graduates who opted for the alternative Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) qualification ranged between £20,000 and £25,000. For ACA trainees, this jumped up to £37,000. 

Anonymous survey results suggest that the average starting salary at the Big Four hovers at approximately £30,000. 

While a life of spreadsheets and red eye flights might not sound like everyone’s idea of a fun job, consultants can count on lucrative remuneration packages. 

Graduates can expect to start on between £30,000 and £50,000, depending on where they’re starting. For Bain, McKinsey and BCG, salaries start at between £45,000 and £52,000 for first-year analysts. 

EY starts grads on approximately £35,000, while Deloitte pays around £32,500. Boutique firms, such as Oliver Wyman and L.E.K Consulting often pay slightly more than the traditional firms, awarding graduates more than £45,000. 

Newton offers £49,000-£53,000 with a £2,500 signing bonus, and promises that pay will increase with every promotion and every year. 

The average UK consultant salary is approximately £85,000, so students who stick at it can expect to be comfortably well-off a few years after graduation.

If you want to be a policy wonk, the civil service fast stream offers a starting salary of £31,186 and those who complete the three-year programme can expect to earn between £45,000 and £50,000 when promoted. 

Parliamentary jobs in MP’s offices are not known for their large pay packages, although some graduates find the access to the corridors of power a much more valuable reward.

The IPSA pay scales for 2024 and 2025 range from £22,308 for the most junior staff based outside of London to £59,803 for senior London-based researchers. 

The NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme pays £27,701 a year, while students joining the National Audit Office can expect to earn more than £25,000 in Newcastle and more than £30,000 in London. 

Once they have completed their exams, the base salary rises to £43,720 in London and £36,064 in Newcastle.