The clearing universities that will get you the highest paying jobs

Clearing has become a vital and successful route for students to find graduate courses – but knowing which university to target is important.

A clearing graduate’s starting salary can vary by as much as £27,000 depending on which university they attend, according to Adzuna, a jobs website.

An analysis of more than 120,000 jobseekers’ CVs from 2019 to 2022 looked at the jobs graduates were working five years after graduation and identified the institutions most likely to lead to the highest and lowest salaries.

Most universities take part in clearing, with the exception of Oxbridge and some Russell Group institutions.

The ones that do not have courses available so far are the University of Bristol, Cambridge, Durham University, the University of Edinburgh, Imperial College, the London School of Economics, Oxford, Queen's University Belfast, the University of Sheffield and University College London, according to data from Pieter Snepvangers of The Tab, a student news site.

The highest salaries were among graduates from specialist business school Bayes, part of the University of London, where leavers earn more than £52,000. Cranfield University ranked second with an average graduate salary of £39,695.

They were followed by the University of Nottingham (£38,426), the University of Reading (£37,430) and King’s College London (£27,430).

Paul Lewis, of Adzuna, said: “For students looking at clearing and wanting to be high earners after graduation, Russell Group universities should still be the first port of call.”

Former polytechnics featured prominently at the lowest end of the list with Aberystwyth University ranking lowest for expected graduate salary (£25,129).

It is offering students who achieve AAA a £2,000 scholarship. As part of its bid to attract students, it guarantees university accommodation, free sports centre membership for first-years and free railcards.

The bottom five on the list included Bath Spa University (£25,196), Edge Hill University (£25,334), Liverpool John Moores University (£25,749) and Bangor University (£26,315).

Some universities are offering more courses through clearing than others.

Liverpool Hope University has the largest selection, with 1,403 available, according to IDP Connect, an education website. It was followed by the University of Essex (842), Open University (452) and Anglia Ruskin University (406).

A spokesperson for Aberystwyth University said: “Salary is important but it isn’t the sole measure of success. We are graduating scientists, political analysts, environmental researchers and others who make a valuable contribution to society but who may not always be among the highest earners, especially during their early careers.”

A spokesperson for Edge Hill University said: “We think the Adzuna data relates to a sample of no more than 150 Edge Hill graduates (of some 3,500) in any one year, and would therefore be statistically questionable.

“Much more reliable is the data produced by HMRC on Median PAYE data and distributed by the DfE and the Office for Students. For the North West, Manchester, Liverpool and Lancaster do best. Of the twelve, we’re sixth, with Chester, Central Lancashire, Liverpool Hope, Bolton, LIPA and the RNCM filling places 7-12.

“It is, of course, fair to say that salaries away from London and the South East tend to be lower, and Edge Hill’s graduates are predominantly female and also concentrated in public service – teaching, nursing, etc. – where salaries have been constrained in recent years.”