Research carried out by Satsuma has revealed engineering graduates are among the highest-earning professionals three, five and ten years after graduation.

Engineering graduates are listed alongside medicine and dentistry, economics, mathematics and pharmacology graduates at the top of the earnings rankings. Conversely, the lowest compensated graduates are those who studied creative arts, agriculture, humanities, sociology, media studies and psychology.

The average salary for an engineering graduate one year after graduation is £26,500, rising to £41,200 by the ten-year mark. This compares to average first-year salaries of £16,500 and £36,600 for media studies graduates and medicine graduates respectively.

Satsuma also carried out research to find out which degrees resulted in the highest chance of employment after graduation. According to the research, 88.3% of engineering students are in further study, sustained employment or both one year after graduation. This statistic does not put it in the top 5 degrees for initial employability, which includes medicine and teaching at 97.5% and 91.5% respectively. It is nonetheless safely outside the bottom 5, comprising language, philosophy, politics, communications, and humanities students.

There has been a sustained effort by recent UK governments to promote STEM degrees in order to address the skills gap. Satsuma suggests the “basic economic laws of supply and demand” therefore explain why seven of the top ten highest paying degrees are STEM subjects.