The Best - And Worst - Degree Subjects If You Want A Job

For students going to university, thinking about what they will do when they graduate has never been more important.

Rising tuition fees and an uncertain jobs market mean the financial risk in embarking on a degree course has never been greater.

That is why data on which subjects are more likely to get you a job on graduation are more keenly devoured than ever. And latest figures from the U.K. hold more than a few surprises.

The figures track the destinations six months after graduation of almost 450,000 graduates, a response rate of 79%.

And analysis of the destinations of students who graduated last summer show unemployment rates vary between subjects from 1% to 11%.

First, the figures that will come as no surprise. Unemployment rates for medicine and dentistry graduates both come in at less than 1%. For most graduates in these fields the transition from university to clinical training is relatively straightforward. (See table below for the full list).

Unemployment is also very much the exception for graduates in veterinary science, subjects allied to medicine and education, all at 3%. Education is particularly interesting here, reflecting as it does a chronic shortage of teachers, about which I have written before.

There are some higher unemployment rates that could also be anticipated. Some 7.5% of art and design graduates were out of work six months after leaving university. For graduates in mass communication and documentation, covering subjects including journalism and media studies, the unemployment rate was 8.6%, reflecting the decline in traditional media.

But there are others that are perhaps less foreseeable. Unemployment among graduates in physical sciences, which takes in chemistry, physics and geology, was 7.4%. For mathematical sciences it was 7.5%.

Physics and maths graduates are more likely to be unemployed than those with a history or philosophy degree.

An unemployment rate of 6.8% for engineering graduates also belies reports of a shortage of qualified engineers.

For students thinking that a science degree will give them a passport into a well-paid job it is even more sobering.

But perhaps most surprising is the unemployment rate among computer science graduates. With demand for IT professionals predicted to increase over the next five years, and three quarters of large tech firms already reporting a skills gap, IT graduates may have thought they would have their pick of jobs.

There are a number of potential reasons for this. One is a possible mismatch between the skills graduates possess and those the industry needs.

Graduates may also be reluctant to take some of the low-level entry positions available, or entry positions have been outsourced where labour is cheaper, restricting access for graduates. Computer science also attracts more black and ethnic minority students, who have a higher unemployment rate than white students.

Most likely it is a combination of factors, but whatever the reasons it suggests that students thinking of taking computer science at university should not go in assuming they will have a job at the end of it.

Employment prospects should not be the only reason students choose their major. Studying a subject for the love of it may even be a more rewarding use of their time.

But even if the risk of not getting a job is a secondary factor, students need to make their choice with their eyes open.

Employment and unemployment rates for graduates six months after graduation, by subject

Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency, Destination of Leavers from Higher Education survey, 2013/14