Top Five UK Universities for Graduate Prospects 2023

Are you an international considering studying in the UK from 2023? If so, there is much to think about as various UCAS  deadlines approach and the decision about what and where to study comes into focus.

Employment prospects are one of the key things to consider when deciding where to study, and UK university graduates have a strong track record of finding employment after leaving university. Dedicated Careers Service teams provide advice and help you research career pathways and employers. They also organise recruitment fairs and workshops on how to write CVs and perform well at interviews.

Graduate prospect rankings are an important parameter to measure the learning outcomes of university graduates and their preparedness for the prospective job market. To establish which universities are best for graduate prospects, the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023 looked at the proportion of graduates in high-skilled jobs or graduate-level study 15 months after graduation.

Learn more about the top five universities in the UK below for graduate prospects, and if you want to study in the UK, arrange a free consultation with SI-UK London today.

Top Five UK Universities for Graduate Prospects

1. Imperial College London (95.2%)

Imperial College London forms part of the 'Golden Triangle' of six elite UK universities. Imperial is the only university in the UK that exclusively focuses on studying science, medicine, engineering and business. 

Imperial provides extensive career support to its students through career workshops, placement opportunities and career events held throughout the year, including employer-led events such as skills workshops and mock interviews. Graduates are given career support up to 3 years after graduation.

• View Imperial courses

2. University of Cambridge (92.6%)

University of Cambridge graduates benefit from its influential alumni network, which includes people in resourceful positions across the world also, as the University scores high on its alumni outcomes. There are more than 400 alumni groups around the world helping graduates to start their graduate careers.

The University of Cambridge has produced 121 affiliated Nobel winners, more than any other university. Cambridge is one of the best universities in the world for teaching, research excellence and international outlook.

• View Cambridge courses

3. London School of Economics and Political Science (92%)

The London School of Economics and Political Science is a world class institution specialising in teaching economics and other social science disciplines, including politics, law, sociology and anthropology.

Part of the prestigious Russell Group and with the world’s largest library dedicated to social sciences, graduates from the University benefit from the LSE Careers Service mission to help make the transition from education to employment as smooth as possible.

• View LSE courses

4. St George's, University of London (91.7%)

St George’s, University of London is one of the UK’s leading specialist health universities. Based in South London, the University shares a campus with one of the largest teaching hospitals in the UK. It is internationally respected, with more than 250 years of excellence in education and research. 

Studying at St George’s means you will become part of a university focused entirely on improving the health of society, surrounded by students studying complementary disciplines in an authentic hospital environment.

• View St George’s courses

5. University of Oxford (91.6%)

The University of Oxford is an elite UK university considered the oldest and most prestigious university in the English speaking world. With a global reputation for world class teaching and top rated programmes across many subjects, a University of Oxford degree holds weight wherever you decide to pursue your career.

The University of Oxford has recently named the best university in the world for the sixth year in a row by Times Higher Education.

• View Oxford courses

UK university employment focus

A key consideration for prospective international students considering studying in the UK is the practical, employment-focused approach of UK universities, whose annual rankings depend a lot on alumni career successes which are being assiduously measured.

Some countries’ universities concentrate on the theoretical and academic side of a subject rather than how it works in the real world of work; students worrying about the job market are expected to fend for themselves with online searches, family contacts, and individual initiative, and they may graduate with an impeccable grasp of intellectually sophisticated subjects that they do not know how to apply in a useful way to a logistical problem to make money in a commercial context, and so have to be trained from scratch by employers reluctant to hire such novices.

UK universities, by contrast, tend to tailor their curricula to the specific demands of the workplace so that what students have learned in class is immediately relevant to their subsequent careers. UK universities cultivate industry links and offer degrees that involve work placements where students can put into practice what they learned theoretically in lectures.

International students who graduate from UK universities can expect to find work in a flexible, local labour market for which this country is famous and contrasts favourably with many countries that are nepotistic or bureaucratic in recruiting inexperienced, unnetworked job-seekers. It is as easy to imagine an Italian or French person – of average ability and influence – graduating and then professionally thriving in a long-term, graduate-level career in the UK as it is difficult to imagine a British person doing the same across the British Channel (though obviously exceptions can be made for exceptionally high performers such as scientists and bankers, who can find work anywhere).

Structural youth unemployment in much of Europe contrasts with the dynamism of the UK environment where – notwithstanding media gloom about inflation, which is applicable everywhere – employers are delighted to hire foreign students who have the relevant skills that UK universities have so thoroughly taught them.

UK tertiary education is used to catering to the needs and wishes of its international students and has many centuries of experience in this regard. One index of the prestige of UK university teaching is the volume of tourism all year in Oxford and Cambridge, two of the best universities in the UK.

Cheaper and quicker degrees

Another key consideration is cost and time. UK universities provide cheaper than USA degrees and take less time than most other countries’ degrees. A UK undergraduate degree typically takes three years, whereas abroad, it typically takes at least four years.

A UK master’s degree normally takes one year; abroad, it usually takes two. UK degrees may be more expensive than their equivalents in continental Europe. Still, the former offers the adventure of living, studying, socialising, growing, and working in an exciting new country instead of just staying at home under the parental roof.

Study in the UK

If you would like to apply to the above universities or have any questions answered about UK university study, arrange a free consultation with SI-UK London today.