IFS data shows degree choice shapes lifetime earnings
If you are choosing what to study after school or college, this is the part worth slowing down for. The Department for Education has highlighted new research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies showing that university still raises earnings on average, but the size of that gain depends heavily on the subject you choose. The IFS says graduates earn about £100,000 more over their lifetime than someone with a similar background and similar prior attainment who did not go to university, even after tax and student loan repayments. That is the big headline, but it is only the starting point.
The difference between subjects is where the story gets sharper. According to the IFS research cited by the government, medicine and economics are the highest-earning degrees and can add as much as £400,000 to lifetime pay. Some other subjects offer much smaller gains, and a few can bring little or even negative financial return compared with what a similar non-graduate might earn. **What this means:** a degree is not one single product. Two courses can both be called university, cost similar fees and take the same number of years, yet lead to very different outcomes.
Because this announcement comes through a government press release, it is worth noticing what gets centred. Earnings are treated as the main test of value. That tells you something important, but not everything: it does not measure whether a subject suits you, whether the teaching is strong, or whether the work itself matters to society. Many jobs people rely on every day are still not among the best paid. For students, parents and teachers, the useful lesson is not choose the richest subject at all costs. It is ask tougher questions before any application goes in: what do graduates from this course actually go on to do, how many finish, what support do they get, and what are the alternatives if university is not the best fit?
That thinking sits behind the government's next move. Ministers say they want legislative options to limit growth in some courses at some providers where student returns are consistently poor. They are also promising tougher action on franchised provision, where a course is delivered through another provider under a university's name, and where ministers argue quality has too often fallen behind recruitment. The government says the aim is to put student outcomes ahead of volume and profit. Skills Minister Jacqui Smith's message is blunt: university can still be life-changing, but students should not drift into a degree by default or assume every course offers the same value.
Another proposal focuses on who is ready for degree study. The government plans a consultation later in the year on whether prospective undergraduates should meet a minimum English language requirement to access student finance. Its argument is simple: if students are taking on debt, they should be equipped to succeed on the course they are entering. Ministers also say they are working with UCAS so that earnings and employment outcomes for different courses are clearer and easier for applicants to compare. **What this means for you:** course data is likely to become more visible, which could make it harder for weak providers to hide behind polished marketing.
The announcement is not only about stopping poor outcomes. It is also about steering students towards sectors the government wants to grow. A new Pathways to Priority Occupations measure is meant to show which degree subjects most often lead into jobs in priority parts of the economy. The government says medicine, nursing, architecture and computing are among the leading subjects for access to these roles. Ministers estimate that construction and health and social care, alongside other priority sectors in the Industrial Strategy, will need 1.8 million extra skilled workers by 2035. The same measure is set to help decide who can access a new targeted maintenance grant for students in the 2028 to 2029 academic year, alongside other evidence and feedback.
Just as important is what sits beside university. The government says higher education should not be treated as the only respectable route after 18, and it points to a record £3.3 billion investment in apprenticeships, with the aim of creating 50,000 more apprenticeship starts for young people by 2029. Ministers say that would begin to reverse nearly half of the 40 per cent fall in apprenticeship starts among 16 to 24-year-olds over the past decade. There is also the wider Youth Guarantee, which the government says will give every young person a chance to earn and learn, including subsidised jobs and incentives for employers to hire young people who have been out of work. The promise is up to 500,000 opportunities. **The bigger point:** post-18 choice should be about informed choice, not default choice.
If you are making a decision now, the most useful response is to slow the process down. Read the prospectus, but also look past the sales language. Ask what recent graduates did next, whether placements are built in, how much contact time you actually get, what support exists if you struggle, and whether an apprenticeship or another training route could lead to the same job with less debt. That is the lesson tucked inside both the IFS findings and the government's response. A degree can still change a life. But young people deserve clearer information, better protection and more than one respected route into work. Choosing carefully should not mean carrying all the risk on your own; it should mean a system that tells you the truth before you sign up.