Graduate labour market remains buoyant, although degree apprentices enjoy greater pay growth
Despite recent headlines suggesting a tricky labour market for university leavers, research undertaken by IDR reveals that graduate schemes are set to remain popular among employers. However, salary growth for such roles has been slow in recent years compared with that for degree apprenticeships.
The median starting salary for the September 2025 cohort of graduate trainees recruited by our sample of 46 employers is £31,000. There is some sectoral variation in graduate pay: in the private sector, starting salaries are worth £32,000 at the median (£33,000 in private services and £30,900 in manufacturing) while entry pay in the public sector is the lowest of these three key sectors, at £30,822.
More than a third (35%) of respondents to this year’s survey vary starting salaries by discipline. For example, a graduate may earn more if they are recruited to a standalone IT or business programme (£31,500 and £33,000 at the median respectively) than if they follow an accountancy or legal path (£30,000 and £28,500 respectively).
From a school leaver’s perspective, degree apprenticeships, which were introduced in 2015 and lead to a degree-level qualification following around three to six years of training, are becoming an alternative to traditional graduate programmes. These highly competitive schemes offer the opportunity to achieve a comparable level of qualification while earning on the job and without incurring student debt, since their course fees are covered by the employer.
Recruits to such schemes typically earn a salary of £24,100 on appointment – some £7,000 less than traditional graduate trainees. However, degree apprentices have seen comparatively greater salary growth over the last seven years: their starting salaries have risen by £8,100 or 51% over this timeframe compared with £3,346 or 12% for graduate trainees. Accordingly, the gap between starting salaries for the two groups has narrowed from 73% in 2018 to just 29% this year.
Completion salaries
Salaries on completion for graduates and degree apprentices are much closer: the median salary at the end of a degree apprenticeship is £33,630. This represents a 40% difference with the starting salary and is just £2,370 or 7% lower than the typical completion salary of £36,000 for traditional graduate-entry roles. Our research has shown that while median completion salaries for degree apprentices have risen by £730 or 2.2% over the past two years, there has been little movement in the salaries that graduates receive on completion of training over the same timeframe, with the figure from our latest analysis showing at the same level as in 2024. As such, the gap between graduate starting salaries and completion pay has narrowed from 20% or 21% in the last three years to 16% in the latest analysis.
The labour market for graduates and apprentices
Graduate schemes seem set to remain popular among employers, with all of our sample stating that their organisations intend to continue with such programmes in the future and a large majority – 96% – feeling that their programmes attract people with the right skills into the role(s). Around a third (34%) of the sample report that their level of graduate recruitment was lower this year (compared with 15% reporting a higher intake). However, just under a quarter (24%) of employers expect to see an increased intake of graduates in the coming year and three-fifths (61%) feel that the number of graduates they employ will stay the same.
Employers are generally not using degree-level apprenticeships as a substitute for graduate programmes: only around a fifth (19%) of respondents with both types of scheme indicate that their graduate trainee numbers have fallen since their degree apprenticeships were launched and a similar proportion – 16% – report that they are now employing degree apprentices to undertake work that would previously have formed part of a graduate programme. However, a further 28% have in fact increased their intake of graduate trainees.
About the report
These findings are highlights from IDR’s detailed report on Graduate and Apprentice Pay based on a survey of 71 mostly large private sector employers of graduates and/or apprentices between September and November 2025. In addition to starting and completion pay levels and details of other conditions for traditional graduate trainees and intermediate-, advanced-, higher- and degree-level apprentices, the full report of findings from the study examines recruitment and retention issues, how apprentice pay interacts with the national minimum wage, and the impact of the Apprentice and Growth & Skills Levies. It is available to purchase for £449.00, with a 10% discount for IDR subscribers and survey participants.