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Compsci grads get the fattest pay cheques six months after uni – report

Oxford students top of the pile with whopping £45k salary

Computer science graduates are some of the highest earners six months after leaving university, according to The Sunday Times' annual Good University Guide.

The guide assesses UK universities for research and teaching quality, student experience, and graduate opportunities and earnings.

It found that computer science courses account for five of the top ten highest-earning degrees, based on how much former students are earning six months after they graduate.

So, while some grads are no doubt still casting around for a job, computer scientists from the University of Oxford are earning a median salary of £45,000.

The paper quotes one former Oxford maths and computer science student, Thomas Janerle – who now works at Facebook – as saying that it was "super easy" to find a well-paid job.

The second highest earners are computer science students from the University of St Andrews in Scotland, who earned a median of £41,600 six months after graduating.

The rest of the top five is filled out by electrical and electronic engineering students from Bournemouth (£40,305), computer science grads from Imperial College London (£40,000) and economics grads from Cambridge (£40,000).

However, the results may be cold comfort for those saddled with upwards of £50,000 student debt – especially when recent research has shown a degree might not earn you that much more than those who didn't go to uni.

According to a survey of 4,700 developers by community site Stack Overflow, the median salary of those who didn't go into higher education was £35,000, compared with £38,000 for those with bachelor's degrees.

But for those who still want to experience student life, the Good University Guide's overall rankings for computer science put the University of Cambridge as the best place to study in terms of teaching quality and student experience.

Imperial comes second, followed by Warwick, Oxford and St Andrews. ®

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