Bachelor’s graduates are also ?9,000 better off than those without a degree. The median salary for graduates aged 16-64 is ?31,000 compared with ?22,000 for non-graduates. Those who have completed postgraduate courses, meanwhile, have a median salary of ?40,000, according to graduate labour market statistics for the third quarter of 2014.
But for young people aged 21-30 the premiums for a bachelor’s degree, master’s or PhD are not quite so high. Young graduates earn about ?6,000 more than non-graduates, for example, and those with postgraduate qualifications in that age bracket earn ?3,500 more than bachelor’s graduates, according to the data released in December.