Young people with a computer science degree dominate the league tables of the best-paid graduates in Britain, earning more than five times the amount of those doing poorly paid jobs with arts degrees.

Just six months after finishing their degrees, Imperial College London’s computer science graduates are the winners, enjoying a median salary of £50,000.......

The whole article here;
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news ... -g5tzbxmbg

You must subscribe to the Times and Sunday for the full article.

I haven't read the article (I won't give Murdoch my money) but the headline is familiar. Imperial tends to pop up a lot when graduate earnings are mentioned and I wonder if it's because nearly all of its graduates are STEM students and many end up working in London. I wonder where it would be ranked in "buying power" of graduate salaries? It's all very well having a high median salary but it's not meaningful if a massive proportion of it is spent on housing and commuting.

Imperial has a terrible reputation for the way it treats its students. People visiting have heard boasts about how many they 'let go' during the courses ...

Yes, on some of the courses the drop-out rate is high in the first year. Their grade requirements are very high which suggests it's not related to ability, more to the way they look after those students. Chemistry and Computing (the subject at the top of the pay league) are two such cases. One in seven Computing students don't continue after the first year.

Alan Smithers, professor of education at Buckingham University, said: “Teenagers need to be aware that your choice of subject and where you study can make a huge difference to your salary — and to your ability to repay student debt, now averaging £50,000 on graduation.”

Just two words in reply to that one - 'Martin Lewis'...

Although it's heartening to think that the thought uppermost on the average aspiring investment banker's mind is, 'I must earn shedloads of money, in order to pay off my financial debt to society as quickly as possible'

Because I doubt that all those Imperial graduates are hitting those salaries going straight into jobs directly related to their Computer Science skills (ditto many of the institution's graduates of other STEM courses).

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Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx

Interesting news article.

I think many drop out in the first year because they cannot cope with the curriculum which does require specialist skills. And some who are not good at pure Comp Sc and end up completing a degree they go on to become project analyst coordinating tasks rather than doing pure Comp Sc.

I am no expert but if a child has the skill set of logical thinking, problem solving ability this is THE field to explore.

Surely these students end up earning more as they become investment bankers or fin tech entrepreneurs, not computer scientists?

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mad?

I doubt many of them become within six months of graduating .

The question is - are they 5 times as happy?

Not sure how accurate or up-to-date the research is by the Sunday Times.

In my experience most Blue Chip companies these days (including big IT outsource companies and Consultancies) tend to delay or put a salary cap on Graduate promotions or Salary increases in order to control payroll costs. It certainly isn't like the 90's. Even IT Contractors are suffering due to IR35 controls by HMRC and penalties for Limited Companies paying dividends rather than through the payroll.