British graduates left £10,000 worse off than foreign students

By comparison, non-EU international graduates who remained in Britain were earning £41,200 a year, almost £10,000 more.

That gap amounts to a 24 per cent pay advantage. While British graduates earned only slightly above the national median of £29,500, their overseas peers were firmly placed among the top 30 per cent of earners.

The pay gap is linked to the types of courses international students choose to study. Data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency for 2023-24 shows that 28 per cent of non-EU students took business and management degrees, compared with 17 per cent of UK students.

A further 11 per cent of overseas students studied engineering and technology – areas where graduates earned around £41,600 five years after finishing university.

By contrast, many British students chose subjects related to medicine, such as pharmacology and occupational therapy, where average earnings were closer to £32,100.

Tom Allingham from Save the Student noted: "This is an interesting set of figures, and indirectly highlights some of the disparities in graduate earning potential."

International students also gravitate towards Britain's most prestigious institutions at far higher rates. Russell Group universities enrolled 24 per cent international students from outside the EU, double the 12 per cent at other institutions.

London’s top universities have some of the highest numbers of international students.

In 2023-24, UCL reported 51 per cent of its first-degree students were from abroad, LSE 47 per cent, Imperial 44 per cent and King’s College London 37 per cent. Even Oxford and Cambridge were above the national average, with 20 per cent and 21 per cent compared to 15 per cent across all UK universities.

Earnings also vary widely depending on the university. Graduates from different institutions studying the same subject could see salary differences of up to £70,000 a year after five years.

The substantial pay differential reflects broader trends in UK higher education financing. International student fees generated £12.1 billion in 2023-24, comprising 23 per cent of total university income, a dramatic increase from approximately five per cent during the mid-1990s.

Allingham observed: "The disproportionate numbers of international students at Russell Group universities compared to others, and these students' subject choices, are both likely to have contributed to this disparity."

Rose Stephenson from the Higher Education Policy Institute cautioned that comparisons require careful interpretation.

She said: "The data for international students only reflects the minority of international students who choose to remain and work in the UK."