The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2024-2025: Insights
The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2024-2025
As graduation season approaches, students across the UK are turning their attention to securing employment in a highly competitive job market. The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2024-2025, published by High Fliers Publications in September 2024, serves as the UK’s most authoritative guide for navigating the best graduate opportunities during the 2024 and 2025 period, offering comprehensive insights into the country’s most sought-after employers, current market trends and proven application strategies (The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers, 2024). This invaluable resource equips university students and recent graduates with the critical information they need to make informed career decisions and stand out in crowded applicant pools. The top ten employers, as voted by students, are PwC, Civil Service, NHS, Deloitte, BBC, EY, J.P. Morgan, Google, Barclays, and Aldi (see Table 1 below for the complete list).
Table 1. The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2024-2025
Ranking methodology
The methodology behind these influential rankings is based entirely on student perspectives. Researchers conducted face-to-face interviews with 14,271 final-year undergraduate students from 30 prestigious universities in the UK in the summer of 2024 (High Fliers, no date). The Top 100 rankings are determined by responses to the open-ended question, “Which employer do you think offers the best opportunities for graduates?” as part of The UK Graduate Careers Survey 2024.
The 30 UK universities that participated in the research are as follows: Aston, Bath, Queen’s University Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Durham, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Imperial College London, King’s College London, Lancaster, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Loughborough, LSE, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, Queen Mary, Sheffield, Southampton, St Andrews, UCL, Warwick, and York (The Times, 2025).
Graduate vacancies in 2025
Employers are predicting a total of 26,043 graduate vacancies for autumn 2025 start dates, representing a 1.1% decrease compared to the number of graduates recruited in 2024 (High Fliers, 2024). Accountancy and professional services firms featured in the Top 100 plan to offer the most job vacancies, with 6,695 positions available in the year ahead. This is followed by public sector employers, who plan to recruit 4,293 university leavers, and engineering and industrial companies, which have 3,325 openings. On the other hand, there are significantly fewer graduate opportunities in oil and energy companies (250 vacancies), chemical and pharmaceuticals companies (143 vacancies), and property companies (130 vacancies) (see Table 2 below).
Table 2. Graduate vacancies and median starting salaries in 2025
Median starting salaries in 2025
Excitingly, median graduate starting salaries are projected to increase further in 2025. Among the most attractive opportunities, leading investment banks and fund managers offer the most generous median starting salaries at £60,000 per annum. Following closely are law firms at £56,000, consulting firms at £50,000, and oil and energy companies at £42,000. On the other end of the spectrum, property companies offer the least competitive median starting salaries at £27,500, followed by media organisations at £28,800, public sector employers at £30,300, and engineering and industrial companies at £30,900 (High Fliers, 2024) (see Table 2 above).
Five proven strategies to secure a top graduate job
Securing a graduate position at a reputable employer can be a competitive process, and it is vital to approach it with careful consideration. Here are five thoughtful strategies to help you shine in the graduate job market and land a role with your favourite employer.
1. Target the right employers.
The guide identifies the 100 most desirable companies that graduates actively want to work for, with each company receiving between 40 and 50 applications for every graduate vacancy, and some can even attract two or three times this number (High Fliers, 2024). Additionally, the guide provides detailed employer profiles, including the types, numbers, and locations of graduate vacancies, application deadlines, starting salaries, work experience, and entry requirements. Use these insights to refine your job search and customise your applications to target the employers you want to work for.
2. Apply early.
Competition is fierce, and many top employers close their applications before December. Some roles are even filled on a rolling basis, meaning late applications have a lower chance of success. Therefore, submitting applications as soon as possible is crucial to maximise your opportunities. However, it is worth noting that one in three employers recruit graduates year-round or during different phases and will accept applications throughout the 2024-2025 recruitment season until all their vacancies are filled (High Fliers, 2024).
3. Develop in-demand skills.
Many employers now prioritise soft skills, including teamwork, leadership, problem-solving, critical thinking, and resilience, over specific degree content and grades. This trend is evident through their use of aptitude and psychometric tests, recorded AI-assessed interviews, and assessment centres (High Fliers, 2024). To enhance these skills, engage in extracurricular activities and practice as many tests and interviews as possible, as these experiences can significantly strengthen your applications.
4. Gain work experience.
An impressive 40% of 2024 graduates who undertook an internship or work placement during their university years received a graduate job offer from a graduate employer with whom they worked, making work experience a key differentiator among these graduates (High Fliers, 2024). To enhance your employability, proactively seek out relevant opportunities, such as internships, placements, or part-time jobs, during your first and second years of study. Make sure to highlight the real-world experience in your application.
5. Use your university’s careers services.
Maximise a variety of employer events, discussion panels, networking sessions, workshops, and skills training offered by your university to learn about different industries, businesses, and career areas (High Fliers, 2024). Many universities also host exclusive career fairs and provide personalised application reviews, so be sure not to miss these valuable opportunities.
Implications for prospective students
The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2024-2025 is more than just a career guide. It is a strategic roadmap to shape academic choices, skill development and career planning. Prospective undergraduate and postgraduate students can use this resource to discover employer-preferred degrees and universities with strong industry connections, identify high-growth sectors with abundant job opportunities, find careers that offer competitive salaries, and explore work-integrated programmes that enhance employability.
While understanding market trends is valuable, it is advisable to choose a course and university that genuinely aligns with your passions rather than solely focusing on those with the best job prospects. Start career planning early to align your education with your career goals. Take advantage of our independent Free Master’s Degree Advice to discover the perfect master’s courses tailored to your unique interests.
Conclusion
Fewer than one-third of graduates from the “Class of 2024” secured graduate job offers before completing their university studies. (High Fliers, 2024). Start planning now to present yourself as a well-prepared and compelling candidate for potential employers, regardless of whether you are a prospective or current university student or a recent graduate. It is never too late to take charge of your future. Embrace the journey and trust that incredible opportunities are just around the corner, waiting for you to seize them as you embark on a fulfilling career path.
Our team consists of master’s and PhD graduates from Russell Group universities in the UK. We understand what you are experiencing and can help you achieve your academic goals. We are also British Council Certified Counsellors with a proven track record of securing the best admission offers for our clients. If you are considering further studies instead of entering the workforce, let our Postgraduate Admission Application service simplify the entire postgraduate application process for you.
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References:
High Fliers (no date) Welcome to High Fliers Research. Available at: https://www.highfliers.co.uk/ (Accessed: 27 May 2025).
High Fliers (2024) The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers. High Fliers report. Available at: https://digital.top100graduateemployers.com/view/844684358/ (Accessed: 27 May 2025).
The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers (2024) The definitive guide to Britain’s top graduate employers in 2024-2025. Available at: https://www.top100graduateemployers.com/ (Accessed: 27 May 2025).
The Times (2025) Now recruiting The Times Final Year Student Survey 2026. Available at: https://www.finalyearstudentsurvey.co.uk/vacancies/interviewer.php (Accessed: 29 May 2025).