The UK Graduate Careers Survey
Produced annually since 1995, The UK Graduate Careers Survey researches the career plans of final year university students, their applications for graduate jobs, and how they view graduate employers in different industries and employment sectors.
It is the UK’s largest independent survey of university students and provides the country’s leading employers with exclusive insight into the career expectations and aspirations of new graduates – and identifies the recruitment promotions, events and resources that students use during their search for a graduate job.
Research from the survey includes reports on graduate recruitment at individual universities, in-depth analysis of diversity & inclusion, and insights on attracting and recruiting STEM graduates. The survey also measures the impact of employers’ graduate recruitment marketing campaigns, and each employer taking part in the programme has the opportunity to commission its own questions within the survey.
About the Survey
The UK Graduate Careers Survey is based on up to 15,000 face-to-face interviews with final year students at thirty key universities across the UK – and is supported by on-campus research groups and in-depth research with over 2,500 student job hunters.
The research is conducted by High Fliers Research, in association with The Times newspaper, on behalf of the country’s top graduate recruiters. Each year more than fifty top employers participate in the research programme and have exclusive access to the latest survey results to assess, benchmark, review and develop their graduate recruitment.
Research at a Glance
- 15,000 final year students interviewed
- 30 universities included across the UK
- 20 industries & employment sectors
- 160-page research report
- 40+ research digests & briefings
- Analysis of employers’ graduate recruitment marketing
- In-depth research on participating graduate employers
- Used by 50+ graduate employers each year
- Exclusive one-day research launch and awards
- Unlimited presentations & employers briefings
Researching the ‘Class of 2026’
The UK Graduate Careers Survey 2026 is already underway – and will assess the career plans, expectations and job hunting of final year students leaving university in the summer of 2026.
The research explores how students have made use of online promotions, social media, careers fairs and employers’ presentations during their search for a graduate job – and identifies the applications made, expected starting salaries and the career aspirations of the ‘Class of 2026’.
It also examines the impact of AI on graduate job hunting, the cost-of-living crisis for university students, and final year students’ reactions to the increasingly challenging graduate employment market.
Benchmarking Graduate Employers
The survey also evaluates, assesses and benchmarks the impact of individual employers’ graduate recruitment marketing – including their website, social media, recruitment brochures, and on-campus promotions in 2025-2026.
And each employer participating in the research programme commissions their own survey questions, to find out students’ views on their employer brand, graduate programme and their latest recruitment campaign.
Employers Who Use the Research
Participate in the Research Programme
Over the past three decades, more than 200 major national & international employers have used The UK Graduate Careers Survey to review, assess and develop their campus-led recruitment strategies.
To find out how your organisation could access the very latest student research in 2026, please contact Sally Hyman, Survey Director or Zoe Gordon, Law Survey Director.
