Scottish graduates best paid in UK

Graduates from Scottish universities are better paid than their counterparts across the UK, new figures have shown.

A new report by the Higher Education Statistics Agency, which tracks the destinations of graduates three and a half years after leaving university, has found that leavers from Scottish Higher Education Institutions take home an average salary of £27,500.

This represents the highest median earning in the UK, with graduates in England earning £27,000 and graduates in Wales and Northern Ireland earning £25,000 at the same point of their career.

The report also found that 93.7 per cent of all leavers from Scottish HEIs were in either employment, further study or a combination of the two three and a half years after graduating.

Welcoming the findings, SNP MSP James Dornan said: “These are very encouraging figures that show real strength in the Scottish education sector – and come just days after new figures showing a record number of young Scots going to university.

“And unlike their counterparts elsewhere in the UK, Scottish graduates are not burdened with tuition debt.

“This week we’ve already seen a robust set of school exam results, and further progress being made in ensuring that young people from deprived backgrounds can get to university.

“Improving education and driving up standards is the SNP’s number one priority in government – and this is yet further evidence that Scottish education is fundamentally strong.”