The UK graduate job market in 2026: a guide for parents

The UK graduate job market is more competitive than when most parents graduated. Employers received an average of 140 applications for every graduate vacancy in 2025, level with 2024 and the highest the Institute of Student Employers has recorded, and graduate hiring fell by 8%. Most graduates still do well, with 87% working or studying 15 months after graduating, but the ones who do best start early, apply carefully rather than widely, and build clear evidence of their skills.

How competitive is the graduate job market?#

The Institute of Student Employers (ISE), whose members are mainly large graduate employers, reports that:

• there were 140 applications per graduate vacancy on average in 2025, the same as in 2024 and the highest since it began collecting the figures in 1991 (ISE, April 2026)
• graduate hiring fell by 8%, the first fall since 2020, while apprentice hiring rose by 8% (ISE, October 2025)

Competition varies a lot by sector. The ISE reports around 290 applications per vacancy in retail, consumer goods and tourism, compared with 69 in law.

High Fliers Research, which tracks the UK’s 100 best-known graduate employers, found they cut graduate recruitment by 5.1% in 2025, after cuts of 14.6% in 2024 and 6.4% in 2023.

Is AI taking graduate jobs?#

Not wholesale, according to employers. In the ISE’s 2026 survey, 87% of employers expected AI to reshape graduate roles, but 40% expected it to replace no entry-level roles at all, and a further 42% expected it to replace between 1% and 10%. The bigger change is in what employers expect: skills such as critical thinking, AI literacy, communication and adaptability are growing in importance.

What do graduates earn?#

Salaries are usually higher in London. Over the longer term, the Department for Education’s June 2026 analysis found that graduates generally earn more than people with similar school results who did not go to university, but the difference depends heavily on the subject studied.

When do graduate schemes open?#

Earlier than most parents expect. Prospects sets out the usual timetable for schemes starting in 2027:

Internships for students in their penultimate year follow a similar pattern, a year earlier. They matter: many employers find that former interns are better prepared for work, and some recruit graduates directly from their intern groups.

Not every job follows this timetable. Smaller employers, and many jobs that are not labelled “graduate”, recruit all year round.

How does selection work?#

Large employers usually use several stages: an online application, online tests, a video interview and an assessment centre. Our guide to graduate assessment centres explains the final stage.

Degree results still matter, but less than many people think. Prospects reports that in 2025, 47% of ISE employers asked for a 2:1, 20% accepted a 2:2, and 23% set no minimum degree grade at all.

What do employers say graduates lack?#

In the ISE’s 2026 development survey, 35% of employers rated new graduates below expectations at adapting to the workplace. The gaps they mentioned most were motivation, self-awareness, and planning and organising. These are skills students can build and show through part-time work, internships, projects and societies.

How can parents help?#

• Encourage them to use the careers service. The Prospects Early Careers Survey 2026 found that only 39% of university students surveyed had sought advice from a careers professional. Many careers services keep helping graduates for years after they leave.
• Help them start early. The autumn of the final year is the key time, and internships the year before help even more.
• Support, but let them lead. Help them plan their time, practise interviews and think through options, but let them write their own applications. Employers can usually tell.
• Widen the search. Encourage them to look at smaller employers and jobs that are not labelled “graduate”, as well as the big schemes.
• Keep rejections in perspective. With 140 applications per vacancy, most strong candidates are turned down many times before they get an offer.

What should you be wary of?#

• Anyone who promises a job. No one can honestly guarantee a job. The Advertising Standards Authority ruled against an advert that looked like a job vacancy, with a “job guarantee”, but was for a £1,095 course.
• Job scams. Genuine employers never ask candidates for payment. Fake job adverts are also used to recruit students as “money mules”. Report fraud to Report Fraud, the service that replaced Action Fraud.

If you are considering paid coaching, ask for the full price in writing, what is included, what happens if your son or daughter wants to stop, and whether any fee depends on getting a job. A good provider will answer all of these clearly before you commit.