Posted: 6th October 2014

According to The Sunday Times league table of graduate salaries, which is published yesterday, computer scientists from Oxford were earning an average of £43,895 six months after graduating, making them the top-earning graduates from today’s universities. 

In his interview with the Sunday Times (not all of which appeared in the newspaper article), Head of Department Michael Wooldridge said “I'm delighted to hear that Oxford’s computer science graduates are the highest earners in the UK, although of course that isn't the main aim of our degree programmes.  If I had to put my finger on what makes our graduates so successful in the workplace, I'd have to say that I think it is the uncompromising insistence on rigour and mathematical clarity that permeates our degrees.  Ultimately, our students are trained to think clearly, rigorously, and deeply about complex problems. We aren't interested in giving students specialised skills that are of only short term value. We aim to give them fundamental skills that will be valuable for a lifetime — and not just in computing!”

Many have been recruited for lucrative posts with technology companies such as Google and Amazon, whilst others have gone into careers as diverse as teaching and social work. Data from the University’s careers service suggests that, of Dept of Computer Science leavers (including postgraduates) who go into work (or a combination of work and study), 62.8 per cent go into IT and Computing. 17.7 per cent go into banking and investment, with a roughly equal split between IT support and analyst posts. 13 per cent are in academia and higher education and 6.5 per cent in Government, Order and Policy.

The article also featured recent graduate Nicole Williams, who is currently a software engineer at a small software consultancy in London.  Having attended a state school in Buckinghamshire she undertook a four-year undergraduate course, based at Oriel College.   In her interview with the Sunday Times, she commented that “I'd say the tech industry in general seems keen to recruit CompSci grads, and to spend plenty of money doing so. Oxbridge graduates in particular seem to be in high demand, because of the reputation of the universities and their CompSci courses for providing an excellent education....I was aware of the high stating salaries for my degree before I graduated, thanks to material from the university careers office. It was a pleasant surprise when I did find out, though! I mostly just want to do well at a job I enjoy - and software engineering fits that for me.”

The full Sunday Times article is here: http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/Education/article1467407.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2014_10_05#commentsStart (behind a pay wall)

And in the Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2781180/And-geeks-shall-inherit-best-pay-Figures-reveal-computer-science-graduates-earn-best-wages-leaving-university.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

Companies who are interested in recuriting our students, please visit: http://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/recruiters/