Studying engineering and technology at university can make you rich(ish)

Technical graduates are among the top earners in the UK

Choosing a technical degree, rather than the arts or social science, is the key to a higher-paying career, according data from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).

The IFS data suggests that a computer science graduate can expect to earn, on average, around £30,000 five years after graduating, with engineering & technology graduates falling in the low-to-mid £30,000s.

After that come other skilled roles, including veterinary science, mathematics, economics, and medicine & dentistry, which tops the earning potential chart at £46,700.

These wages are roughly double those of students who study creative arts (£20,100), agriculture (£22,000) and mass communication (£22,300). As careers progress, the pay gap increases.

The ISF also looked at graduate earnings by university and, not surprisingly, found that the top Russell Group institutions, such as Oxford and Cambridge universities, produce the highest earnings. Graduates from these universities earned around £40,000, on average, within five years of leaving, while at the other end of the scale earnings were around £15,000.

The UK is currently suffering from a dramatic shortage of skilled technical graduates. Companies such as Ocado now have to take on the majority of their software and engineering staff from overseas, even if they are basing them in the UK.

But organisations like Bloodhound SSC are working to get young people interested in STEM subjects. This is critical to closing the skills gap, as children form their ideas of ‘suitable' careers at a very young age.

Ann Watson, CEO of not-for-profit organisation Semta, told The Telegraph earlier this year: "We need to be starting much earlier. We need children of primary-school age to be given the opportunity to see what a modern cutting-edge engineering workplace looks like.

"So many young people who have an engineering skill and aptitude are lost to the sector because they're not given that encouragement earlier."