Degree grade matters more than university reputation, report finds

Salary earnings depend more on degree classifications than the name of the institution, reports Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Graduates with top university grades tend to earn more money, but the size of the ‘pay-off’ may also depend on where and what you study

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Graduates with a good degree from a less prestigious institution earn more than those with a lower-class degree from more selective universities, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).

New IFS research found that graduates with first-class or 2.1 honours degrees had higher average earnings by the age of 30 than those who had finished with a lower-class degree, even if those in the second cohort had gone to a more reputable university.

The findings suggest that, as far as salaries are concerned, the class of degree is more important than the institution.