Graduates of the typical media and journalism course in the UK earn £27,000 five years after graduating, the 18th highest of the 21 subject areas we compare. The best-paying, Film and Screen Studies at the University of Nottingham, earns £36,500.
Graduates go into journalism, PR, marketing, advertising, film and TV production, and digital content.
Graduates of the typical media and journalism course earn £27,000 five years after graduating (£24,500 after 15 months), below the £31,500 median across all subjects and the 18th highest of the 21 subject areas we compare. Behind that median, its 678 courses range from £18,000 to £58,000: the best-paying earns 2.1 times the typical course.
Entry-level jobs in media are competitive and often start on modest pay, with salaries rising for those who move into marketing or management.
Data last updated · HESA Discover Uni
| Course | After 5 years | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Film and Screen Studies | £36,500 |
| 2 | Communication, PR and Advertising BA (Hons) | £35,500 |
| 3 | Media and Communication | £35,000 |
| 4 | Film and Media | £34,000 |
| 5 | BA (Hons) Multimedia Journalism | £32,000 |
| 6 | Communication, Media and Culture | £32,000 |
| 7 | Journalism and Media BA | £32,000 |
| 8 | Communication and Media | £32,000 |
| 9 | Journalism (Communication) BA (Hons) | £32,000 |
| 10 | Comparative Literature and Film | £31,500 |
The best-paying course at each university, ranked by salary five years after graduating. Each figure is the median of each course's own median graduate salary (HESA Discover Uni). Salaries 15 months after graduating come from the Graduate Outcomes survey; three and five years on, from LEO tax data. Joint courses that HESA also files under another subject are left out of this list but appear in the chart below.
A median salary is one number standing in for hundreds of courses. This chart plots every course individually, so you can see the spread behind it: how tightly courses in a subject cluster together, or how far apart the best- and worst-paying ones sit.
Each dot is one course's own median graduate salary (not individual graduates' pay), from the HESA Discover Uni dataset. Courses with a cohort too small to report are excluded, and postgrad/top-up/alternate-entry courses are excluded site-wide. Figures compare courses, not people.
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Each dot is one course, positioned by its salary along the horizontal axis (never shifted by more than one dot-width). Vertical position means nothing. It only spreads dots apart so they don't overlap. Hover a dot for details, or click it to open that course's page.
| Course | Institution | Subject | Salary |
|---|
← See the highest paying degrees across every subject
Not counting joint courses, Film and Screen Studies at the University of Nottingham, whose graduates earn a median £36,500 five years after graduating. Next are Communication, PR and Advertising BA (Hons) at City St George's, University of London (£35,500) and Media and Communication at Loughborough University (£35,000).
Graduates of the typical media and journalism course earn £24,500 15 months after graduating and £27,000 five years after graduating, 10% more than at 15 months. Across all its courses, joint ones included, salaries range from £18,000 to £58,000.
8 of the top 10 courses above ask for between BBC and ABB at A level. Many also require particular subjects, so check each course's entry requirements.
Below average, though the best courses pay well: it ranks 18th of the 21 subject areas we compare, with the typical course paying £27,000 five years after graduating against £31,500 across all subjects. Where you study matters too: the best-paying course earns 2.1 times the typical course.