Students graduating from engineering courses are likely to be among the highest graduate earners, according to The Times Good University Guide 2015, which is published this month and lists the top 10 salaries by course.

The top engineering course (and second on the overall salary list) is chemical engineering (at £29,582), followed by general engineering, mechanical engineering, aeronautical and manufacturing engineering, electrical and electronic engineering and civil engineering (at £24,524).

Top of the overall list is dentistry (at £30,395). The average overall starting salary for graduates is £21,982.

IET chief executive Nigel Fine says: “It is very encouraging to see that graduates beginning their engineering careers are starting on such good salaries. There has never been a better time to be an engineer; demand that far outstrips supply, competitive graduate salaries and fantastic career prospects are typical characteristics of the engineering
profession today.”

In the IET’s 2014 Skills and demand in industry report (www.theiet.org), 51% of employers said they were recruiting engineering staff this year, while 59% expressed concern that the shortage of engineers would be a threat to their businesses.