More UK graduates consider moving abroad as job competition rises

More UK graduates are considering moving abroad as competition for graduate jobs at home intensifies, with a survey finding that more than one in 10 final-year students plan to leave for better opportunities.

The figure is up from 7.8% two years ago, according to a survey of 15,000 students cited by the BBC. Separately, the Institute of Student Employers says competition for graduate roles has reached a three-decade high: employers now receive an average of 140 applications per vacancy, 14% more than in 2025.

The BBC spoke to three young Britons who have moved overseas, each for different reasons. Rachel James, 26, left a corporate job in London for Sydney without another job lined up. She now works in marketing and says she values the city’s lifestyle, despite earning less than she did in the UK.

Her annual salary fell from £42,000 to £37,000, she said. She pays A$2,000 a month to rent a two-bedroom flat with a friend — a similar amount to her former London rent. James said career progression was not her priority in moving.

Charlie West, 25, moved to the United States in 2024 after completing a master’s degree at Oxford. He is studying for a funded PhD at Yale and says the funding and opportunities to teach and attend conferences were better than what he could find in the UK. His stipend is $51,000 a year, due to rise to $52,000, he told the BBC.

Owein Iveson, 24, is completing a master’s degree in design at Finland’s Aalto University. He said he had fallen in love with Finland after visiting in 2020 and does not expect to return to the UK soon. He acknowledged that Finland’s jobs market is “not great”, but said there was demand for IT workers and more opportunities for people able to work across the EU.

Australia remains the most popular destination for British adults moving abroad overall, followed by the United States, according to official figures cited by the BBC. The figures do not identify destinations specifically for graduates. British passport holders aged 18 to 35 can live in Australia for up to three years under its Working Holiday Maker programme.

The Office for National Statistics figures cited in the report show that 75,000 more people aged 16 to 34 left the UK in 2025 than arrived. The BBC also quotes immigration lawyer John Kiely, who pointed to student debt, housing costs, wage growth and uncertainty over employment as reasons graduates might look overseas.

The accounts show different trade-offs: James chose lifestyle over pay, while West cited funding and academic opportunities. Iveson, meanwhile, sees prospects beyond Finland in the wider EU jobs market.