The key facts
- More than 10% of final-year British students plan to move abroad to work — up from 7.8% two years ago (survey of 15,000 graduates).
- According to ISE, there are on average 140 applications per graduate vacancy in the UK — a 14% increase on 2025 and a 30-year high.
- The most popular destination is Australia, followed by the US and the EU; according to ONS, in 2025, 75,000 more people aged 16–34 left the UK than arrived.
Record competition for graduate vacancies
More and more British university graduates are considering moving abroad. According to a survey of 15,000 final-year students, more than one in ten (10%+) plan to move abroad after graduating for better opportunities — two years earlier this figure was 7.8%. Research by the Institute of Student Employers (ISE) records that competition for graduate places in the UK is at a thirty-year high: employers receive on average 140 applications per vacancy, 14% more than in 2025 and almost five times more than 20 years ago (30 applications).
Australia — the most popular destination
Official statistics show that Australia remains the most popular country for British emigration overall. Besides the climate and the English language, its visa policy is attractive: under the Working Holiday Maker programme, holders of British passports aged 18 to 35 can live in Australia for up to three years. Rachel James, 26, from Surrey, a Loughborough University graduate (2022, English) who worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers, moved to Sydney without a job or a plan. She now works in marketing for the Fitness First gym chain. Her annual salary dropped from £42,000 to £37,000, and the rent for a two-bedroom flat shared with a friend (2,000 Australian dollars, about £1,000 a month) is comparable to London. Despite lower disposable income, she does not regret moving: 'The weather is wonderful even in winter, and the walks on my doorstep are incomparable. People want to leave work at five to pursue hobbies — surfing, running, picnics or sunset yoga. I didn't come for a career, but for a different way of life.'
USA: higher pay and more opportunities
According to the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS), about two-thirds of emigrating Britons are people aged 16 to 34; in 2025, 75,000 more people from this group left the country than arrived. After Australia, the most popular destination for Britons is the US. Charlie West, 25, from Cheshire, moved in 2024 after a master's in medieval studies at Oxford. He is in the second year of a six-year funded PhD programme in the Italian studies department at Yale University with a teaching load. 'In the UK it's hard to get funding, especially in the humanities, and stipends are around £21,000 — you'd have to work outside academia. In the US I'm paid $51,000 a year (about £37,770), soon it will be $52,000, plus there are more opportunities to teach and go to conferences.'
EU: study as an entry into the European market
The European Union is also popular among young Britons, although after Brexit visa requirements have made moving more complicated. One route into the European labour market is studying in the EU: foreign graduates can apply for a permanent residence permit after completing their programme. That is what Owain Iverson, 24, from Sunderland, who is completing a master's in design at Finland's Aalto University, is doing. He 'fell in love with the country' after his first visit in 2020: 'Finland is a beautiful country, the streets are very clean, a calm way of life, wonderful nature and efficient public transport.' He lives in Espoo, about 15 minutes by metro from Helsinki, and does not plan to return soon: 'The labour market in Finland is honestly not the best, but there is high demand for IT specialists, and if you can work across the whole EU, there are far more opportunities.'
'Rolling the dice elsewhere becomes rational'
London immigration lawyer John Keil, a partner at the international firm Howard Kennedy, believes the reasons for the rise are clear: 'When student debt, high housing costs, relatively weak wage growth and uncertainty about future employment combine, the willingness to roll the dice elsewhere becomes quite rational.' Rachel James in Sydney adds that the city offers a higher quality of life than London: 'I don't think life in Sydney is more expensive than in London, but in my experience, the upsides in Sydney are better.'
Charlie West, left, Rachel James and Owein Iveson have all moved overseas
Image source, Rachel James Rachel James says that Sydney is a nicer place to live and work than London
Image source, Charlie West Charlie West says that working in the US has given him better pay and more opportunities
Image source, Owein Iveson Owein Iveson has no plans to return to the UK from Finland
