Foreword By Martin Birchall Editor, The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers
W elcome to the twenty-eighth edition of The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers , your annual guide to the UK’s most prestigious and sought-after graduate employers. Andy Burnham’s return to Westminster heralded the arrival of the UK’s seventh Prime Minister in a decade, with the former Mayor of Greater Manchester promising his premiership would
For more than two and a half decades, The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers has tracked university students’ success in the graduate job market. This year’s research with new graduates from the ‘Class of 2026’ shows they have taken a more proactive approach to job-hunting than any previous year- group, but have struggled with the reduced number of graduate opportunities available and
the continuing economic uncertainty. Half began exploring their career options in their first year – almost as soon as they arrived at university – and
‘bring back hope’, something that has been in short supply for the nation’s employers over the past two years. Faced with substantial tax rises
a record 49 per cent completed an internship, vacation work or course placement with a graduate employer during their degree. By their final year at university, an unprecedented number of students took part in on-campus careers fairs, skills workshops and employers’ recruitment events.
and the increased employment costs introduced by Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Government, business confidence has dropped sharply, recruitment has fallen, and more than a million young people are now ‘not in education, employment or training’, the worst figure since 2013.
“ The ‘Class of 2026’ have taken a more proactive approach to job-hunting than any previous year-group. ”
When it came to applying for jobs, those graduating in the summer of 2026 completed an average of twenty-four applications each, the most-ever and more than twice the number made by finalists just three years ago. Despite all this preparation and engagement with employers, the number of graduates from the ‘Class of 2026’ who received a definite job o!er before leaving university was the second-lowest ever – only the 2021 pandemic year led to a lower rate of graduate job o!ers.
Inevitably, this has had a significant impact on the graduate job market too. The country’s best- known employers hired a fifth fewer graduates than originally planned in 2024 – and reduced their graduate recruitment further in both 2025 and 2026. The number of entry-level vacancies available for new graduates has now been cut by more than a quarter over the past four years – and it seems likely that there will be even fewer opportunities in the year ahead.
TOP 100 GRADUATE EMPLOYERS 5
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