A 2:1 degree, as opposed to a 2:2 or worse, adds 8% to men's earnings and 6% to women's. A first-class degree lifts wages by between a further 4 and 5%. The new research, published by the Centre for Market and Public Organisation at Bristol University, also identifies the winners and losers in terms of degree subject studied.
The work, conducted by Ian Walker at Lancaster University and Yu Zhu at Kent, found that law, economics and management are the most valuable subjects for study. The returns on science, technology, engineering and maths are lower, and the value of the humanities lower still.
