The graduates ditching the UK to work abroad - BBC News
BBC Homepage
Skip to content
Accessibility Help
Your account
Home
News
Sport
Earth
Reel
Worklife
Travel
Culture
Future
Music
TV
Weather
Sounds
More menu
More menu
Search BBC
Home
News
...
Climate
World
UK
Business
Tech
Science
Entertainment & Arts
Health
In Pictures
More
BBC Verify
Newsbeat
Business
New Tech Economy
Technology of Business
Artificial Intelligence
Africa Business
Paths to Success
The grads ditching the UK for a fresh start abroad
Image caption: Charlie West, left, Rachel James and Owein Iveson have all moved overseas.
By Elizabeth Anderson
Published 55 minutes ago
Last year Rachel James quit her corporate job in London, packed a suitcase and booked a one-way ticket to Sydney, without a job lined up or a plan in place.
"I went for a fresh start," says the 26-year-old from Surrey. "To take a risk and try something completely different. With the worst case being there will always be a flight home if all fails."
More than one in 10 UK university students are now planning to move abroad for better opportunities after they have graduated, up from 7.8% two years ago, according to a survey of 15,000 final year university students.
Meanwhile, a study by the Institute of Student Employers (ISE) says that competition for graduate jobs in the UK was at a three-decade high.
UK employers now receive 140 applications per graduate vacancy on average, an increase of 14% from 2025, and up from just 30 applications per vacancy 20 years ago, according to the ISE's report.
For young British adults going abroad, where are they heading?
Australia: "The weather's beautiful, even in the winter", says Rachel James.
Official figures show Australia remains the most popular nation for British adults overall who move abroad. Another reason is its visa-friendly policy. Under its Working Holiday Maker programme, British passport holders between the ages of 18 and 35 can live in Australia for up to three years.
Rachel, who graduated from Loughborough University in 2022 with a degree in English, had been working for insurance giant PricewaterhouseCoopers in the UK. She now has a job in marketing in Sydney for gym chain Fitness First.
Her annual salary has gone down from £42,000 to £37,000, while she now pays $AUS 2,000 (£1,000) a month to rent a two-bedroom apartment with a friend, similar to what she was paying in London.
Despite having less disposable income, she has no regrets. "The weather's beautiful, even in the winter, and the walks on my doorstep are unmatched."
"People want to leave work at 5pm so they can go and do their hobbies - whether it's surfing, running, enjoying the sunset, a picnic or sunset yoga. I didn't come with career progression as a focus - it's more about the different way of life."
The US: "I'm paid a lot more here", says Charlie West, 25, from Cheshire.
After Australia, the next most popular destination for British adults is the US.
Charlie moved to the States in 2024 for better pay and opportunities in academia after he completed a masters in medieval studies at Oxford University. He is now two years into a six-year funded PhD course at Yale's Department of Italian Studies.