New research has revealed the London School of Economics & Political Science to be the best Russell Group university to attend in order to work at some of the world’s leading companies. The study also showed Deloitte to be the biggest prestigious employer of graduates from the UK’s top universities.
The findings come from an analysis of LinkedIn data by researchers at the summer school group Oxford Royale Academy. They took the number of alumni from the 24 UK Russell Group universities who were at each of the top 60 most desired employers in the world and then divided that figure by the total number of alumni – registered on LinkedIn – to give a percentage figure.
The London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) came top of the list. Of the more than 240,000 people listing themselves as alumni of LSE on LinkedIn, around 17,000 said they worked at one of the companies in the top 60 most attractive employers. This means that 7.33% of the alumni work at one of the companies included in the analysis.
Deloitte was the number one prestigious employer at LSE, with over 1,546 alumni claiming that they work at the auditing company on their LinkedIn page.
LSE was also revealed to be the best Russell Group university to attend for students who want to work in the financial sector. It has 2,442 alumni working in the financial sector at some of the world’s top financial institutions and banks including, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America.
In addition, LSE also leads the way in producing the Russell Group’s highest number of graduates currently working at Google. A total of 387 alumni currently list the internet giant as their employer on LinkedIn.
The University of Warwick came second on the list of Russell Group universities with the highest number of graduates at top employers. According to the LinkedIn data, Warwick currently has 6.3% of its graduates employed by major companies such as Google, Deloitte and Unilever. Again, Deloitte was the biggest employer of Warwick graduates with 740 currently working there in some capacity.
Third on the list is another University of London college, Imperial College London. A total of 6.27% of people with a degree from Imperial are now working at the prestigious businesses that are considered amongst the top 60 in the world.
Once again, the biggest employer out of the top 60 companies of Imperial College London graduates was Deloitte, with some 458 graduates currently working there. Imperial College London is also the Russell Group university that has produced the highest percentage of alumni currently working at Microsoft, with 233 graduates employed there.
Durham University placed fourth on the list thanks to 5.97% of its alumni being employed by top companies. With 733 graduates currently employed by Deloitte, the firm was again the biggest employer of graduates from the northeastern university.
Rounding off the top five was the University of Nottingham with 4.79% of their alumni registered on LinkedIn currently employed by a top 60 employer. And Deloitte once more showed itself to be the dominant employer, with 792 graduates of Nottingham currently employed there.
Deloitte is a multinational auditing, consultation, and financial advisory group. It ranked seventh on the Fortune Best Big Companies to work for in 2021 and, as we have seen, the company is the most common destination for Russell Group alumni. Compared to all the companies on the list, Deloitte is the prestigious company that employs the highest number of graduates. It is the biggest employer for 19 out of the 24 universities in the Group.
Finance company EY was the next biggest employer of Russell Group alumni. 3 of the 24 universities have EY as their biggest prestigious employer of graduates. Multinational professional services firm PwC were the third biggest employer as they were the company that hired the most graduates from two Russell Group institutions.
For students inspired by AstraZeneca’s pioneering vaccine response, the University of Manchester offers a promising path. It currently has 529 alumni working for the pharmaceutical multinational and has the highest percentage of any university on the list.
William Humphreys, CEO & Founder, Oxford Royale Academy commented on the findings: “It is fascinating to see the path that graduates of top universities are most likely to take in their careers. Earning a place at a Russell Group institution is a challenge and it doesn’t stop once students have graduated and are finding their way in the working world. Therefore, planning and preparing for professional life is key to giving a student the best chance.”
The top prestigious employer at each UK Russell Group university
| University | Top prestigious company employer | Number of alumni working at the top prestigious employer |
| London School of Economics & Political Science | Deloitte | 1546 |
| University of Warwick | Deloitte | 740 |
| Imperial College London | Deloitte | 458 |
| Durham University | Deloitte | 733 |
| University of Nottingham | Deloitte | 792 |
| University College London | EY | 689 |
| Queen Mary, University of London | EY | 344 |
| King’s College London | EY | 531 |
| University of Bristol | Deloitte | 602 |
| University of York | Deloitte | 340 |
| University of Exeter | Deloitte | 580 |
| University of Southampton | Deloitte | 490 |
| University of Oxford | Deloitte | 723 |
| University of Manchester | Deloitte | 884 |
| University of Edinburgh | Deloitte | 507 |
| University of Birmingham | Deloitte | 696 |
| University of Cambridge | Deloitte | 843 |
| Queen’s University Belfast | PwC | 625 |
| University of Glasgow | Deloitte | 323 |
| University of Leeds | Deloitte | 636 |
| Newcastle University | PwC | 494 |
| University of Sheffield | Deloitte | 437 |
| Cardiff University | Deloitte | 529 |
| University of Liverpool | Deloitte | 340 |
