Technology, energy and financial services pay most at entry, with the strongest programmes advertising above £30,000 in year one against a typical Level 6 range of £18,000 to £28,000. But starting salary is a weak predictor of what you earn at 25 — progression and what the programme qualifies you to do matter more, and the tables below show both.
Highest-paying fields right now
Median advertised salary across 36 live UK vacancies that state a figure. Fields with fewer than four salaried listings are excluded, because a median across two adverts is noise.
| Field | Median advertised | Highest seen | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | £57,515 | £57,515 | 4 |
| Law | £42,000 | £42,000 | 7 |
| Engineering | £29,281 | £45,396 | 7 |
Highest-paying employers right now
Same basis, grouped by employer. This shifts week to week as vacancies open and close — treat it as a snapshot rather than a ranking.
| Employer | Median advertised | Highest seen | Live roles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan Police | £42,000 | £42,000 | 4 |
| Transport for London | £29,281 | £31,289 | 8 |
Based on 361 live vacancies tracked across 192 employers, updated daily. Only listings stating a salary are included, so employers advertising “competitive” are absent — which does not mean they pay badly.
Why the headline number misleads
Four things make a £24,000 programme routinely better than a £30,000 one:
- Progression during the programme. Salaries usually step up each year, and the size of those steps varies far more than the starting figure. A programme starting at £22,000 and finishing at £42,000 beats one starting at £28,000 and finishing at £34,000.
- What you qualify as. An accountancy apprenticeship that funds your ACA, or a solicitor apprenticeship that qualifies you to practise, is worth a great deal more than the salary difference during the programme. Professional qualifications are where the compounding happens.
- Where it is. A London programme paying £4,000 more against £6,000 more in rent leaves you worse off. The rent affordability calculator is the honest way to compare two offers in different cities.
- What happens at the end. Retention rates and post-completion salary vary enormously — and the step at completion is usually larger than any raise during the programme. See salary after a degree apprenticeship.
The legal floor, for reference
The apprentice rate of the National Minimum Wage rose to £8.00 an hour from 1 April 2026. It applies to apprentices aged under 19, and to those aged 19 or over who are in the first year of their apprenticeship. After the first year, apprentices aged 19 or over move to the standard minimum wage for their age.
This matters mainly as a warning sign. A degree apprenticeship advertising at or near the apprentice minimum is unusual, and worth asking hard questions about — most degree apprenticeships pay multiples of it because they compete for applicants who could go to university instead.
How to compare two offers properly
- Ask for the salary at each year of the programme, not just year one.
- Ask what the salary is on completion, and what proportion of the last cohort stayed.
- Check which professional qualification, if any, is funded alongside the degree.
- Convert both to take-home and subtract realistic rent and travel for the actual location.
- Then, and only then, compare the numbers.
Browse live roles to filter by salary and level, or see the best programmes guide for the sector-by-sector view.