Vocational, digitally skilled workers earn higher salaries than university grads

Coding bootcamp, Makers, reveals that its entry-level software engineers earn £32,000 a year

Software engineering training provider Makers have revealed the average salary of the engineers they train. Upon completion of their 12-week programme, software developers are earning an average of £32,000 a year, higher than most university arts and science graduates.

The data was gathered from over 500 former Makers students, many of whom have found work after completing the three-month programme in some of the biggest companies in the world, including BBC, HSBC, Deloitte, The Financial Times and the Telegraph Group.

According to the latest High Fliers report, The Graduate Market in 2018, the median starting salary for UK graduates in 2018 was  £30,000. However, employment sites such graduate-jobs.com estimates the average starting salary for graduates is £19,000–£22,000 – significantly lower than someone boasting digital skills.

The time has come for the UK to put its prejudices aside when assessing the value of vocational training.
– Evgency Shadchnev, Makers

“The time has come for the UK to put its prejudices aside when assessing the value of vocational training,” said Evgeny Shadchnev, CEO of Makers. “In a digital economy, businesses require a skill set that universities are failing to provide their students, who don’t get the salaries they want and are also burdened by massive debts at the end of their programmes.”

Shadchnev added: “What our data proves is that graduates with coding professional software skills create real value for employers and they are willing to pay good salaries for their qualifications. We hope that in future many other students will look beyond university training when thinking about their future careers – and take a closer look at the limitless possibilities that software development can offer to any generation of workers.”

Makers work with employers to use their government Apprenticeship Levy to plug their tech skills gap by using the funds to pay for the apprentice’s software engineering education at Makers.

The programme is open to everyone and to all age groups, including career changers and those from diverse social, economic and ethnic backgrounds. Applicants do not need to hold a university qualification. Statistically, 35% of Makers software engineer trainees have been women – more than double the industry average.

Since its inception in 2013, Shoreditch-based Makers has trained over 1,500 students through their 12-week programme and placed them with clients that include ThoughtWorks, British Gas, Compare the Market and JP Morgan Chase.