The bar chart presents the quantity of UK students applying to jobs in 4 industries upon graduating in 2015, 2025, and an estimate for 2035.
Overall, between 2015 and 2025, there was a downward trend in undergraduates applying for jobs in Education and Retail, and an increase in Finance and I.T. These trends are expected to continue to 2035.
Two sectors experienced decreasing application rates: Retail and Education. Retail was the most popular sector in 2015, with 400 students. However, a sizeable drop occurred, meaning that only around 300 students applied in 2025. As a result, Retail went from the most popular sector to the second. The decrease is predicted to continue until 2035, which sees retail becoming the least Favoured sector (around 160). Education followed a similar trajectory, albeit at a less steep rate than Retail: it started at 300 students in 2015 before declining to just above 200 by 2025. Like Retail, it is Forecast to have decreased by 2035 to around 175.
I.T. and Finance, on the other hand, both saw an increase in application rates. Finance was the second least popular in 2015 (250 students). However, by 2025 it had become the most popular, with over 350 applications. A further increase is anticipated by 2035, making it the most popular (450 students). The I.T. sector also increased: between 2015 and 2025, it experienced an almost three-fold increase (50 to around 150). Even greater numbers are expected by 2035, resulting in I.T. becoming the second most popular sector (almost 300 students).