Chemistry
Ahead of the no-degree route after
Lab technician — from £20k at 18
You will repay
2.0× what you borrowed
Borrowed at graduation
3-year course
DfE LEO 2023–24 median graduate earnings and ONS ASHE salary data. Assumes Plan 5, £9,790 tuition and £8,000 maintenance a year over 3 years. Adjust it all below.
Everything below is worked out from these. Change any of them.
For students starting Sept 2023 onward · threshold £25,000 from April 2026 · interest RPI (3.2%) · written off after 40 yrs · gov.uk
P50 — median graduate earnings for this subject (DfE LEO 2023–24): £27,100 at graduation rising to £45,000 by year 10.
Both routes are compared at their median. Switch to see how the answer holds up if you land at the bottom or top of the range.
The verdict
You're ahead of the no-degree route after
Lab technician — from £20k at 18
Chemistry pays back eventually, but slower than it should — and automation risk isn't negligible.
Total borrowed at graduation
You will repay
2.0× what you borrowed · 9% for all 40 yrs, then written off
Balance after 20 years
+21% above borrowed
Safe from AI
Low risk
AI is accelerating drug discovery and materials research but the lab-based, experimental core of chemistry work remains human. Regulatory roles are particularly protected. Confidence: Medium.
Two versions of you leave school at 18. One goes to university; the other starts working now as a lab technician on about £20k. This is the year your total earnings so far — salary minus loan repayments — finally overtake theirs. They spend the first 3years earning while you study, so you start well behind. Sooner is better. "Never" means they stay ahead for all 40 years.
Still £52,516 owed at year 30 — written off entirely at year 40 under Plan 5, after paying £106,863 in repayments.
Graduation
30 years later
Gross salary, take-home after the 9% graduate tax, and what is still owed — on Plan 5, written off after 40 years.
| Year | Gross | Take-home | Repayment | Loan balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 0 | £27k | £23k | £189 | £56k |
| Year 2 | £32k | £26k | £585 | £59k +5% |
| Year 5 | £38k | £30k | £1k | £62k +6% |
| Year 10 | £45k | £34k | £2k | £66k +5% |
| Year 20 | £55k | £40k | £3k | £65k -1% |
| Year 30 | £67k | £46k | £4k | £53k -19% |
Chemistry does not strictly require a degree. This is how far ahead the degree route is, after loan repayments — below the line you are behind, above it you are ahead.
By age 48, the degree route is
The paths cross at age 30, 9 years after you graduate.
Age 18
30 years later
You repay £106,863 over 40 years. Valued as if those same payments had been invested instead, they would be worth:
Taken from your pay over 40 years
The same payments, invested
LISA + Stocks & Shares ISA at 6%/yr
Almost nobody gets the degree without the loan, and you cannot opt out of the 9%. Read it as what the repayment stream is worth in economic terms, which is rather more than the £106,863 of cash it looks like. It is also not money the no-degree route would have: that path earns less to begin with. Whether the degree beats not going is the figure at the top of this page.
Assumes a 6% average annual return (long-run mid-point for a diversified stocks & shares portfolio, historically ranging ~4–8%/yr) — not guaranteed.
| Year | LISA (+25% bonus) |
|---|---|
| Year 10 | £15,255 |
| Year 20 | £62,624 |
| Year 30 | £163,304 |
So — worth it?
You can enter this field without a degree, and on median earnings it catches the alternative path 9 years after you graduate — with low automation exposure. It only pays off if you beat the median, so go in with a plan for how: the course, the placement, the first job.
Every figure above compares Chemistry against lab technician, starting around £20k at 18. These are the official entry paths for it.
National Careers Service — entry routes and requirements
GOV.UK — live vacancies you can apply to now
Both are government services. Degree Index is not affiliated with either and earns nothing from these links.