The grads ditching the UK for a fresh start abroad
With graduate jobs hard to come by, more young adults are reported to be considering emigrating.
The grads leaving the UK for a new life overseas
Charlie West, left, Rachel James and Owein Iveson have all relocated abroad
Last year, Rachel James gave up her corporate role in London, packed a suitcase and bought a one-way ticket to Sydney, with no job waiting and no plan in place.
"I went for a fresh start," says the 26-year-old from Surrey. "To take a risk and try something completely different. With the worst case being there will always be a flight home if all fails."
More than one in 10 UK university students are now intending to move overseas for better opportunities after graduation, up from 7.8% two years ago, according to a survey of 15,000 final year university students.
At the same time, a study by the Institute of Student Employers (ISE) says competition for graduate jobs in the UK is at a three-decade high.
UK employers now get 140 applications per graduate vacancy on average, up 14% from 2025, and far above the 30 applications per vacancy seen 20 years ago, according to the ISE's report.
So where are young British adults heading when they go abroad?
Although there is no age-specific data showing which countries people choose, Australia is still by far the most popular destination overall for British adults who move overseas, official figures show.
Along with Australia's climate and the fact that English is spoken there, another draw is its visa-friendly approach. Under the Working Holiday Maker programme, British passport holders aged 18 to 35 can live in Australia for up to three years.
Rachel James says Sydney is a better place to live and work than London
Rachel, who graduated from Loughborough University in 2022 with a degree in English, had been working for insurance giant PricewaterhouseCoopers in the UK. She now works in marketing in Sydney for gym chain Fitness First.
She says her yearly salary has fallen from £42,000 to £37,000, while she now pays $AUS 2,000 (£1,000) a month to rent a two-bedroom flat with a friend, about the same as she was paying in London.
Even with less disposable income, she has no regrets. "The weather's beautiful, even in the winter, and the walks on my doorstep are unmatched.
"People want to leave work at 5pm so they can go and do their hobbies - whether it's surfing, running, enjoying the sunset, a picnic or sunset yoga. I didn't come with career progression as a focus - it's more about the different way of life."
According to the latest figures from the UK's Office for National Statistics, around two-thirds of British nationals who emigrate are aged between 16 and 34.
It said 75,000 more people in that age group left the UK in 2025 than arrived.
After Australia, the next most popular destination for British adults is the US.
Charlie West says working in the US has brought him better pay and more opportunities
Charlie West, 25, from Cheshire, moved to the States in 2024 for better pay and opportunities in academia after finishing a masters in medieval studies at Oxford University.
West is now two years into a six-year funded PhD course at Yale's Department of Italian Studies, which includes teaching.
"I really wanted to do a PhD but it's difficult to get funding in the UK, particularly in the humanities, and funded stipends are about £21,000. I'd have had to work [outside academia] at the same time to afford to live.
"In the US I'm paid $51,000 a year (£37,770), about to rise to $52,000, and it comes with a lot more opportunities to teach and travel to conferences."
The European Union also remains a popular choice for young Britons wanting to move abroad, although Brexit has made visa rules more difficult.
One route into the European jobs market is to have studied in the EU. International graduates can apply for a permanent residence permit after their degree ends.
Owein Iveson has no intention of returning to the UK from Finland
That is the path Owein Iveson, 24, from Sunderland, is taking as he is about to graduate from Finland's Aalto University with a masters in design.
Owein says he "fell in love with the country" after visiting for the first time in 2020.
"Finland's a beautiful country," he says. "The streets are very clean. It's a very quiet lifestyle. The nature is fantastic and the public transport works really efficiently."
Owein lives in Espoo, a city about 15 minutes on the metro from Helsinki, and does not expect to return to the UK any time soon.
"To be honest the jobs market is not great in Finland, but there is high demand for IT workers, and if you can work across the EU there are many more opportunities."
Immigration lawyer John Kiely, a London-based partner at international law firm Howard Kennedy, says it is easy to understand why more UK graduates are looking abroad.
"When you combine student debt, high housing costs, relatively weak wage growth and uncertainty about future employment, the willingness to roll the dice somewhere else becomes quite rational."
Back in Sydney, Rachel says the city simply offers a better quality of life than London.
"I don't see life in Sydney as any more expensive than if I was in London, but personally I have found the perks in Sydney better."