London named one of the worst places for graduate students

With the 2022-2023 academic year coming to an end, final-year students graduating from university are facing a tough decision. Many of them are now asking themselves, "Where to next?"

While London may present itself as a bustling hub of opportunities for graduating students and may seem like a good choice, the city has recently been deemed the worst place to move for graduates after the release of a study by Comparethemarket, which has ranked the cities in the UK based on factors such as monthly rent and the average cost of having a meal out.

London's placement at the bottom of the list is due to the high rental prices of almost £1,500 a month, the high price of eating out (about £17 for a meal) and having to pay an average of £160 for transport passes.

However, although London prices are notorious for being steep, the city does present itself with many opportunities, boasting almost 5,000 job offers available for graduates a year. One would only need to weigh the benefits against the sheer cost of living.

In terms of job offers for graduate students, Manchester follows behind London with 1,345 jobs last year, with Birmingham coming in third with 914 offers.

Following close to London, other cities in the UK ranked as one of the worst cities for graduates to move to include Bristol, Reading, Edinburgh, and Southend-on-Sea. Bristol, like London, shares a similar, high cost of living, with the average monthly rent costing 888 pounds (for a one-bedroom apartment), and a meal out costing £15.

Featured on the other end of the list, more affordable cities have also been named as better places to move to, with cities such as Kingston upon Hull, Preston, Wolverhampton and Newport taking several of the top five places to live in the UK. Kingston upon Hull was named as the second best place to move to, with Preston taking the third, and so on.

Kingston upon Hull has the cheapest rent of all the cities numbered throughout the list, with an average of £391.25 a month. Although the city only offers around 142 jobs, it boasts a fairly low cost of living, with eating out costing an average of £10.25.

As for the best place to move to in the UK? The answer may come as a surprise to some.

Bradford was named as the best place to move to in the UK. Although it has been subject to low rankings in online polls and hundreds of jokes, Bradford presents itself as an opportune city for graduates to live in.

The average monthly rent would only set you back £463.12, with meals at inexpensive restaurants costing only £10, and the price of a coffee less than three. On top of the generally low cost of living, a graduate could expect to find 792 job offers to choose from, which would provide ample opportunity to find work in the city.