LONDON / RankWire.AI / – The number of graduate job openings in the UK decreased by nearly 50% in July compared to the same month in the previous year, illustrating a more competitive entry-level employment landscape. Adzuna reported 8,383 advertised graduate positions during July, a stark contrast to the 15,397 available in July 2025. This represents approximately a 46% decline, marking the lowest total since the platform started monitoring graduate vacancies in April 2016. At its peak in 2017, the number of graduate roles exceeded 55,000.
The competition for jobs across the wider UK labour market has also intensified, with 2.14 jobseekers vying for each vacancy in July, up from 1.93 a year earlier. These figures encompass jobs across various sectors rather than exclusively graduate roles. The data on graduate vacancies is derived from online ads collected from over 1,000 sources, meaning it reflects advertised openings within that dataset rather than every available position for university graduates.
Official statistics indicate softer demand across the broader employment sector. The Office for National Statistics estimated there were 707,000 vacancies between May and July 2026, which is a decrease of 6,000 from the previous three months and 19,000 fewer than a year earlier. Additionally, the ratio of unemployed people per vacancy increased to 2.5 in April through June, compared to 2.3 during the same period last year.
Intense Competition for Graduate Applicants
This summer saw a record number of young people securing UK undergraduate places. According to UCAS, 262,820 UK 18-year-olds had gained admission by results day on August 13, which is 3% higher than the 255,130 recorded at the same stage in 2025. The entry rate for UK 18-year-olds reached 31.6%, highlighting the increased competition among future graduates vying for professional and entry-level roles in a tight labour market.
Employers running formal graduate recruitment programs are already facing stiff competition, with the Institute of Student Employers reporting just over one million applications during the 2024/25 recruitment cycle. On average, employers received 140 applications for each graduate vacancy, reflecting high applicant demand in established hiring channels. These figures are set against the backdrop of the significant drop in advertised graduate vacancies in recent monthly job data.
UK Employment Market Continues to Struggle
Since the implementation of changes to employer National Insurance contributions in April 2025, employment costs have increased, with the contribution rate rising from 13.8% to 15%, and the secondary threshold falling from £9,100 to £5,000. The latest vacancy survey from the national statistics office indicates some small businesses have limited recruitment due to rising labour and operational expenses, with vacancy levels declining in nine of the 18 sectors surveyed.
The role of artificial intelligence in entry-level employment has entered discussions, though official insights into its precise impact remain limited. Skills England noted in August that disentangling AI’s effects from broader labour market trends is still challenging. Meanwhile, from January to March 2026, 1.012 million individuals aged 16 to 24 were not engaged in education, employment, or training—an increase of 89,000 from the previous year, representing 13.5% of that age group.