The grads ditching the UK for a fresh start abroad

Last year Rachel James quit her corporate job in London, packed a suitcase and booked a one-way ticket to Sydney, without a job lined up or a 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 planning to move abroad for better opportunities after they have graduated, up from 7.8% two years ago, according to a survey of 15,000 final year university students.

Meanwhile, a study by the Institute of Student Employers (ISE) says that competition for graduate jobs in the UK was at a three-decade high.

UK employers now receive 140 applications per graduate vacancy on average, an increase of 14% from 2025, and up from just 30 applications per vacancy 20 years ago, according to the ISE's report.

For young British adults going abroad, where are they heading?

While there is no age-specific data for which countries people go to, Australia remains by far the most popular nation for British adults overall who move abroad, official figures show.

In addition to Australia's weather and use of the English language, another reason is its visa-friendly policy. Under its Working Holiday Maker programme, British passport holders between the ages of 18 and 35 can live in Australia for up to three years.

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 has a job in marketing in Sydney for gym chain Fitness First.

She says her annual salary has gone down from £42,000 to £37,000, while she now pays $AUS 2,000 (£1,000) a month to rent a two-bedroom apartment with a friend, similar to what she was paying in London.

Despite having 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."

Around two-thirds of British nationals who emigrate are aged between 16 and 34, according to the most recent figures from the UK's Office for National Statistics.

It said that 75,000 more people in that age bracket left the UK in 2025 than arrived.

After Australia the next most popular destination for British adults is the US.

Charlie West, 25, from Cheshire, moved to the States in 2024 for better pay and opportunities in academia after he completed a masters in medieval studies at Oxford University.

West is now two years in to a six-year funded PhD course at Yale's Department of Italian Studies, which includes him 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 popular with young Britons looking to move abroad, although the visa requirements since Brexit have made it more difficult.

One way to get 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.

This is what Owein Iveson, 24, from Sunderland, is doing 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 doesn't expect to return to the UK anytime 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 see why more UK graduates are looking overseas.

"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."