The highest salaries in London's financial sector went to graduates of a prominent French institution, a survey finds, although the duration of their courses are longer than in the UK.

The days when banking offered university graduates the best shot at earning the highest salaries may not be over but a ranking of salaries based on educational institutions suggests science-focused degrees might be in more demand.

Emolument.com, a crowd-sourced database of remuneration in areas such as finance, asked where the best-paid finance graduates went to university. It examined data from 700 London finance professionals who graduated after 2011, (BA, BSc, Masters degrees, excluding MBA).The answer, it found, was that at an average salary of £74,000 ($115,627), products of Ecole Polytechnique in France came up top, ahead of the London Business School (£66,000); Ecole Centrale Paris (£62,000); and Bocconi Unversity and SDA School of Management (£60,000).

“Seeing the two most prestigious French engineering schools at the top of the rankings (Polytechnique and Centrale), shows that financial institutions value such highly-skilled scientific profiles,” Emolument said in its report.

The survey is the latest in a series of data reports on remuneration and associated trends in financial services from the organisation. (To see a previous example, click here.)

“On top of their very high earning potential for graduates, French engineering schools are almost tuition free. Polytechnique students even get paid around £500 per month. While on the other hand most business schools have annual tuition fees of more than £15,000,” it continued.

However, there are caveats, the report said. “While French business and engineering students pay cheaper fees than their British counterparts, their studies go on for a minimum of five years while most British business students will be out in the workforce out after only three years.”

For the bulk of French students, drawn-out studies involve a larger bill to pay when they graduate. Polytechnique graduates and their €500 salary must work for the French civil service for 10 years unless they “buy their freedom” with a €40,000 penalty fee, the report said.

“Sticking to stereotypes, this is a perfect example of the British pragmatic approach whereby experience is king versus the French love of theoretical learning. I would add just one caveat though that the French schools also require extensive internships sandwiched in their prolonged syllabus,” Alice Leguay, from Emolument, said.