A survey was conducted in UK Universities to identify the employment of pharmacology graduates (BSc, MSc and PhD) 6 months after graduation in 2003. The aim was to provide data for the British Pharmacological Society (BPS) so they could offer advice to interested bodies and to University staff for careers information. 85% of 52 Universities surveyed responded. Data were collected on 705 BSc, 36 MSc and 96 PhD graduates. With the 100 intercalating medical, dental and veterinary students excluded, the proportion of undergraduates undertaking further training was 36% (BSc), 34% (MSc) and 4% (PhD). Employment that required pharmacological knowledge was followed by 18% (BSc), 18% (MSc) and 67% (PhD). Graduates going into non-pharmacological employment were 18% (BSc), 3% (MSc) and 2% (PhD). The remaining graduates had either gone abroad, were unplaced and seeking employment, unplaced but not seeking employment, or their employment status was unknown. A significant proportion of the pharmacology graduates made use of their pharmacological education or were likely to following further training. Relatively few graduates (BSc or PhD) went into industry in the laboratory. Repeated surveys will enable trends in the number of graduates and their employment to be followed. (Contains 3 tables.)