Jobs boom for graduates

Graduates face a buoyant jobs market

Graduates leaving university in the United Kingdom this summer are facing the prospect of almost full employment.

Statistics from university funding authorities show that only 6% of last year's graduates were unemployed six months after leaving university.

And "new" universities were among the most successful in employment figures, with students from Luton University more likely to be in work than those graduating from Oxford or Cambridge.

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Women were also shown to be more likely to find employment than men, with less than 5% of women unemployed after six months, according to figures from the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

And longer-term analysis shows that the UK graduate jobs market is among the most buoyant in Europe, matched only by Germany and Finland.

'Waste of talent'

But ethnic minority graduates were still more likely to be among those without work than their white counterparts.

Even starved of cash and resources, our university teachers are among the very best in the world at educating for employment

Lecturers' union, Natfhe

These lower employment rates for black graduates were "a waste of the nation's talent", said the higher education minister, Baroness Blackstone.

While ethnicity continues to play a part in graduate job prospects, the effect of social class seems to have much less impact by the time students graduate.

New universities, which had formerly been polytechnics, showed particularly high rates of employment among recent graduates, with 100% of students from Luton finding work within six months, compared with 93% for Oxford and 97% for Cambridge.

'Vindication'

The lecturers' union, Natfhe, said the figures were "a vindication of the new universities".

General secretary, Paul Mackney, said: "Even starved of cash and resources, our university teachers are among the very best in the world at educating for employment".

"New university lecturers receive only two-thirds of the teaching income of their old university counterparts but still manage to turn out highly employable, capable graduates," Mr Mackney said.

Universities UK, which represents heads of universities, said the research showed that a degree was a valuable investment in terms of career prospects.

As well as those in work, almost a fifth of students were involved in further study six months after graduating.

The table below shows institutions' graduate employment record (first column of figures) against the funding council's benchmark (second column) - how it expects them to do. They are ranked on the difference (third column).

Institution	%	%	+/-
University of Luton	100	93	7
University of Kent at Canterbury	98	94	4
Nottingham Trent University	98	94	4
Newman College	100	97	3
Royal Northern College of Music	100	97	3
Central School of Speech and Drama	98	95	3
College of St Mark & St John	98	95	3
Bretton Hall	97	94	3
University of Hull	97	94	3
University of Aberdeen	97	94	3
Napier University	97	94	3
Trinity College Carmarthen	97	94	3
University of Stirling	96	93	3
Glasgow School of Art	95	92	3
Royal Academy of Music	100	98	2
Trinity College of Music	100	98	2
Welsh College of Music and Drama	99	97	2
Imperial College	98	96	2
Robert Gordon University	98	96	2
Brunel University	97	95	2
University College Chichester	97	95	2
Cranfield University	97	95	2
Loughborough University	97	95	2
Trinity & All Saints	97	95	2
City University	96	94	2
University of Portsmouth	96	94	2
College of Ripon & York St John	96	94	2
University College Worcester	96	94	2
Coventry University	95	93	2
University of Central England in Birmingham	94	92	2
De Montfort University	94	92	2
University of Sunderland	94	92	2
The London Institute	93	91	2
Ravensbourne College	93	91	2
University of London (Institutes and activities)	100	99	1
University of Wales College of Medicine	100	99	1
Bishop Grosseteste College	99	98	1
University of Surrey	99	98	1
University of Cambridge	98	97	1
Royal College of Music	98	97	1
Northern School of Contemporary Dance	97	96	1
University of Nottingham	97	96	1
Queen Margaret University College	97	96	1
University of Birmingham	96	95	1
University of Bradford	96	95	1
Canterbury Christ Church University College*	96	95	1
Cheltenham and Gloucester CHE	96	95	1
University of Leeds	96	95	1
University of Liverpool	96	95	1
University of Manchester	96	95	1
University of York	96	95	1
University of Dundee	96	95	1
University of Edinburgh	96	95	1
University of St Andrews	96	95	1
The Queen's University of Belfast	96	95	1
University of Essex	95	94	1
Keele University	95	94	1
UMIST	95	94	1
University College Northampton	95	94	1
University of Surrey Roehampton	95	94	1
Heriot-Watt University	95	94	1
University of Wales, Swansea	95	94	1
Anglia Polytechnic University	94	93	1
Kingston University	94	93	1
Liverpool Hope	94	93	1
Southampton Institute	94	93	1
University of North London	93	92	1
University of Abertay Dundee	93	92	1
St George's Hospital Medical School	100	100	0
Stranmillis University College	98	98	0
Northern College of Education	97	97	0
St Mary's University College	97	97	0
Aston University	96	96	0
University of Bristol	96	96	0
University of Reading	96	96	0
St Mary's College	96	96	0
University of Brighton	95	95	0
King Alfred's College, Winchester	95	95	0
University of Leicester	95	95	0
London Sch of Economics & Political Sci	95	95	0
Rose Bruford College	95	95	0
St Martin's College	95	95	0
University of Southampton	95	95	0
University of West of England, Bristol	95	95	0
Westminster College, Oxford	95	95	0
University of Strathclyde	95	95	0
Dartington College of Arts	94	94	0
Wye College, University of London	94	94	0
University of Ulster	94	94	0
Bath Spa University College	93	93	0
Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College	93	93	0
Chester College of Higher Education	93	93	0
Edge Hill College of Higher Education	93	93	0
University of Greenwich	93	93	0
University of Northumbria at Newcastle	93	93	0
University of Plymouth	93	93	0
Queen Mary and Westfield College	93	93	0
Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama	93	93	0
University of Lincolnshire and Humberside	92	92	0
Middlesex University	92	92	0
Staffordshire University	92	92	0
University of Westminster	92	92	0
University of Wales College, Newport	92	92	0
Bolton Institute of Higher Education	91	91	0
The Surrey Inst of Art & Design Univ Col	90	90	0
Homerton College, Cambridge	99	100	-1
University of Bath	96	97	-1
Oxford Brookes University	95	96	-1
University of Sheffield	95	96	-1
University of Durham	94	95	-1
University of Exeter	94	95	-1
King's College London	94	95	-1
University of Newcastle upon Tyne	94	95	-1
Royal Holloway, University of London	94	95	-1
Cardiff University	94	95	-1
University of East Anglia	93	94	-1
University of Hertfordshire	93	94	-1
Lancaster University	93	94	-1
Sheffield Hallam University	93	94	-1
Glasgow Caledonian University	93	94	-1
University of Central Lancashire	92	93	-1
University of Derby	92	93	-1
Goldsmiths College	92	93	-1
Manchester Metropolitan University	92	93	-1
North East Wales Institute	92	93	-1
University of Teesside	91	92	-1
University of Oxford	95	97	-2
University of Warwick	94	96	-2
Bournemouth University	93	95	-2
University of Glasgow	93	95	-2
University of Wales, Bangor	92	94	-2
University of Huddersfield	91	93	-2
University of Wales, Aberystwyth	91	93	-2
University of Glamorgan	90	92	-2
Thames Valley University	89	91	-2
University of Wolverhampton	89	91	-2
Writtle College	89	91	-2
Royal Veterinary College	94	97	-3
University College London	93	96	-3
University of Sussex	92	95	-3
Leeds Metropolitan University	91	94	-3
University of Wales Institute, Cardiff	91	94	-3
Liverpool John Moores University	90	93	-3
North Riding College	90	93	-3
University of Salford	90	93	-3
School of Oriental and African Studies	89	92	-3
Edinburgh College of Art	88	91	-3
University of Paisley	88	91	-3
University of Wales, Lampeter	87	90	-3
Norwich School of Art & Design	84	87	-3
Harper Adams University College	88	92	-4
London Guildhall University	87	91	-4
South Bank University	87	91	-4
University of East London	86	90	-4
Swansea Institute of Higher Education	86	92	-6
Cumbria College of Art & Design	77	85	-8
Falmouth College of Arts	74	85	-11
Source: Hefce

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