More vacancies for new graduates

Employers say business-orientated skills are hardest to find

Graduates are experiencing the best chance for a decade of finding a job with a top employer, a survey suggests.

The Association of Graduate Recruiters summer survey, of 235 of its 680 members, showed a 16.7% increase in vacancy levels.

There were 28 applications per vacancy - down from 33 last year.

Most employers thought the calibre of recruits had held up, and more than a quarter said it was better this year. The median starting salary was £23,136.

The association represents many of the largest graduate recruiters among public and private sector organisations in the UK.

Challenge

A separate annual survey, the Guardian's Grad Facts, looks at things from the perspective of final-year undergraduates themselves.

Among the 2,000 questioned, it found initial salary expectations were about £18,000.

They said they placed a higher premium on "being challenged" and "putting something back into society".

And 57% felt they might never be able to afford to buy somewhere to live.

Just over a third said they would not have gone to university had they faced the higher tuition fees being introduced in England from this autumn.

The National Union of Students said the research "sadly comes as no surprise."

Its president, Gemma Tumelty said: "We have been saying for years now that many students will find it increasingly difficult to buy a home once they graduate due to relatively low levels of pay and high levels of debt built up whilst studying.

"As the survey shows, many graduates do not plan to go into highly paid jobs, and yet they will still be expected to pay back thousands of pounds' worth of student loan."

'New generation'

The chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters, Carl Gilleard, said employers saw the value of having graduates but must not get complacent.

"A new generation of students with different needs and wants may require a different approach to recruitment," he said.

"And perhaps this slight fall in the number of applications per vacancy may be a warning to recruiters that they need to remain competitive."

The sort of skill most in evidence to the employers in his survey was computer literacy.

Most lacking were project management, enterprise, leadership and commercial awareness.

'Economic competitiveness'

Higher education minister Bill Rammell said the research provided more evidence to increase the numbers of students going to university.

He said: "It is vital to our economy that we continue to strive towards our target of 50% participation in higher education. Other countries have already exceeded this and we have to match them if we are to maintain our economic competitiveness."

He added: "Our new student financial package is designed so that everyone with the ability and desire has the opportunity to continue into higher education.

"No one should be deterred from following their dream because of concerns around the financial aspects of entering university or a lack of understanding of the financial support package that's on offer."