The latest annual figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency show that over 94.4% of graduates who completed their first degree in academic year 2015-16 were in employment or further study, with 68% employed at a managerial and professional level. This is the seventh successive year that the headline figure has improved and is a 1.5% improvement on last year.
Two-thirds of courses across a wide range of disciplines achieved the same or higher figures than last year.
Welcoming the latest figures, Professor Debra Humphris, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Brighton said: “Our students are at the heart of everything we do and we have a strong focus on supporting them towards their destination of choice – be that graduate employment, further study or entrepreneurship – so that they can enjoy rewarding careers. It is therefore fantastic to see over 94% of our graduates moving into employment and further study after completing their studies with us.”
The sustained increase over the past few years is down to a number of factors:
- Employability is embedded into all courses with strong co-operation between academics and the university Careers Service
- All undergraduates have the chance to do work-related learning as part of their course
- Over 50 professional organisations recognise and accredit courses, giving students an additional qualification, a licence to practice or exemption from professional exams.
The Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education statistics are published by the Higher Education Statistics Authority. You can read the Employment of leavers summary here.