11% of UK graduates find employment in North West

11% of UK graduates find employment in North West

New figures released today (11 October 2012) by the Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU) show 11% of new graduates who were working in the UK found employment in the North West, making it the region with one of the largest share of graduates in the UK.

HECSU’s What Do Graduates Do? reports the destinations of 244,680 first degree graduates in January 2012 (six months after they left university). It shows that 8.9% were originally from the North West, and, in total, more than 18,000 graduates started their career in the region. The average starting salary for a graduate working in the North West was £18,440.

According to the research, the employment rate for new graduates nationally remains relatively stable at 61.8% (62.2% in 2011), indicating that career prospects are better than feared despite a weakening economy and further job losses from public spending cuts.

Despite the year-on-year increase in the number of graduates (233,865 in 2011), there were only slight changes to the proportion of those employed and unemployed. Key national figures:

Marginal change in unemployment rate – 8.5% (2011) and 8.6% (2012)

Some fluctuations for those entering ‘further study’ and ‘working and studying’- 13.5% (2011) and 13.1% (2012), 7.6% (2011) and 8.4% (2012) respectively

Number of self-employed graduates grown over the recession - 3.3% (2007), 4.4% (2011) and 4.8% (2012)

Salaries remain consistent – average salary for graduates employed full time is £19,935

Charlie Ball, deputy research director at HECSU says: “The figures show that jobs are not spread equally around the whole country, nor can everyone move to any part of the UK in search of a job. There is often a perception that ‘all the jobs are in London’ and this is clearly not true, nor is the claim that there aren’t any jobs for graduates in other parts of the UK. Thousands of graduates start their careers in the North West every year, across the whole region.”

“Even in difficult times, graduates can and do get jobs in the North West. Students need to prepare for a difficult jobs market, and need to be sensible about their ambitions if they hope to work in particular parts of the country. Not every industry has lots of opportunities in every part of the country. But there are jobs for graduates out there, so don’t give up hope”

What Do Graduates Do? is published in collaboration with the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services. The report can be downloaded (from 11 October) at www.hecsu.ac.uk