Data released today by the Higher Educations Statistics Agency show that 61.9 per cent of graduates who completed a full-time degree in 2009-10 were in employment and a further 7 per cent were in employment and further study six months after graduating.

That total of 68.9 per cent of graduates in work is slightly higher than 2008-09, when the figure was 66.2 per cent, and almost identical to the proportion in 2007-08 (68.7 per cent).

The statistics show that 8.8 per cent of last year¡¯s graduates were unemployed after six months, compared to 9.3 per cent in 2008-09 and 8.2 per cent in 2007-08.

Another 14.5 per cent of graduates were undertaking further study.

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A total of 252,000 graduates were surveyed, with 83 per cent of leavers responding.

The top-performing universities in terms of graduate employment feature a mix of new and old, research-intensive and teaching-based.

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For instance, 93.6 per cent of 2009-10 graduates from the University of Cambridge and 90.2 per cent from the University of Oxford were in employment or studying.

That figure was 93.4 per cent for University of Bristol graduates, 92.6 per cent for University of Leeds and 91.5 per cent for University of Manchester.

Others towards the top of the table include the University of Huddersfield (93.7 per cent), University of Surrey (94.8 per cent) and University of Chester (93 per cent).

Among the universities scoring the lowest rates of students in employment or study were the University of Bolton (79.9 per cent) and University of East London (78 per cent).

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jack.grove@tsleducation.com