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University maintains strong record on employability, with more graduates taking jobs in the county

The number of students finding work straight after graduating from the University of Gloucestershire remains high, according to the latest figures from a national survey.

This year’s survey figures show that 94.3% of students graduating from full-time first degree courses at the University found jobs or went on to further study within six months. This maintains the good results from the previous year.

The University’s results are better than the rest of the university sector in England, where the average result is 93.1%.

The University’s results are also better than the benchmark of our “expected” results, which is 93.2%.
The proportion of the University’s recent graduates who are unemployed is 5%, which is also better than the sector average of 6%.

Further data show that the number of graduates staying in Gloucestershire to take up jobs in the county when they finish their course at the University has increased. This has risen from 495 graduates last year to 562 in this year’s survey. That represents over 1/3rd (36%) of graduates staying in the county. Around a third of them are teacher training graduates taking up jobs in local schools.

The survey also asked graduates whether they felt that their time at University had prepared them well for employment. 72.3% of graduates said they felt very well or well prepared, which is substantially higher than the previous year. Only 14.5% said they did not feel well prepared.

This data are taken from the annual “Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education” (DLHE) survey. The survey collects information on what leavers from all universities are doing six months after qualifying from their course. This year’s survey results relates to graduates who left the University in the summer of 2014.

The University of Gloucestershire provides a comprehensive programme to help students develop their employability, offering all students opportunities ranging from work experience to placements and internships to volunteering, so that they can extend their capabilities and experience, over and above their formal degree programme, and gain the skills that employers value.

University of Gloucestershire Vice-Chancellor, Stephen Marston, said: “We are delighted that we have sustained our employability rates at such a high level, exceeding our benchmark and the sector averages.
“One of the things we stand for as a University is giving our students a breadth and richness of experience which prepares them for rewarding lives and successful careers. So in recent years, we have put a lot of effort into building employability into our programmes and extending the range of opportunities to gain work-related skills beyond the taught programme. We work closely with industry to ensure that our students not only have the skills and knowledge, but the wider experience, capability and confidence that employers want.

“We are committed to providing our students with individual support and guidance throughout their time at the university to enable them to access a range of opportunities to help enrich their experience of university. This is so that, by the time they leave us, our students have a strong foundation for going into great jobs, and they feel confident about starting their careers. So it is very encouraging to see the big increase this year in the proportion of our new graduates who say they feel well prepared for employment.

“We work hard to ensure that the courses we offer are relevant to business, working in partnership with employers on the design and delivery of programmes. A good example of this is the partnership between the Cheltenham-based fashion brand Superdry and the University’s BA (Hons) Fashion Design course.

“The University is proud to be a driver of economic growth and prosperity in Gloucestershire. We are pleased that the number of our graduates staying to take up jobs in the county is rising. We believe that our graduates are attractive to employers because we support the development of skills and competencies that are valued in the workplace.”