UCU comments on graduate unemployment figures

The figures, from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), revealed that 5.6% of first degree graduates were assumed to be unemployed six months after gaining their qualification in the 2006/07 academic year - a reduction from 6.1% in the previous year, but still slightly higher than the UK average unemployment rate of 5.3%.
 
The figures also revealed that the better the qualification, the less likely a graduate was to be unemployed. Just 3.7% of first degree qualifiers who gained a first class degree were assumed to be unemployed after six months, compared with 5.1% who achieved a 2:1, 7.3% who achieved a 2:2 and 9.9% of those awarded a third.
 
The percentage of leavers assumed to be unemployed varied according to the subject studied. 9.7% of computer science first degree qualifiers were assumed to be unemployed, compared with just 0.2% of qualifiers from medicine and dentistry.
 
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'Although these figures reveal a slightly higher than average unemployment rate, they do not give the nature of employment and have been compiled just six months after graduation. The benefits of a university experience are vast and should not be reduced merely to employment status six months after leaving.
 
'The figures do suggest that hard work at university is rewarded on graduation as students with higher degrees appear more likely to find work. UCU is particularly concerned about the health of computer science. Although there has been a reduction in the number of unemployed computer science graduates this year, almost 10% were unemployed six months after graduation. Worryingly, the numbers of students applying by March 2008 to study computer science degrees in 2008 was 13% lower than in 2007.'
 
The full results can be found on the HESA website