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 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Cambridge and 90.2 per cent from the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Oxford were in employment or studying.

That figure was 93.4 per cent for 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Bristol graduates, 92.6 per cent for 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Leeds and 91.5 per cent for 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Manchester.

Others towards the top of the table include the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Huddersfield (93.7 per cent), 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Surrey (94.8 per cent) and 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Chester (93 per cent).

Among the universities scoring the lowest rates of students in employment or study were the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Bolton (79.9 per cent) and 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of East London (78 per cent).

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jack.grove@tsleducation.com