Going Higher: Graduates do get the best jobs

Employers take advantage of the skills students learn while studying for their degrees

Apart from teaching you how much you can drink before keeling over, or how long you can leave a sink full of dirty pots before they start to take root, or how many ways there are to cook baked beans, a university education will give you the chance to jump on the career ladder a few rungs higher than the traditional school-leaver.

Graduates have better long-term career prospects than non-graduates and will earn higher wages. Graduates also tend to be more employable then non-graduates, not just because of their degree qualifications, but because of the skills they traditionally bring with them.

Roly Cockman, chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters, says graduates have every advantage of employment.

"Job prospects for graduates at the moment are very buoyant. They are better than they have been at any time over the past decade, particularly in areas like Information Technology and industry.

"The long-term benefits for employers are tremendous, not in terms of having a better education workforce, but a better skilled one.

"Although a degree itself will not guarantee a job, the opportunity graduates have had to spend three years maturing and developing their personal skills stands them in very good stead.

"The reality is that of those professional jobs taking graduates and non-graduates, the vast majority will end up with graduates, up to 90 per cent in some cases.

"The fields of science and industry are dominated by graduates, as are conservation and environmental businesses and Information Technology. The arts and the media also tend to be dominated by them.

"Graduates are also more capable of taking responsibility for themselves and their careers so they are less likely to become the victims of recession."