More graduates apply to join the police

Record numbers of students are applying for jobs in the police force in a trend said to driven by pessimism about the prospects of finding graduate jobs.

Record numbers of students are applying for jobs in the police force in a trend said to driven by pessimism about the prospects of finding graduate jobs.

A survey of more than 16,000 final-year students in universities found a 57 per cent increase in the numbers seeking jobs in the police force.

The finding was part of a growing trend among undergraduates towards seeking jobs in the public service - with the Civil Service and teaching also becoming increasingly popular career options.

Overall, though, the figures showed deep pessimism among today's final-year students about their prospects of getting a graduate level job.

Just 36 per cent said they expected to start graduate level employment on leaving university, compared with 49 per cent in 1997.

Martin Burchall, the director of the annual UK Graduates Careers Survey, said: "The reality is that - while the university population has grown by more than two-thirds during the past decade - the number of job vacancies for graduates has increased by barely 10 per cent in the same period."

He added: "The findings will be a huge disappointment for the Government.

"Its introduction of top-up tuition fees [of up to £3,000 a year from 2006] and the much publicised aim of growing the number of school leavers who go on to university both rely on there being a good supply of well-paid graduate jobs so that students can repay the substantial costs of studies."

Mr Burchall cited two reasons for the growing popularity of jobs in the police force.

First, the police had increased their visibility at university recruitment evenings by launching a high potential development scheme. "It talks about having the potential to reach the rank of chief inspector by the age of 30 or 35 and having the potential to become a chief constable," Mr Burchall said.

He added that a decline in the popularity of the armed forces "because of Iraq" (the number of applications was 3 per cent) had led to a further boost in recruitment for other uniformed services.

The research, carried out by High Fliers Research Ltd, also showed that 25 per cent of those who did not expect to get a graduate job were planning to stay on and take a postgraduate course to boost their qualifications. "Tens of thousands of this year's brightest finalists feel underqualified for the job market with just a first degree and believe their best option is to continue on to postgraduate studies," said Mr Burchall.

A further 17 per cent said they would take time off or go travelling abroad.

Student confidence about their prospects was low, with nearly 83 per cent believing there were not enough graduate jobs for the numbers of students or that there were only very limited opportunities. But the salary expectations of those expecting to find a job has risen. On average, they believed they would earn £19,800 from their first job, with 11 per cent saying they expected to be earning £100,000 a year by the time they were 30.

In addition, the survey said 3 per cent expected to earn enough to retire within a decade of starting work.

When talking about debt, the average student expected to have to pay off £10,400 by the end of their degree course - up from £10,100 two years ago.

While the number expecting to find a graduate job straight after leaving university has risen by 1 percentage point on last year, it is a 13 point decline since the heyday of 1997-98 when 49 per cent expected to get a graduate job.