Two thirds of graduates think their degree helped them get their first job

A recent survey has shown that two thirds of graduates feel their degree is responsible for the careers they now have.

Out of 649 participants in a survey by reed.co.uk, 66% of graduates thought their degrees helped them get their current jobs.

Only one third of graduates said that their degrees have not been helpful to their careers, whilst 32% said that their degrees were in part responsible for their first jobs and 34% said that their degrees were essential.

With tuition fees set to rise to £9000 for most UK universities including Exeter, this is a more hopeful prognosis than the media has recently given graduates, with a reported steady rise in graduate debt and unemployment.

James Eales, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Exeter University, said: "Graduates face an extremely competitive job market when looking for the first job. The rapid growth of graduates in comparison to graduate jobs has only accentuated this issue.

"What I can say with confidence is that students graduating from Exeter will be in a very advantageous position, both in graduating from a top 10 University as well as having a curriculum that is increasingly focusing on raising employability".

Exeter University has one of the highest league table rankings in the country, as well as some of the highest student satisfaction scores, according to the National Student Survey (NSS).

On average just over 60% of Exeter graduates are employed six months after graduation - higher than the average 59.2%.

Reed.co.uk is one of the UK's leading employment websites, with almost 10,000 employers using the site to advertise both graduate and non-graduate jobs.

Source: Ciara Long, xmedia.ex.ac.uk, Saturday 22nd October 2011