The University of Worcester is now in the top 20 English universities for graduate employment, new figures have revealed.
Out of every 24 of Worcester's class of 2015 graduates, 23 were in work or further study within 6 months, according to official statistics released by the UK's Higher Education Statistics Agency's (HESA). The University's 95.8% employment success puts Worcester equal 17th of English higher education institutions (excluding specialist medical, agricultural, drama and art institutions) in the Agency's annual Performance Indicator tables for employment " twice as high as the Midlands" longest established University " Birmingham - which comes in 35th.
This year's statistics from HESA also reveal Worcester to be the third highest riser in the Country. This latest achievement comes on top of earlier successes as Worcester was the UK's most improved university for research in 2014 (the Research Excellence Framework) and was one of the highest five risers in 2015 for overall student satisfaction in the National Student Survey.
University Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive, Professor David Green, said: "We are delighted, but not surprised to find ourselves in the top 20 English universities for graduate employment. We have worked hard to build employability into our courses, with students having many opportunities to take well-organised work placements, workshops and learn highly relevant skills for employment. We run an extensive and very popular Earn as You Learn programme, and actively seek to develop entrepreneurial abilities and approaches in our students who are increasingly going one to start their own businesses."
Even during the global financial crash of 2008-9 and the long economic stagnation which followed, employment rates at the University of Worcester never fell below 92% - or 15 out of 16 graduates.