According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency, 92.1 per cent of university leavers were in employment or further study six months after graduating in 2012-13, up from 90.8 per cent in the previous year.

That represents the largest year-on-year rise in graduate employment since 2008-09 when graduate employment reached a low of 89.9 per cent - significantly below pre-recession levels of around 93 and 94 per cent.

Graduate employment also rose in 2011-12 when it climbed from 90.3 per cent to 90.8 per cent.

A report into graduate job prospects, titled 2012/13 UK Performance Indicators - Employment of Graduates, published on 3 July, measures the destinations of UK domiciled full-time first degree leavers.

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Based on responses from about 240,000 recent graduates, it shows most higher education institutions had graduate employment levels between 90 and 95 per cent, with 25 institutions having rates above 95 per cent.

Barring small and specialist institutions, Robert Gordon University had the highest employment rate (97.7 per cent) followed by the University of Buckingham (97.3), the University of Derby (96.7) and the University of Surrey (96.9 per cent).

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Universities with the lowest employment and further study rates are London Metropolitan University (81.4 per cent), the University of Bolton (82.4 per cent) and Staffordshire University (84 per cent).

jack.grove@tsleducation.com