First crop of £9,000 tuition fee-paying UK graduates 'more focused on pay'

The first students to graduate since the imposition of £9,000 annual tuition fees are more focused on securing a well-paid job than their predecessors to pay off their higher levels of debt, according to a major survey of post-university employment.

The survey of 18,000 final year students at 30 universities reported a record proportion had started researching career paths as early as their first year of studies, and more of them undertook work experience to improve their chances of getting a good job after graduation.

The survey found the average level of debt by this summer’s graduates had ballooned to £30,000, compared with averages of £20,000 in 2014 and 2013.

Tuition fees for students from England nearly trebled to £9,000 a year from 2012 onwards, meaning those who started three-year BA or BSc degree courses then will be graduating this summer.

Half of this year’s finalists said they had done course placements, internships or similar while at university, for an average of at least six months’ work experience. The number of students doing casual jobs, such as working in bars or restaurants during university holidays, dropped to its lowest level.

“Work experience has changed from something that was seen as nice to have on a CV to something that’s become a necessity,” said Martin Birchall, managing director of High Fliers Research, which undertook the survey.

“We’re also seeing record numbers of students getting direct job offers from employers after work experience, meaning that employers are increasingly using this as a recruitment tool.”

More than one in three of those surveyed said they had received a definite graduate job offer by Easter in their final year, either from an employer they had done work experience with or as a result of job applications they had made during their final year – the highest percentage reported by the survey since it started 20 years ago.

In a sign of the changing economy, consulting was the most attractive destination for new graduates for the first time since 2001, followed by marketing, media and charity sectors.

Teaching dropped out of the top five most popular sectors for the first time since the financial crisis, suggesting that the government will continue to struggle to meet targets for new teacher recruitment.

The average starting salary this year’s new graduates expect rose to £23,700, around £700 more than in 2014, and the largest annual increase for seven years.

The salaries that finalists expected to be paid within five years of leaving university had also increased, to more than £41,000.