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UK producing fewer candidates for graduate schemes

Published: Tuesday, 07 September 2010   Category: All Graduate job news

Britain is falling behind its international rivals in producing high-quality candidates for graduate schemes, according to new research.

Figures released by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) showed that about 37 per cent of young UK adults graduated in 2000.

This placed the country third out of all OECD members - beaten only by Finland and New Zealand - but eight years down the line, the UK had slumped to 14th on the list.

Ireland, Poland, the Netherlands, Japan and Norway were among the industrialised nations boasting higher graduation rates in 2008.

The OECD's report, which is entitled 'Economics at a Glance 2010', urged countries to ensure they invest in higher education, regardless of the fiscal problems they may be experiencing.

"Countries with high graduation rates … are also those most likely to develop or maintain a highly skilled labour force," read one section.

The findings come after Richard Lambert, director general of the Confederation of British Industry, warned that talented young Britons will seek employment abroad if the graduate tax is introduced by the coalition government.

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