What is new?

When we learnt in 2004 that HESA was to make a much greater range of data publicly available, we realised that an opportunity existed to create a guide for employers which would help them target their campus recruitment activity more accurately.

However, in the course of our analysis we have identified wider trends in the graduate market, which are of broader interest. For example:

• Comparisons can be made in the difficulty/ease of entry to courses and universities
• Courses and campuses attracting the ‘best’ students can be identified
• Where it is “easy” to enter university and to achieve a 2:1 – and where it isn't
• Which courses and subject areas graduate the highest proportions of 2:1 and Firsts
• The extent to which women are outperforming men
• Which are the most male-dominated courses and campuses – and the most female
• How successful Britain's ethnic minorities are in Higher Education
• Just how middle class is the graduate population

In previous years we have resisted the temptation to comment on our findings, leaving employers to interpret the results. However, as we have looked in more detail at our findings and the consistency of the trends, it does lead us to question some of the most common practices within graduate recruitment.

• Darius Norell
  Real World
• Simon Howard
  work

May 2008