Cambridge graduates named most employable in the UK

Yet you still can’t get an internship

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The QS Graduate Employability Ranking has found Cambridge graduates to be the most employable in the UK, and 6th in the world, beating Oxford, UCL and Imperial to the top spot.

The study used five metrics to analyse 500 world leading universities from across the globe, including Employer Reputation, Alumni Outcomes and Graduate Employment Rate.

While Cambridge and Oxford were ranked most highly by employers, US universities such as Stanford and Harvard produced more graduates with prestigious careers. LSE was the best UK university in providing students with networking opportunities.

We love petty and meaningless rivalry!

Cambridge ranked 6th globally, behind Stanford, UCLA, Harvard, MIT and (more surprisingly) the University of Sydney. Oxford lagged behind in 8th position, beaten by the University of Melbourne. Both were the only British universities to make the top ten, with four others including Bristol and Manchester gracing the top 50.

Ben Sowter, Research Director at QS said: “Better comparative data about how universities are preparing
their students for the 21 st -century economy is required. This ranking is designed to improve the
conversation we are having about this important component of a university’s mission, and allow
students to make informed global comparisons.”

The people destined for FTSE 100 employment

“This ranking shows that institutional reputation cannot and should not be the only
consideration a student makes when selecting a university for the employment prospects it might offer.
Universities like Loughborough, City University of London, and Nottingham prove themselves to be
equally proactive in providing opportunities for attendees to forge essential career connections.”

Whether these placings are sufficiently high for the UK or not is debatable. What is good to see though, is that while The Times may not realise Cambridge is better than Oxford, employers certainly do.